Proposal

For the final project of the semester our group, Megan, Madi, and Ariana have decided to create a comic. We believe that it is a medium that people can connect too deeply with an option for color use and simplicity that draws the eyes and catches the mind. Also, Madi is a visual communication design major, therefore she has experience and a unique eye to lend to the project as our point person on design.

Our inspiration comes from Ifemelu’s interactions and reactions to the women in the hair salon. The way immigrants both support, judge, and compete with each other creates a fascinating dynamic that few native born Americans are aware exists. The interactions and views are different between fellow African immigrants, who are from different countries, then between immigrants and born Americans. It caught our attention and made us think in a new way, that we would like to highlight and share. The root of all these interactions can be summarized by a quote from the Migration Policy Institute, “Immigrants display an appreciation of the U.S. and a commitment to making it their home, but they also maintain a strong connection to their country of origin” (Farkas). The interaction differences show almost immediately when Ifemelu’s origins are made known, “Aisha did not look up, Halima smiled at Ifemelu, a smile that, in its warm knowingness, said welcome to a fellow African, she would not smile at an American in the same way” (Adichie 9). This interplay and differing reactions of the hair stylists to Ifemelu, as well as the difference between her greeting and that which a native born American might receive, are contrasting. The exchanges between immigrants are not all positive and supportive like this though. Instead some are rather dismissive and mean, like the time Ifemelu spoke to her aunt’s friend about how long she’d been in the US, “The jeer on the Nigerian’s face had taught her that, to earn the prize of being taken seriously among Nigerians in American, among Africans in America, she needed more years“ (Adichie 15). Rather than giving this new woman (Ifemelu) supporting advice she sneered and acted dismissive and rude. Instead of supporting or congratulating a fellow Nigerian woman on her American journey there was spite given. This dichotomy is fascinating and we want to show it and highlight it in our comic.

 

Adichie, Chimamanda N. “Chapter 1.” Americanah, Knopf Canada, 2013, p. 9.

Adichie, Chimamanda N. “Chapter 1.” Americanah, Knopf Canada, 2013, p. 15.

Farkas, Steve. “What Immigrants Say About Life in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org, 1 May 2003, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/what-immigrants-say-about-life-united-states.

 

6 thoughts on “Proposal”

  1. I like what you chose to highlight from the salon scenes. My group also did a salon theme, but I personally looked right over the difference in interactions. I think choosing the comic to portray your project was a smart choice since you can create dialogues as well as visuals to show the difference of interactions. Some suggestions I have are:
    -How are you going to show the difference? Are you going to create a comic from that scene in the book between Ifem & Halima? Or are you going to create your own scenes like that one in one comic and another scene between an American and someone like Halima to show the difference?
    -Are you only going to show how immigrants treat themselves vs. Americans? Or are you going to also include how Americans treat themselves vs immigrants also?
    -You said you were going to use comics for the option of color use. If you decide to do more than one comic to show the difference, I think it would be cool to do the scenes where they are with people from the same place (so an example would be Halima with Ifem or an American with an American) as a black and white comic, with no color at all to show how they are the same and don’t see a difference. But on the comics where they aren’t the same (Ex- Immigrant treating an American differently or an American treating and immigrant differently) you could make the colors bold/bright to show how they see themselves different/divided.

    I can’t wait to see what you decide to highlight in your comic!

  2. I love your idea!
    I also think targeting the power of color within your comic strip would be a great idea. Another suggestion/question is that in this example, you have the character thinking. I’m not sure if this is your intention for the rest of the comic strip, but I think adding dialogue in the future will be important.

  3. I think you guys have an amazing idea! I think it could also be interesting to highlight discrimination along with the welcoming/unwelcoming attitudes between the different African cultures. For example, you could use a similar situation to that seen in the hair salon when they ask Ifemelu if she “knows the Nigerian actors”.

  4. Hello,

    I love that you guys chose the hair salon scene to display for the final project it is a very impactful scene. My only suggestion would be possibly creating a “choose your own adventure” portion to the comic where you ask the audience to choose how Ifemelu will respond and have two preselected responses. Depending on which the audience selects will display what they see next in the comic. This will get the audience involved on a more empathetic level because they will actually experience it versus being a bystander.

  5. I think this is a terrific idea! Using a comic/storyboard to highlight the discriminations and general exchanges is a great concept. My only suggestion is to not forget to add your own creative twist(s) to your comic!

  6. I really like this idea. This specific scene in Americanah is not only important but symbolic to the chapter as a whole. The quote that you chose is also a good summary to this scene specifically. My suggestion would be to keep the dialogue between the two, short and concise. If the dialogue is too lengthy, it would become less appealing to the viewers eyes. You could also create your own spin on thoughts from the hairdresser that may be different than that could enhance the issue you are trying to tackle as well.

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