Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe
Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe

Author: N. Emenyonu

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2014-12-01

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1940729130

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Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe recaptures for the literary world the inimitable legacies of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Africas leading novelist and literary philosopher of the 20th century. It addresses the questions of Achebes role in establishing the African art of the novel, his theories and standards for the criticism of African writing. The volume articulates unequivocally how Achebe provided the message and pioneered a confident voice to African writers to express the message with audacity; repudiate without equivocation, any form of distortions of African past and present realities. The essays remind the reader how Achebe brought to the field of world literature new perspectives and vitality that distinguished the African art of storytelling from imaginative creativities elsewhere. This volume presents Achebes articulation of the traditional and modern in African narrative techniqueslinking the skills of the traditional artist (oral performer) to those of the modern writer; how the modern African creative artist can embellish his/her art with oral resources such as folktales, proverbs, sayings, festivals, songs, riddles, and myths. Chinua Achebes unique distinctions as a novelist lie in the areas of informed vision and artistic integrity. His greatest legacy to 20th century world literature probably is his pioneer role in the nativization and ingenious use of the English language. The exceptional genius of Achebe touched many traditional and cultural bases in his fiction, essays, and memoirs. The critical responses to Achebes works in this book, address adequately almost every aspect of his creative imagination and craftsmanship. The reader will find in this convenient volume several seminal studies by two eminent scholars of Achebes intriguing genius that authenticate him as among the best literary craftsmen of the 20th century and undeniably Africas best.

Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress
Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress

Author: B. Nyamnjoh

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2021-06-09

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9956551953

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This book is a timely addition to debates and explorations on the epistemological relevance of African proverbs, especially with growing calls for the decolonisation of African curricula. The editors and contributors have chosen to reflect on the diverse ways of being and becoming African as a permanent work in progress by drawing inspiration from Chinua Achebe's harnessing of the effectualness of oratory, especially his use of proverbs in his works. The book recognises and celebrates the fact that Achebe's proverbial Igbo imaginations of being and becoming African are compelling because they are instructive about the lives, stories, struggles and aspirations of the rainbow of people that make up Africa as a veritable global arena of productive circulations, entanglements and compositeness of being. The contributions foray into how claims to and practices of being and becoming African are steeped in histories of mobilities and a myriad of encounters shaped by and inspiring of the competing and complementary logics of personhood and power that Africans have sought and seek to capture in their repertoires of proverbs. The task of documenting African proverbs and rendering them accessible in the form of a common hard currency with fascinating epistemological possibilities remains a challenge yearning for financial, scholarly, social and political attention. The book is an important contribution to John Mbiti's clarion call for an active and sustained interest in African proverbs.

Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe
Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe

Author: Emenyonu, Ernest N.

Publisher: African Heritage Press

Published: 2014-12-01

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1940729122

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Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe recaptures for the literary world the inimitable legacies of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Africa's leading novelist and literary philosopher of the 20th century. It addresses the questions of Achebe's role in establishing the African art of the novel, his theories and standards for the criticism of African writing. The volume articulates unequivocally how Achebe provided the message and pioneered a confident voice to African writers to express the message with audacity; repudiate without equivocation, any form of distortions of African past and present realities. The essays remind the reader how Achebe brought to the field of world literature new perspectives and vitality that distinguished the African art of storytelling from imaginative creativities elsewhere. This volume presents Achebe's articulation of the traditional and modern in African narrative techniques-linking the skills of the traditional artist (oral performer) to those of the modern writer; how the modern African creative artist can embellish his/her art with oral resources such as folktales, proverbs, sayings, festivals, songs, riddles, and myths. Chinua Achebe's unique distinctions as a novelist lie in the areas of informed vision and artistic integrity. His greatest legacy to 20th century world literature probably is his pioneer role in the 'nativization' and ingenious use of the English language. The exceptional genius of Achebe touched many traditional and cultural bases in his fiction, essays, and memoirs. The critical responses to Achebe's works in this book, address adequately almost every aspect of his creative imagination and craftsmanship. The reader will find in this convenient volume several seminal studies by two eminent scholars of Achebe's intriguing genius that authenticate him as among the best literary craftsmen of the 20th century and undeniably Africa's best.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Book Analysis)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Book Analysis)

Author: Bright Summaries

Publisher: BrightSummaries.com

Published: 2018-05-31

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13: 2808002262

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Unlock the more straightforward side of Things Fall Apart with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, which centres on the great warrior and champion wrestler Okonkwo as he deals with the challenges resulting from disagreements in his clan, the arrival of white missionaries in his village and the mounting tension between tradition and modernity. The engaging narrative provides a compelling, immersive portrait of Igbo life in Achebe’s native Nigeria and a thoughtful exploration of the impact of colonialism and of themes such as masculinity, honour, pride and disobedience. Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian writer who sought to use his novels, short stories, essays and poetry to examine the struggles facing his country and expand popular conceptions of Africa and its people. He is widely considered to be the founding father of modern African literature. Find out everything you need to know about Things Fall Apart in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

A study on the writing style of Chinua Achebe
A study on the writing style of Chinua Achebe

Author: Dr. Ashish Gupta

Publisher: Shashwat Publication

Published: 2024-03-08

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 9360873225

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Chinua Achebe was a master that mastered a variety of distinct approaches that authors may use to create tales. There are many different ways that writers can tell stories. When it comes to creating stories, authors have the capacity to use a variety of techniques. One of the narrative techniques that Achebe utilised was referred to as "flashback," and it was included into his work. However, Achebe utilised a variety of approaches, and one of those methods was flashback. Whenever we get to this point in the story, the story will take us on a trip through time to show us something that took place in the past. This book delves into the rich tapestry ofchebe’s writing style, examining the intricate threads that weave together his exploration of Igbo culture, the clash between tradition and colonialism, the multi-dimensional characters he breathes life into, the narrative structures that captivate readers, the language and diction that form a linguistic bridge between worlds, the social commentary that critiques historical injustices, and the symbolism and imagery that elevate his works to realms of profound meaning. The work of Achebe is not only a reflection of a particular cultural environment; rather, it is a mirror that is held up to the intricacies of the human experience. As we begin our investigation, we will travel across the landscapes of Nigeria’s pre-colonial and colonial history. We will also navigate the twisting routes of Achebe’s narratives, which merge the past and the present in a seamless manner. The individuals that we come across are not only figments of our imagination; rather, they are manifestations of the internal tensions, moral conundrums, and the indomitable spirit that characterises mankind in the face of hardship. The unfolding of this investigation takes place against the backdrop of Achebe’s linguistic artistry, which is a dance that captures the spirit of cultural hybridity through the merging of English and Igbo expressions.

Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe
Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe

Author: Kenneth Usongo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-03-09

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1000349608

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Through mainly a New Historicist critical approach, this book explores how Shakespeare and Achebe employ supernatural devices such as prophecies, dreams, gods/goddesses, beliefs, and divinations to create complex characters. Even though these features indicate the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their protagonists. Both writers appropriate supernatural features to mirror tragic flaws such as ambition, arrogance, impulsiveness, and fear that contribute to the downfall of Macbeth, Lear, Okonkwo, and Ezeulu. We relate to some of these characters because they project our inner minds, principal drives that may be hidden within us. Therefore, Shakespeare and Achebe’s preoccupation with the supernatural adds subtlety to their characterization and enhances their readability by situating their art beyond time, place, or particularity.

Yearning for (Dis)Connections
Yearning for (Dis)Connections

Author: Hassan Yosimbom

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2023-09-30

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9956553433

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In a nuanced consideration of the Cameroonian experience, Yearning for (Dis) Connections makes critical interventions into debates about coexistence, citizenship, identity formation and performance, democracy and modernity in Cameroon. The essays in the book ranges across Francophone and Anglophone Cameroons to provide a challenging assessment of the common ways of writing and thinking for and of and about the Cameroonian world. The book criticises the blinders of Cameroon's Francophonecentred leadership, analysing its failure to heed Anglophone Cameroon's ontological and epistemological critiques of Cameroon's ongoing exclusions masked by pretences of a Francophone universalism. Yosimbom uses the works of Nyamnjoh, Ndi, Besong and Takwi to explore how Cameroonian worlds are on the move of and for identity negotiations. He also explores how the uneven development of those Cameroonian worlds has been creating growing gaps within and among regions while at the same time Francophonising Anglophones and Anglophonising Francophones through four-fold processes of complementarities, continuity and discontinuity, diachrony and synchrony. The book demonstrates that persistent Francophone hegemony and resurgent Anglophone nationalism often fail to realise that all Cameroonians have been shuffled like a pack of cards; that cultures are formed through complex dialogues and interactions with other cultures; that the boundaries of cultures are fluid, porous and contested; that identities are multiple and layered in complex, pluralist democratic societies; and that there is need for public recognition of cultural and identity specificities in ways that do not deny their fluidity, nimbleness and incompleteness.

Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart

Author: Chinua Achebe

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1994-09-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0385474547

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“A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order. With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

The Literary History of the Igbo Novel
The Literary History of the Igbo Novel

Author: Ernest N. Emenyonu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-07

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1000040704

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This book looks at the trends in the development of the Igbo novel from its antecedents in oral performance, through the emergence of the first published novel, Omenuko, in 1933 by Pita Nwana, to the contemporary Igbo novel. Defining "Igbo literature" as literature in Igbo language, and "Igbo novel" as a novel written in Igbo language, the author argues that oral and written literature in African indigenous languages hold an important foundational position in the history of African literature. Focusing on the contributions of Igbo writers to the development of African literature in African languages, the book examines the evolution, themes, and distinctive features of the Igbo novel, the historical circumstances of the rise of the African novel in the pre-colonial, era and their impact on the contemporary Igbo novel. This book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, literary history, and Igbo studies.

The Anglophone Literary-Linguistic Continuum
The Anglophone Literary-Linguistic Continuum

Author: Andindilile, Michael

Publisher: NISC (Pty) Ltd

Published: 2018-11-05

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 1920033238

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Michael Andindilile in The Anglophone Literary–Linguistic Continuum: English and Indigenous Languages in African Literary Discourse interrogates Obi Wali’s (1963) prophecy that continued use of former colonial languages in the production of African literature could only lead to ‘sterility’, as African literatures can only be written in indigenous African languages. In doing so, Andindilile critically examines selected of novels of Achebe of Nigeria, Ngũgĩ of Kenya, Gordimer of South Africa and Farah of Somalia and shows that, when we pay close attention to what these authors represent about their African societies, and the way they integrate African languages, values, beliefs and cultures, we can discover what constitutes the Anglophone African literary–linguistic continuum. This continuum can be defined as variations in the literary usage of English in African literary discourse, with the language serving as the base to which writers add variations inspired by indigenous languages, beliefs, cultures and, sometimes, nation-specific experiences.