 Chinua Achebe

 Nigeria

 Ibo

  Nigerian  Grew up in a village during British colonialism  Ibo language and culture – an ethnic group from southeastern Nigeria. Ibo resented British and sometimes rebelled; gained independence in  Early exposure to folktales and Christianity. Much of his work includes or addresses those concepts.  Graduated from the University of Ibadan  Things Fall Apart published in It sold over 12 million copies and was translated into 50 languages. It’s about an Ibo leader who defies colonial rule by the British. Chinua Achebe

  Director of External Broadcasting at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation from  Writer of fiction, poetry, and essays; also a university professor in Nigeria and USA (Bard and Brown)  Paralyzed in a car accident in 1990 (Suspicious circumstances. Achebe had been involved in a political party banned by Nigeria’s military ruler.)  Called “the patriarch of the African novel” because of his global significance and impact on African literature. (He even formed the Association of Nigerian Authors.) Chinua Achebe

  Language is “mankind’s greatest blessing.”  “It is clear to me that an African creative writer who tries to avoid the big social and political issues of contemporary Africa will end up being irrelevant, like the absurd man in the proverb who leaves his burning house to pursue a rat fleeing from the flames.”  As a child, you see, you automatically identified with the good people, with the missionaries, with the explorers, because that's the way the story was arranged. Now, the moment you realize that you were not really of the party of the white man, but of the party of the savages…that's the moment when you knew that a new story had to be written. Chinua Achebe’s Words

  amenable (adj) – open to suggestion; responsive  monumental (adj) – very significant  imperious (adj) – urgent; pressing  dissent (n) – disagreement  pivotal (adj) – important and indicating change  skeptical (adj) – doubtful  row (pronounced rou) (n) – quarrel  zeal (n) enthusiasm Vocabulary

  Reading for enjoyment  Reading for Achebe’s beliefs and assertions about both society and politics  Reading for Achebe’s depictions of culture Think about…