The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Adichie asserts that “[I]t is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power” (9:29). To understand why one group is able to define another group, or why one story dominates another story, it is necessary to recognize the underlying power dynamics.

Adichie is clear that anyone can believe a single story; she herself admits to believing single stories about other people. However, those without power are more vulnerable to a single story’s misrepresentation. “Power,” Adichie states, “is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person” (10:03). For this reason, single stories shift in the direction of power. Adichie especially grapples with the single story painted of Africans in Western literature, which stems from the history of European colonialism.

The relationship between power and storytelling ability often reflects the fact that those in power have the resources to create and promote multiple stories from their perspective, whereas those who are relatively powerless may struggle to make their voices heard at all. As a Nigerian woman, Adichie has consumed a wide variety of American media and literature. The American student she met lecturing at a university had not been exposed to the same variety of stories from a Nigerian perspective.