Chinua Achebe & Things Fall Apart

The Colonization of Africa AFRICA, circa 1880:

Colonial Literature: The “Noble Savage” & the “Dark Continent” Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1688): an unjustly enslaved African prince leads a slave rebellion in Surinam –but after defeat, kills his (willing) wife and calmly submits to torture and execution rather than submit. H. Rider Haggard, She (1887): European explorers encounter a primitive race of natives who worship a mysterious white queen. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899): A fictional narrator describes a British company man’s descent into savagery and madness in the Congo; Conrad does address negative effects of imperialism Joyce Carey, Mister Johnson (1939): A (sympathetically-portrayed) young Nigerian demonstrates unconscious leadership, but is unable to fit in with British colonial companies.

The British “alone of all the nations in the world appear to be able to control coloured races without the exercise of cruelty.” –H. Rider Haggard

Nigeria & Ibo Culture

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) Born in Ibo town of Ogidi to Christian converts; however, his father still respected traditional beliefs Achebe was a brilliant student, and graduated from the rigorous University College in 1953; he had an excellent English education, and began writing fiction He worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service, and began work on the book which would become Things Fall Apart. Over the next few decades, Achebe published four more novels, several collections of short stories, poetry, and both literary and political commentary. Married Christie Okoli in 1961; they had three children. Achebe held a number of academic positions, both in Africa and the United States; he vigorously supported African independence and fought government corruption. Influenced and inspired many other African writers Died in Boston in March 2013.

Things Fall Apart (1958) Received a mainly positive reception in Britain upon publication; reception in Nigeria was more mixed Achebe’s book is arguably the first to represent Africans and African culture from the African point of view—neither condescending nor idealized. The narrative depicts an oral culture; Achebe’s prose mirrors Ibo culture by incorporating oral traditions and styles. Achebe made the controversial choice to write in in English, but he incorporates numerous Ibo words and phrases. Things Fall Apart is now arguably the most important work of African fiction; it has sold 8 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages.

Study Questions What oral traditions/styles are incorporated within the text? What qualities do these textual devices help to convey about Ibo culture? Many critics have argued that Things Fall Apart is a sexist text and/or that Ibo society is sexist. To what extent do you agree or disagree—and why? In what specific ways is Achebe’s text a response to European colonial literature? What goal(s) might Achebe be trying to achieve? What conventions of romance and/or realism are present in the text? How do they reflect Achebe’s point of view—and how do these conventions help to make the text more effective? What is the place of the individual within traditional Ibo society? How might that role shift after the arrival of the missionaries—and to what effect(s)?

Achebe on Joseph Conrad, 1977: The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist. That this simple truth is glossed over in criticisms of his work is due to the fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely unremarked. Students of Heart of Darkness will often tell you that Conrad is concerned not so much with Africa as with the deterioration of one European mind caused by solitude and sickness. They will point out to you that Conrad is, if anything, less charitable to the Europeans in the story than he is to the natives, that the point of the story is to ridicule Europe's civilizing mission in Africa. A Conrad student informed me in Scotland that Africa is merely a setting for the disintegration of the mind of Mr. Kurtz. Which is partly the point. Africa as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as human factor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril. Can nobody see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European mind? But that is not even the point. The real question is the dehumanization of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered and continues to foster in the world. And the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot. I do not doubt Conrad's great talents. Even Heart of Darkness has its memorably good passages and moments. But all that has been more than fully discussed in the last fifty years. His obvious racism has, however, not been addressed.”