DOCSLIB.ORG

Chinua Achebe and the Development of Igbo/African Studies

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chinua Achebe and the Development of Igbo/African Studies CHAPTER 9 Chinua Achebe and the Development of Igbo/African Studies Raphael Njoku Introduction This chapter examines the contributions of Chinua Achebe to the development of Igbo Studies in particular, and African Studies in general.1 Conceived in the colonial context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when very little was preserved in writing by the Africans on Igbo social life and customs, Achebe’s trilogy—Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964)—have particularly served scholars of all disciplines as a rare intel- lectual resource material.2 The plot of these works was primarily intended to shed light on different aspects of Igbo/African social institutions and practices as well as highlight the nature of conflicts that threatened the indigenous society as it came under alien intrusion. Excluding the Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, perceived as the highest level of capitalism by Marxist scholars, has remained as one of the most controversial and horrific episodes in African history.3 It is therefore not surprising to find its overbearing influence on both the African writers of the twentieth century, as well as their counterparts in Europe and elsewhere. Pan-Africanist scholar Walter Rodney depicts the colonial experience as the greatest pillage of a million years of human history.4 Also, troubled by the ominous threat of colonial rule in Africa, Robert Knox, a Saxon, had in his The Races of Men: A Fragment, published in 1850, predicted the inevitable demise of other races as a result of European selfish interests in Africa, praying that his own race “should desist from robbing and murdering dark races of the world.”5 These sample commentaries provide us with a fair idea about the pervading impact of alien subjugation and control on the Africans. In an age when the Europeans denied that Africans had a historical past, and even claimed to know G. Chuku (ed.), The Igbo Intellectual Tradition © Gloria Chuku 2013 250 • Raphael Njoku the natives better than they understood themselves, Achebe’s counternarrative depicts the anxieties generally experienced by the Africans as the indigenous cul- ture came under alien assault. By rebuffing the Western notion that art should neither rationalize itself nor be answerable to anybody, Achebe single-handedly brought about the emergence, in the 1960s, of a genius that is African literature. As Achebe stated in his Morning Yet on Creation Day, art is, and always was, at the service of man. This is the central idea at the heart of the African oral tradition. Therefore, “the African novel has to be about Africa.”6 Indeed, as much as des- tiny is decided through politics, successful novelists always root their characters in the society of a particular time. A writer is only great to the extent he provides a society in general with a true mirror of itself; of its conflicts and of its problems. Among his competitors, Achebe has successfully provided his readers with this mirror of Igbo/Nigerian society than any other novelist. He strongly contends the idea that “art is autonomous and that it happens by itself,” as “simply mad- ness.” He continues, “What we say, what we write or what we paint is as human beings who live in society and are accountable to that society.”7 Inordertoana- lyze the most crucial elements of Achebe’s works and put his intellectual ideas in a proper perspective, it is pertinent to briefly examine his family background and education. Family Background and Education A proud recipient of numerous local and international honors, awards (including professorial positions), and widely acknowledged as the king of African literature, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, the fifth child of his parents, was born in colonial Nigeria at Ikenga village in Ogidi town of eastern Nigeria on November 16, 1930. Altogether, his parents, Isaiah Okafor (an early Christian convert) and Janet Anaenechi Achebe (nee Iloegbunam), bore six children—namely: Frank (first son), John, Zinobia (first daughter), Augustine, Chinua and Grace. Four decades earlier in 1892, the British Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) led by Rev. S. R. Smith, had been welcomed on their first arrival at Ogidi by Pa Udo Osinyi, Achebe’s maternal grandfather, whom he described in his Hopes and Impediment (first published in 1988 by Heinemann), as a man of “wealth and honor” of his time.8 Ogidi society of the late 1890s and early 1900 had begun to witness the first appearance of European colonialists. As the British pacification forces marched across the thousands of independent Igbo villages appointing warrant chiefs, the Christian evangelists seized the initiative in an attempt to propagate the salvation of Jesus Christ among the Africans. In some instances, the Christian evange- lists became forceful, among other things, in their attempts to Christianize the Igbo. They assaulted Igbo indigenous institutions and customs, while they tried to recruit new converts, mostly among the youth, for their newly established mission schools.9 At this initial stage, Igbo response to the ongoing forces pry- ing into their society could be described as an ambiguous mix of hostility and friendship; indifference and curiosity.10 This ambivalence is best illustrated with Chinua Achebe and Igbo/African Studies • 251 Pa Udo Osinyi’s decision to expel the missionaries from his compound as soon as they had begun attacking Ogidi traditions such as ancestral worship, polygamy and masquerade dances. The indigenous worldview, polygamous family systems, and masquerade insti- tutions were central to understanding the precolonial Igbo life, their social relations, modes of production and political organization. The ancestors occu- pied a central position in the indigenous cosmology as intermediaries between the living and the Almighty powers. Polygamy was a means of raising a pool of agrarian labor force and therefore served as a measure of individual achievement and success. Through acts of ritual and time-honored values, the elders made the appearance of masks and masquerades to be accepted as the visitation of the gods and ancestors in physical forms.11 This belief system and practices were crucial for social control and harmony. Thus, the attempt by the missionaries to super- impose their alien ideology on the indigenous order was simply a direct attack on the social fabric that held the Igbo society together.12 Yet, despite the initial resistance and suspicions, the Christian religion quickly gained its first converts among the orphans, outcasts and other marginalized members of the old Igbo society.13 This outcome of events reminds us that in any society (whether traditional or modern) where individuals or groups are marginal- ized, the tendency is high for enemies from outside to recruit local collaborators among the aggrieved within. Among this group of locals who embraced the new religion was an orphan named Okafor (later, Achebe’s father), who was under the foster care of his uncle Pa Osinyi. Through his early contact with the Europeans, Okafor, baptized and became known as Isaiah Achebe in 1904. He later became one of the most influential educated elite and African evangelists in his home- town of Ogidi. Achebe then got married to Miss Janet Iloegbunam and the wedding was personally officiated at the St. Ebenezer Church, Ogidi in 1908 by the legendary Reverend (Dr.) George Thomas Basden of the CMS, a distin- guished scholar of Igbo life and customs. Isaiah and Janet ran their family life in the typically strict Christian style.14 According to Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Achebe’s biog- rapher, while Pastor Isaiah, a teacher and CMS missionary, worked assiduously to win African souls for the new religion, Janet Achebe cultivated the habit of quoting Psalm 34, verse 11 to her acquaintances at every occasion that called for her words of exhortation: “Come my sons, I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.”15 This was the home to which Achebe was born in 1930. Despite his strict Christian family upbringing, Achebe, as the themes of his novels reveal, observed and knew enough about the Igbo traditional religion and ritual observances, all of which he also internalized as a young man. From a dis- tance, Achebe observed the family values and practices of his uncle who refused to convert to the new religion. At school, the young Achebe interacted with his peers from other families that substantially retained the old ways. So at home, in the village society and at school, Achebe watched, with curiosity and fascina- tion, the old beliefs and practices. As he acknowledges, “I think I am basically an ancestor worshipper, if you like, but not in the same sense as my grandfather would probably do it, pouring palm wine on the floor for the ancestors.”16 252 • Raphael Njoku In view of the social transformations that were witnessed over the early colo- nial period and more that came from the period of his birth and childhood, it is important to briefly underline some of the dominant ideas and influences that may have contributed to Achebe’s upbringing. The first is the influence of his family and kinship on Achebe’s upbringing and career. Having been born in a family that had embraced Christianity and Western education as the most influ- ential forces that would shape the future of the new generations, Chinua, like his siblings, pursued his mission education with devotion. Achebe said, “My parents knew that education was important. To my father, it was almost a religion. He wanted us to have as much education as possible, as much as he can afford.”17 This view is supported by the Achebe siblings’ academic successes. Chinua began his primary education at the St. Philip’s Central School, Akpakaogwe, in 1936 and completed it in 1943.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Post-Colonial Subjectivity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart Christopher Wise Western Washington University, [email protected]
    Western Washington University Western CEDAR English Faculty and Staff ubP lications English Fall 1999 Excavating the New Republic: Post-Colonial Subjectivity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart Christopher Wise Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/english_facpubs Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Wise, Christopher, "Excavating the New Republic: Post-Colonial Subjectivity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart" (1999). English Faculty and Staff Publications. 3. https://cedar.wwu.edu/english_facpubs/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Faculty and Staff Publications by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEW REPUBLIC EXCAVATING THE EXCAVATING THE NEW REPUBLIC Post-colonial Subjectivity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart by Christopher Wise "[I]t may be productive [today] to think in terms of a genuine transformation of being which takes place when the individual subject shifts from purely individual relations to that very differ- ent dynamic which is that of groups, collectives and communi- ties ... The transformation of being ... is something that can be empirically experienced ... by participation in group praxis-an experience no longer as rare as it was before the 1960s, but still rare enough to convey a genuine ontological shock, and the momentary restructuration and placing
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Dynamics of Ọjị Ezinihitte Cultural Festival in Igboland, Nigeria
    67 International Journal of Modern Anthropology Int. J. Mod. Anthrop. 2020. Vol. 2, Issue 13, pp: 67 - 98 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijma.v2i13.2 Available online at: www.ata.org.tn & https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijma Research Article Historical dynamics of Ọjị Ezinihitte cultural festival in Igboland, Nigeria Akachi Odoemene Department of History and International Studies, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected] (Received 6 January 2020; Accepted 16 May 2020; Published 6 June 2020) Abstract - Ọjị (kola nut) is indispensable in traditional life of the Igbo of Nigeria. It plays an intrinsic role in almost all segments of the people‟s cultural life. In the Ọjị Ezinihitte festivity the „kola tradition‟ is meaningfully and elaborately celebrated. This article examines the importance of Ọjị within the context of Ezinihitte socio-cultural heritage, and equally accounts for continuity and change within it. An eclectic framework in data collection was utilized for this research. This involved the use of key-informant interviews, direct observation as well as extant textual sources (both published and un-published), including archival documents, for the purposes of the study. In terms of analysis, the study utilized the qualitative analytical approach. This was employed towards ensuring that the three basic purposes of this study – exploration, description and explanation – are well articulated and attained. The paper provided background for a proper understanding of the „sacred origin‟ of the Ọjị festive celebration. Through a vivid account of the festival‟s processes and rituals, it achieved a reconstruction of the festivity‟s origins and evolutionary trajectories and argues the festival as reflecting the people‟s spirit of fraternity and conviviality.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Nigerian Education
    ariel: a review of international english literature Vol. 46 No. 3 Pages 91–112 Copyright © 2015 The Johns Hopkins University Press and the University of Calgary Playful Ethnography: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Nigerian Education David Borman Abstract: This paper looks at the critical and popular reception of Chinua Achebe’s first novel, Things Fall Apart, as an authentic text offering an “insider” perspective on Igbo culture. Drawing from small magazines and university publications in 1950s Nigeria, this paper suggests that early Nigerian authors like Achebe were edu- cated and began writing in a culture that valued a playful explora- tion of meaning in Western texts. These early publications express multiple uses of the texts students read in colonial school, and I read Achebe’s novel as an extension of this playfulness. Although it is generally seen as an example of the empire “writing back,” I argue that Things Fall Apart actually uses ethnographic accounts of Nigerian village life—especially G. T. Basden’s Niger Ibos and C. K. Meek’s Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe—in an open and exploratory manner. Seeing Achebe’s work in this light allows for a complex view of the novel’s presentation of Igbo life, and I argue that such a reading resituates his first novel as a playful encounter with ethnography rather than as a literary response to more tradi- tional literary texts like Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness or Joyce Cary’s Mister Johnson. Keywords: Chinua Achebe; Things Fall Apart; writing back; eth- nography; play The June 20, 1958 edition of the Times Literary Supplement contains one short review of Chinua Achebe’s first novel, Things Fall Apart, re- cently published with a print run of two thousand hardcover copies by Heinemann’s educational department.
    [Show full text]
  • The Movement of Transition in Achebe's Work
    International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 1, Issue 3 (September 2013), PP 35-43 ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) www.arcjournals.org The Movement of Transition in Achebe’s Work: A Study of Five Novels Ajimuda. Olufunso Stephen (Ph.D), General Studies Department, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. Abstract: This paper looks at the movement of transition in the novels of Chinua Achebe, a literary icon who can be regarded as Nigeria and Africa’s best - known novelist. By a movement of transition, what is meant is how Achebe has succeeded in giving an artistic interpretation of the history of his people through two kinds of movement – time and place. The movement of time starts from the late 19th century for Things Fall Apart to around the 1920’s for Arrow of God, the 1950’s for No Longer at Ease, the mid 60’s for A Man of the People and the eighties for Anthills of the Savannah. The movement of place starts gradually from the country – side to the cities. One other feature that can be seen in Achebe’s novels is that in establishing his theme of the transition in the history of his people, Achebe has always relied on the tragic medium in handling this as the tragedy of the major character(s) in each novel become synonymous with the tragedy of a community (either local or national).The paper also explores his contributions to the literary development of Africa, especially with his death on the 22nd of March, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Achebe's Novels and the Story of Nigeria
    Vol. 2(10), pp. 230-232, October 2014 DOI: 10.14662/IJELC2014.067 International Journal of English Copy©right 2014 Literature and Culture Author(s) retain the copyright of this article ISSN: 2360-7831©2014 Academic Research Journals http://www.academicresearchjournals.org/IJELC/Index.htm Review REVISITING AND RETELLING THE HISTORY: ACHEBE‟S NOVELS AND THE STORY OF NIGERIA Anand .P Guest Lecturer, M.E.S Keveeyam College, Calicut University. Email:[email protected], Ph: 9567147724. Accepted 24 October 2014 It was part of the colonial project to highlight an image of the colonized as a mass without proper cultural roots and history. This was a means to justify Euro-centrism. It is after long years of anti- colonial struggle, political independence „emerged‟. As a result post-colonial novels of the 1950‟s were essentially case studies of these struggles, in other words they were about history. Colonizer‟s version of history was a mere distorted version of reality suppressing the facts related to orient culture and life. But these novels are experiments in history challenging the „so called‟ authentic version. This narration of native history utilizes the resources in native forms of history-recording such as the folk songs, folk tales, stories etc. Chinua Achebe‟s novels Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God set in early colonial days is actually a work in historical revisionism concentrating the spread of Christianity, the decline of native religions, and also the colonial measures of tactful and “effective” governance. Keywords: History, Revisionist Reading, African Trilogy, Nigeria, Chinua Achebe, Post Colonialism Cite This Article As: Anand P (2014).
    [Show full text]
  • Chinua Achebe — It Is the Storyteller Who Makes Us See What We Are
    caryl phillips Chinua Achebe — It is the Storyteller who makes us see what we are ’d like to say a few things about Chinua Achebe, which hope- Ifully resonate somewhat with our title — “It is the Storyteller who makes us see what we are.” I’ve been thinking about this title and have come to the conclusion that in the case of Chinua Achebe he was also a Storyteller who made us see who we are, or at least he certainly did in my case. I make the distinction between “what” and “who” as a way of suggesting that a personal encounter with him is likely to engender a transformation that is at least as profound as one we might receive by reading the remarkable body of his work. He was such an extraordinarily charismatic man, and having had the privilege of knowing him a little I would like to speak about both “what we are” because of his example, and more specifically “who we are” — or “who I am” — because of a personal encounter. First, Chinua Achebe is a storyteller whose very existence made it possible for a whole generation of writers to imagine that it might be possible for them to begin to think of themselves as writers. From 1958 onwards, his face was there on book jackets, in the newspaper columns, as part of an ongoing global literary conversation, and he established a presence at a very young age for a writer. As we know, Things Fall Apart quickly became a worldwide publishing sensation and not too long after- wards there was a canonical intervention; syllabi and university courses had to be — sometimes reluctantly — cantilevered into new shapes and groupings to include Achebe and his work, and the work of others like him.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinua Achebe
    Chinua Achebe Nigeria's Legendary Novelist Ayo Elebute Published by: Learning Solutions Specialty Publications Ltd, (a division of Rombic Concepts Ltd) Plot 7, Block P, Lagelu Industrial Estate (Behind Gasland) Off Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, Mapo P.O. Box 25256, Ibadan, Nigeria. Tel: 08033280593, 08186116871, 08099113004 e-mail: [email protected] © Ayo Elebute Cover design © Learning Solutions 2020 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. First published 2020 ISBN: 978-978-8549-34-5 Every attempt has been made to contact copyright holders. Where the publishers have not heard from them at the time of going to press or where, in the absence of complete information, it has not been possible to identify the sources of materials used, the publishers would be grateful for any information that would enable them to make appropriate acknowledgments in future editions. ii CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chinua Achebe's Parentage 1 2 Chinua's Birth 5 3 His Childhood 8 4 His Mother's folktales 13 5 His Elementary Education 17 6 His Secondary Education 21 7 At the University College, Ibadan 27 8 A Career man 31 9 Playing the Husband 34 10 A Political Crusader for Biafra 39 11 His Later Years 48 12 Chinua Achebe's Literary Works 53 Questions 56 Glossary 64 Appendix 68 References 72 iii CHAPTER 1 CHINUA ACHEBE'S PARENTAGE Okafor Achebe was the father of Nigeria's renowned novelist, Chinua Achebe.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Nigerian Fiction and the Return to the Recent Past
    BEARING WITNESS TO AN ERA: CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN FICTION AND THE RETURN TO THE RECENT PAST Juliet Tenshak Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in English Studies School of Arts and Humanities, University of Stirling. December 2017. Acknowledgements The Ph.D journey has been long, very challenging but rewarding. On this journey, I got fresh and startling insights to the meaning of the word „Help‟. I made it to this point because of the help I have received from so many people in various ways, and at different times. I am humbled. My first expression of gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor David Murphy, whose support, PATIENCE, and encouragement is in large part the reason I made it this far. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Dr. Gemma Robinson who has been unfailingly supportive and encouraging. I am also grateful to the school administrator Alison Scott for the support I received from her in the course of my study. I owe a debt of gratitude to the British Federation of Women Graduates, who provided much-needed financial support for the final year of my Ph.D. To my husband Fidel Odhiambo Wayara, you are my exceedingly great reward. Thank you for loving and pushing. To my girls; Walsham, Naannaa and Kiyenret, thank you for putting up with my absence. Thank you for making motherhood a thing of joy and fulfillment for me, and thank you for the sacrifices you individually and collectively made for me to do this. I love you girls more than the whole world and back! To my mother Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Achebe's Defense of Civilized Ibo Culture Via Proverbial Language In
    International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS) Vol-2, Issue-6, Nov - Dec, 2017 https://dx.doi.org/10.24001/ijels.2.6.12 ISSN: 2456-7620 Achebe’s defense of civilized Ibo culture via proverbial language in Things Fall Apart Gohar Ayaz1, Nadia Anjum2 1HEC PhD Scholar, BZ University, Multan, Pakistan 2Fauji Foundation Model School, Abbottabad, Pakistan Abstract— This paper is an attempt to explore the the story of an Ibo village and one of its great men, proverbial language of Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Okonkwo, who is a very high achiever being a champion Apart in support of the civilized Ibo culture. Chinua wrestler, a wealthy farmer, a husband to three wives, and Achebe has put many proverbs in his mouth pieces. All a man with titles. Okonkwo's world is disrupted with the the proverbs used in this novel belong to the Ibo culture. appearance of the first white man who tries to inflict his The proverbs used by Ibo people in the novel are worthy religion on the Umuofia natives. Okonkwo, a high enough to claim that they have a strong heritage and tempered man, later kills a British employed man and history which is symbol of civilized culture. The language eventually takes his own life. of the Ibo people when compared with whites, it becomes Proverbs could be described as short, popular crystal clear that whatever they say is proved or followed witty sayings with words of advice or warning. Proverbs by strong arguments of proverbs. Whites say things could also be viewed as a repository of native intelligent, imperatively and lack strong arguments in their talks.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart Is Probably the Most Authentic Narrative Ever Written About Life in Nigeria at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
    Grade 11 Literature Holy Cross High School Coverage: • Overview of the Author • Background to the Novel • About Things Fall Apart • Summary of the Novel • Character List • Character map • Themes of the Novel • Structure of Part I the Novel • Chapters 1 to 13 Summary; Analysis and Questions • Structure of Part II of the Novel • Chapters 14 to 19 Summary; Analysis and Questions • Structure of Part III of the Novel • Chapters 20 to 25 Summary; Analysis and Questions • Viewpoints of the Novel from different characters • Acknowledgements The Author Chinua Achebe Background Background (1) • Poet and novelist Chinua Achebe was one of the most important African writers. • He was also considered by many to be one of the most original literary artists writing in English during his lifetime. • He is best known for his novel Things Fall Apart (1958). • Born Albert Chinualumogo Achebe, Chinua Achebe was raised by Christian evangelical parents in the large village Ogidi, in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria. • He received an early education in English, but grew up surrounded by a complex fusion of Igbo traditions and colonial legacy. • He studied literature and medicine at the University of Ibadan; after graduating, he went to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos and later studied at the British Broadcasting Corporation staff school in London. • During this time, Achebe was developing work as a writer. • Starting in the 1950s, he was central to a new Nigerian literary movement that drew on the oral traditions of Nigeria's indigenous tribes. Background (2) • Although Achebe wrote in English, he attempted to incorporate Igbo vocabulary and narratives.
    [Show full text]
  • “Things Fall Apart” in “Dead Men's Path”
    International Journal of Linguistics and Literature (IJLL) ISSN(P): 2319-3956; ISSN(E): 2319-3964 Vol. 7, Issue 6, Oct - Sep 2018; 57-70 © IASET “THINGS FALL APART” IN “DEAD MEN’S PATH”, A STORY FROM CHINUA ACHEBE’S GIRLS AT WAR AND OTHER STORIES Komenan Casimir Lecturer, Department of English, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University of Coode, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire ABSTRACT Introduced in Igbo-land owing to colonialism, Western school proves intolerant of Odinani, the Igbo traditional religion,by closing “Dead Men’s Path”, a symbol of three realms of existence: the dead, the living and the unborn children. To claim the right of being practiced freely, Odinaniwage war with the school. The ins and outs of these conflicts permits of postulating that “things fall apart” in “Dead Men’s Path”, a short story excerpted from Achebe’s Girls at War and Other Stories. KEYWORDS: “Things Fall Apart”, “Dead Men’s Path”, Intolerant School, Odinani, Igbo, Achebe Article History Received: 04 Oct 2018 | Revised: 16 Oct 2018 | Accepted: 03 Nov 2018 INTRODUCTION Introduced in Africa with the advent of colonization and its civilizing mission, school as one feature of the white man’s ways, has clashed with Odinani, the Igbo traditional religion based on the ancestral veneration or what is referred to as the first faith of Africans 1. As a result, the inherited religious practices have become obsolete, as shown in Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path”, a short story extracted from Girls at War and Other Stories (1972). This work is a collection of short stories in which the author attests to the culturo-spiritual conflict between the African culture and the European one 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Colonial Literature: Chinua Achebe
    Aula 4 POST-COLONIAL Literature: CHINUA ACHEBE META Introduce students to Chinua Achebe’s life and work OBJETIVO Ao final desta aula, você deverá ser capaz de: Outline a short biography of Chinua Achebe, placing some emphasis on his contribution to what could be loosely called ‘African literature’. Make a concise presentation of Achebe’s novels and a list of his short stories and poems. PRERREQUISITO Notions about the historicity of the concept of literature; Notions of the process of formation and institutionalization of Literary History and literary theory as disciplines that have in Literature its object of study. Notions of the relationship between Literary History and literature teaching. Luiz Eduardo Oliveira José Augusto Batista dos Santos Literatura de Língua Inglesa VI INTRODUÇÃO In this lesson, we will be studying Chinua Achebe, a very important author in African literature. He was born in Nigeria on November 16th 1930 in the Igbo village of Ogidi. His real name was Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. Although his parents had been converted into Christianity by missionaries from the Protestant Church Mission Society (CMS), Achebe’s father seemed to respect his ancestor’s traditions, of which fact the name Chinualumogu is a reminder, since it is a prayer for divine protection and stability that could be translated as “May God fight on my behalf ”. Having to live between two worlds, namely, that of Christianity and that of tradi- tional beliefs has no doubt played a significant role in Achebe’s education and, later, in his work. He was born Albert Chinualumogụ Achebe, 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013.
    [Show full text]