Chinua Achebe was a trailblazer. Through his novels, he told a tale of African history, not as inferior to western civilization, but as equal.
Chinua Achebe was a trailblazer. Through his novels, he told a tale of African history, not as inferior to western civilization, but as equal. Through his works, he spread the African Gospel to the world. You could see his pride for his Igbo roots permeate his books and he was never one to deny it, often giving literary readings in Igbo and English as he pleased.
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was one of the first African novels I truly read. I first encountered it as a television drama in the 90’s, starring Pete Edochie as Okonkwo. As a child, I enjoyed it purely for the entertainment value and not much else. I never truly understood its impact, its significance, and its importance to African Literature until in my teenage years. When my brother who was schooling abroad returned, he brought it home along with his other literature books for the semester. I picked it up, and out of curiosity, I delved deeper into the novel. What unraveled before me was a story that was as sophisticated as any piece of literature but still had the simplicity of moonlight tales told by my parents to me at night.
Read More, Source: Chinua Achebe: On writing, simplicity and the Igbo culture – Ventures Africa
