Between Homeland and Hostland

Abstract This paper explores the representation of the dynamics of Afrodiasporic family relationships in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by analysing Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go . These two women writers interrogate the family relationships of Africans living in Europe and North America. The cultural challenges encountered in the diaspora complicate African immigrant family bonds and relationships. The intersections of gender, race, and class in immigrants’ host countries present challenges that they must negotiate, leading to family disintegration or conflict. These intersections are further complicated by the generational gap between first-generation immigrants and the children they raise. First-generation immigrants experience a clash between the culture of their home country and their hostland, affecting the family relationships they build. The notion of home (the homeland) then acts as a catalyst that breaks or complicates family relationships in the diaspora; however, in some instances, it provides a way to mend and heal.