Discussing the migrant experience: From Dakolo and Darey’s songs to Chika Unigwe and Abi Dare’s Novels.

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Faith Ben Daniels

Abstract

This paper is focused on exploring the migrant dream as presented in two African popular soul songs and two novels vis-a-vis the reality migrants face when they arrive at their destinations or new spaces. These popular songs are: Timi Dakolo’s Wish me well and Darey’ Pray for me. The novels are Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters Street and Abi Dare’s The girl with the louding voice. The discussion attempts to draw comparisons between the migrant’s dream versus the reality as explored in the songs and the novels. It is important to note that all two popular songs are written by men. The dreams and hope of migration that they present is in some ways a direct contrast to the realities female migrants face in the accounts of the two novels, On black sisters street and The girl with the louding voice, which are written by women. This paper intentionally focuses on migration within home spaces and migration outside home spaces, and such migrations are not embarked upon due to the reason of war or political displacement as often talked about by migration experts.

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How to Cite
Daniels, F. B. (2021). Discussing the migrant experience: From Dakolo and Darey’s songs to Chika Unigwe and Abi Dare’s Novels. Research Journal in Modern Languages and Literatures, 2(3). https://royalliteglobal.com/languages-and-literatures/article/view/693
Section
Articles

How to Cite

Daniels, F. B. (2021). Discussing the migrant experience: From Dakolo and Darey’s songs to Chika Unigwe and Abi Dare’s Novels. Research Journal in Modern Languages and Literatures, 2(3). https://royalliteglobal.com/languages-and-literatures/article/view/693

References

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Dakolo, T. (2015). Wish me well (Song). After Dark Entertainment.

Dare, A. (2020). The girl with the louding voice. Sceptre.

Darey, (2015). Pray for me (Song). Live Spot entertainment.

Flahaux, ML., De Haas, H. African migration: trends, patterns, drivers. CMS 4, 1 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-015-0015-6

Ndibe O. (2014). Foreign Gods, Inc. Soho Press.

Ndibe O. (2016). Never look an American in the eye. Soho Press.

Oucho, Linda A, Williams A, (2017) challenges and solutions to migrant integration, diversity and social cohesion in Africa. African migration and development policy center.

Unigwe, C. (2010). On black sisters street. Vintage Books.