The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/

Available through a partnership with

Scroll down to read the article. ISSUE NUMBS THRE ft FOUR • 1988 In the study of African

Writing James Gibbs

Bernth Lindfors (ed) CONVERSATIONS WITH . Uni- versity Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 1997, 199pp.

Ezenwa-Ohaeto, CHINUA ACHEBE: A BIOGRAPHY. , Oxford & Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1997, 326pp.

HE coincidental publication of a col- The horrifying road accident of 22 March 1990 lection of interviews and a major has limited his mobility, but has not dimmed biographical study - happily a 'pre- the qualities that had impressed so many mortem' - marks a new stage in the around the world. T recognition of Chinua Acbebe's Juggling the different Ijalls' representing achievements, and, more generally, provides the discrete elements in Achebe's life is an a new dimension to the African Literature 'In- extraordinarily difficult task. Aware that dustry.' Both books are concerned with a life many of his readers will be unfamiliar with and with words. Lindfors offers a brisk, help- Nigerian history, Ezenwa-Ohaeto incorporates ful four-page chronology, sketching Acbebe's accounts of political developments in his bio- life from 1930 to 1996, and follows this with graphical narrative. These are frequently some twenty-one transcribed interviews. models of helpful summary, however some Ezenwa-Ohaeto takes the reader from Chap- ter 1 The Catechist'sSon'to Chapter 18'The Legacy of an Eagle on Iroko,' (1930-1993) in a volume of narrative and criticism, observa- tion and analysis which, with academic ap- paratus, runs to over three-hundred pages set in 9/11 Melior. In the course of his account, Ezenwa- Ohaeto draws on most - but not all, of the interviews in the Lindfors collection. He also incorporates extracts from Achebe's novels, and shows that he has carried out extensive research, talked to and corresponded with relevant individuals, and drawn on his own experience as a Nigerian writer, scholar, teacher and critic. Chinua Achebe is living a most extraordi- nary life. How could it be otherwise, given his talent, his sense of responsibility and the times he has lived through in Nigeria? In the handsome James Curreyflndiana publication, some ten years of painstaking enquiry are will take issue with the statement that the presented with sustained energy as Ezenwa- 'fracas in the Western House of Assembly em- Ohaeto follows the writer from Ogidi to powered Tafawa Balewa to declare a state of school, thence to college, to the broadcasting emergency in the region.' And others will be service, into print and then into the widest surprised that the role played by French oil of worlds. Achebe has passed through many interests in the seccession of Biafra is not more than the usual'ages of man'- and is still indicated. It is impossible to write succinct short of 'the lean and slippered pantaloon.' account of recent .historical episodes that all He has, for example, been a publisher, a rov- will accept! ing ambassador for Biafra, a peripatetic Another of the 'balls' concerns Achebe's teacher, an influential critic, a literary lion. family life. In this connection we learn, for

Glendopi Books Supplement ISSUE NUMBER THRE ft FOUR • 1998

example, that only one of his siblings was contributed to the University Herald, and not present when his father died, and that his only incorporated it in a lecture given on cam- wife suffered a miscarriage when returning pus ('a compliment that would not have occurred to the East as the battle-lines of the Civil to our English teachers.' 47) but also used it War / Biafran War were being drawn up. in a talk broadcast from Radio Brazzaville. This 'serious' biography, rightly, does not The low expectations of teachers at Ibadan intrude in private grief and the reader is left surfaced again after the publication of Things to imagine the impact of these events on Fall Apart. Alan Hill of reported the novelist. We are, however, clearly shown that he was not taken seriously when telling the concerned father telling his daughter members of staff'that one of their alumni had stories and prompted to write because of the written a great novel. "What Chinua Achebe attitudes one of his children was picking up wrote a novel! How ridiculous" They exclaimed.' at school, and readers might have expected But, if some were astonished, the publishers to hear more about the choices Achebe made, were supportive and were soon aware that with his wife, for their children's education. they had made a wise investment. In 1986, A pioneer in so many ways, Achebe has been, 'Achebe's novels were selling as much as 33 for some of his life, part of the New Diaspora, per cent of the combined turnover of the 270 the brain drain of African intellectuals to titles in African and Caribbean writer series.' Universities in the United States. Those who (266) And by 1992 the first book had sold more have followed him, or are thinking of doing than 8,000,000 copies (283). Just what this so, might legitimately have expected to have means in terms of income for Achebe is not been told what educational decisions the made clear - the study is generally silent on Achebes made. (We know what happens to financial matters, but I hope he averaged a those who bring termite-infested logs into royalty of more than 12% on the sale price of their homes. What about those who go and each copy. In addition to providing the 'motor' live among the termites?) for the African Writers Series by his sales, The central concern of the study is, natu- Achebe also put a vast amount back into Af- rally, the growth and development of Achebe rican literature by shouldering editorial re- as a man of letters. Ezenwa-Ohaeto has com- sponsibilities. For this, for the arduous, often pleted a remarkable feat in covering this tedious work of toiling through mountains of with abundant insight. He might, I suggest, manuscripts sent to Heinemann - and provid- have broadened his Chapter (3) on Govern- ing helpful comments, Achebe was, astonish- ment College, Umuahia, by following up ingly, not paid. Bernth Lindfors' work on the literary and Ezenwa-Ohaeto indicates some of the other dramatic life at the institution. The next editorial responsibilities Achebe took on. He chapter, on University College, Ibadan, refers, for example, to Okike, Nsukka scope benefits from the pertinent material pro- and African Commentary - and the first of vided by , but this could have been these is tremendously important in the devel- supplemented by, for example, use of the opment of African writing. However, we are reminiscences collected by Bunmi Salakoin given few glimpses of editorial decision mak- My U. I. (The perspective is rather too obvi- ing and there is no mention of Conch, even ously that from Bayreuth, where Ezenwa- though Achebe's name was on the masthead. I Ohaeto was based for a time. Masquerades suspect there are many editorial files that are not finally judged until they have been would be well worth investigating as part of a seen from all angles.) Fora subsequent sec- fuller study of Achebe as Editor. tion, the account of Achebe's training with Achebe's career as a writer has been marked the BBC in the UK, I hope the researcher will by the winning of various prizes. Ezenwa- be able to visit the BBC's Written Archives Ohaeto draws attention to a large number at Caversham where material will be found and addresses, from time to time, what he that fills in gaps in Achebe's writing for the clearly regards as a vexed question: Why wasn't microphone - an essential part of his appren- the Nobel Prize for Literature given to Achebe? ticeship as a writer. For many the fact that Minor points aside, the story is told in was not followed by another novel until 1987 considerable detail, and includes many epi- provides answer enough. But there is a sub- sodes that deserve to be singled out. For text to the biography which suggests that a example, Ezenwa-Ohaeto quotes from remark made to an academic in Stockholm Achebe's account of his first international (185), and the rejection of an invitation to the exposure as a poet. It seems a retired Brit- same city (242) might have affected the deci- ish ambassador on a poetry-reading tour of sion. Additional props will have to be produced Africa in the early Fifties came across a before this case will stand up in a court of limerick the erstwhile medical student had critics and literary historians.

Glendora Bitks Supplement • IS8UE NUMBHt THRS ft FOUR • 1988 •

More than twenty universities have unrelieved competence as opposed to honoured Achebe by awarding him honorary genuine artistic degrees. Lindfors lists a number of these in his brisk chronology where they stand as in- inspiration? How do you react to this? dications of growing international acclaim. Ezenwa-Ohaeto gets somewhat embroiled with Needled - the cliched description of the them since he often quotes the citations that style of was'sedate', Achebe accompanied them - and these are usually shot back 'you don't expect me to accept that!' verbose, tortured, rhetorical exercises that And went on to point out that 'Things Fall Apart rarely shed new light. was written straight, without any kind of draft.' A little later in the exchange, Achebe men- The list of awarding institutions is fasci- tioned his anger at Joyce Cary's Mister nating in the 'Novelist - critic has honour save Johnson which he had read 'in his second year' in his own country stakes.' Dartmouth award at university and which had prompted him to Achebe an honorary doctorate, his first, in ^ay to himself 'this is absurd.' (Lindfors, ed. 1972 (167-8). The University of Ife followed 13) There followed a revealing exchange be- suit six years later (205) becoming the sixth tween the two young critics on the nature of overall and the first Nigerian university in caricature, and about whether Odili is a cari- the list. (Lindfors has 1979). The University of cature. - or just has exaggerated respect for Lagos invited Achebe to attend their 1987 Mr. Green. (Oddly, Ezenwa-Ohaeto thinks, p. Convocation intending to present him with a 44, that Carry lacked first-hand experience of degree but at the last minute the function had Africa). to be called off. Ezenwa-Ohaeto comments: 'The decision to cancel was ... linked to the Achebe is sometimes slow to enter a quar- reaction in some of the Western states to the rel, but being in he is a tenacious fighter, a criticism Aehebe had made concerning the tough adversary. Joyce Cary is one of those he funeral of ... Obafemi Awolowo.' (256-7) This has taken to task; Joseph Conrad, famously, extraordinary concession to misdirected stu- another. The impact of the controversy over dent power and ethnic resentment received Awolowo has already been mentioned, and scant attention in the press. Achebe's alma there are various indications in the text where mater, the University of Ibadan, the tertiary the roots of that particular quarrel are to be institution that had nurtured him, and which found. With most African writers - as prickly might have been expected to be the first to be as authors anywhere else, Achebe seems to aware of his significance, did not award him have excellent relations - though he did quar- an honorary degree until 1989. Scandalously rel for a time with J P Clark (Bekederemo) slow, it was the fourteenth institution to do and there is an apparently unresolved dis- so! One of the interviews Lindfors includes agreement with . but Ezenwa-Ohaeto seems unaware of is par- With Soyinka he recognises a certain ele- ticularly important since it reflects early in- ment of competition, but stresses the particu- ternational recognition , and shows how un- lar nature of literary rivalry. Clearly the two dergraduate experiences galvanised the young men have worked together on a number of author into action. Recorded for an American projects - including the protest over the fate of TV series entitled 'African Writers Talking' Mamman Vasta, the soldier poet who was ex- it was hosted by Lewis Nkosi and Wole ecuted in March 1986. And Soyinka read the Soyinka joined in the questioning. The two citation when Ife awarded Achebe his honor- Nigerian writers so similar in some ways, so ary doctorate. However, the relationship is far different in others, sized one another up like from being one of blind mutual admiration, and champion wrestlers from rival towns. the conclusion to Achebe's speech of congratu- lation to Soyinka after he had been awarded Lindfors has provided a new transcription the Nobel Prize has an edge to it. On that of the programme that includes Acbebe's reso- occasion, Achebe recorded delight that the nant, slightly tongue-in-cheek, confession: 'I white man had been beaten 'at his own game', think I am basically an ancestor worship- and then added '... we must now turn away per...,' and a mischievously probing question and play our game.' (250) from Soyinka: Finally, one interview that Lindfors repro- (Do) you accept the evaluation which has duces and Ezenwa-Ohaeto refers to - that with been placed Jane Wilkinson - could I suspect be mined for greater insights. In it, Achebe is asked about on your style by some critics, that there the extent to which 'Okigbo (is) present in Ant- is a kind of hills?' His fascinating answer illuminates the interaction of life and creative writing, and almost precise workmanship about it, silently draws attention to the need for an almost an

Glendon Bosks Supplement 3 ISSUE NUMBER THRE ft FOUR • 1998

in-depth biography of Okigbo. Another task the project, gave his 'general approval.' A for Ezenwa-Ohaeto perhaps!. sense of seriousness is one of Achebe's own Other material in the same interview characteristic qualities. It is seriousness with- prompts enquiry into the most remarkable out solemnity, and a most attractive part of a development in Achebe's 'later novel' - the very impressive individual. The Igbo novelist presence of powerful women. Achebe told is such decent, generous, principled, reliable Wilkinson: 'I have been worried about the person, what he has to say is so tough and woman's role for some time, although I didn't cogent, so deeply infused with gritty integ- have scope for it in A Man of the People.' rity, that time spent in his company is time (Lindfors, ed. 149) During the years when he well spent. In different ways, both Lindfors' was silent as a novelist, there was not only collection and Ezenwa-Ohaeto's biography abundant opportunity for Achebe to appre- provide opportunities to spend time in the ciate the abilities of his wife and daughters, edifying, witty, intelligent company of a man but also extensive discussion of gender issues. who has important things to say and re- Ezenwa-Ohaeto is not an 'official biogra- markable gifts of expression. pher' but he did approach his sometime teacher who, after indicating that he knew ' Gibbs, a professor of English, is of the University of the a sense of seriousness' would be brought to West of England. Bristol. In Search of Character Odia Ofeimun

T does not require special pleading to put Writing and Being, 's Nadine Gordimer, first collection of essays since winning the WRITING AND BEING, Harvard Nobel Prize for literature, in the same Ibracket as the two biographies under review. University Press, Cambridge, The three books are connected by a thread Massachusetts, 1995, 145 pp. which may be accessed from the not-as-trivial notation that Nadine Gordimer is one of the authoritative voices - the other being Nelson Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, Mandela, President of , Helmut : IN THE Schmidt, former German Chancellor and Lord Callaghan of Cardiff - whose insights are de- EYES OF TIME, Africana Legacy ployed on the blurb of the Obasanjo biography. Press, Brooklyn. New York, 1997, Gordimer's description of the former Nigerian 207pp. leader, one of Africa's most revered statesmen as an 'honourable and courageous fighter for justice wherever it has been endangered' was Ezenwa-Ohaeto, CHINUA scored while General Olusegun Obasanjo was in jail for alleged involvement in the 'phantom ACHEBE: A BIOGRAPHY. James coup' uncovered by late General Sani Abacha Currey, Oxford & Indiana Univer- in 1995. Hers is a testimony by one denizen of sity Press, Bloomington and the frontline albeit, a writer, about another, a soldier, who, incidentally, joined the race for Indianapolis, 1997, 326pp. the presidency on being released from jail in June 1998. Thus the blurb easily connects with preoccupations that have become, so Chinua Achebe's . recognisably, natives of Gordimer's person, con- Achebe's last of five novels to date, in which cerning individual involvement in the construc- one of the not-so-central characters, the tion and sustenance of truth and justice in so- Oldman of Abazon, provides a 'vigorously lyri- ciety. How such involvements add up in the cal disquisition on the place of'...the poet, and moral sphere of collective, action, that is, within writer in the struggle for social justice'. the common backcloth of needs that define our More importantly, across the collection, common humanity, is the core issue across the Gordimer concentrates on the relationship be- six-chapters of Writing and Being. It so hap- tween reality, 'real life', the very fishpond of pens that one chapter, the fourth, is devoted to biography, and the fictions of the writer's

Glendori Books Supplement