Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author born in 1977, whose literary works include short stories, novels, speeches, and non-fiction. According to The New Literary Supplement (NLS), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the most well-known and applauded young Anglophone Nigerian author who attracts a large audience. Some of the books by Adichie include Notes on Grief (2021), We Should All Be Feminists (2014), American (2013), and Burble Hibiscus (2003). The top short fiction by Adichie includes "Apollo" (2015), "Zikoro" (2020), and "Cell One" (2007), among others. Adichie's top speeches include "Connecting Cultures" (2012), “Freedom of Speech” (2022), and “Sampling in Flawless” (2013). The most outstanding of Adichie’s literary works is her lecture on “The Dangers of a Single Story” (2009).
“The Dangers of a Single Story” (2009) is a talk by Adichie about the under-representation of different cultures based on one-sided stories. While growing up as a young child in Nigeria, Adichie narrates how she only read American and British children's books. The books' characters were principally white, and Adichie never thought that Africans could have similar capabilities as Caucasians. In addition, Adichie read a lot about the European and American weather, food, sports, and other aspects of Western culture. After growing up and learning more about African literature, Adichie discovered that the Western perception of Africa is wrong. The American and European literature presents Africa as a primitive continent characterized by poverty, corruption, tribalism, and illiteracy. However, Africa is a rich continent with talented people in different spheres of life. Adichie gives examples of prominent African authors like Chinua Achebe and other successful Nigerians to illustrate that the ability of Africans is understated. Consequently, Adichie dismisses the Western assumption of Africans, arguing that they only have one side of the story about Africa.
Adichie's "The Dangers of a Single Story" (2009) was received well by the global audience. For instance, The Dangers of a Single Story" (2009) became the most-watched TED Talk with over 30 million views. "The Dangers of a Single Story" (2009) was revisited by the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium (HHS) in 2019 to emphasize the significance of appreciating diverse cultures. According to The New York Times (2016), “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a powerful narrative that explains what happens when a section of human beings are stereotyped based on a single story.
