Final Paper
It would not be disingenuous to say that Chinua Achebe was not only Africa’s best known author, but was also its most influential. Achebe all but wrote the Ahiara Declaration: it is his voice and ideals being broadcast therein, not just Colonel Ojukwu’s. His efforts as Biafra’s public relations minister helped to raise awareness to the humanitarian atrocity occurring in Biafra as a result of Nigeria’s total blockage. Moreover, Achebe was the editor of the African Writer Series. This series was composed of 360 titles, 3 of which were accorded Nobel prizes, this series—with Achebe at the helm—put African literature in touch with a larger international audience. His editorship of this series allowed him to influence African literature, …show more content…
The book covered in class that follows Things Fall Apart chronologically, is perhaps also the one that most closely adheres to the template established by Achebe. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o also makes use of the authoritative, explanatory, and third person collective voice to advance his politics to a Kenyan equivalent of Achebe’s audience (i.e. Kenyan readers). Thiong’o’s politics appear much the same as Achebe’s, he is arguing against the use of an autocratic executive, in favor of a government more representative of the people. A government based on a traditional, rurally based, communal set of morals. His novel, like Achebe’s, is set in a rural village. A rural village whose inhabitants were suffering from collective post traumatic stress disorder as a result of colonial rule. Thiong’o, in the original 1967 edition of his novel, depicts his female characters in much the same light as did Achebe. The most prominent female character in the novel is Mumbi. Mumbi is much the prototypical mother which the nationalists, i.e. Achebe and Mwigwithania’s contributors, cast as the pillar of cultural continuation. She is a binding, strong, and loyal force who brings the men of the novel together, and offers them a way to move past their trauma. Even the name Mumbi has motherly roots, meaning the ‘Master builder’ within traditional lore. The mother is the pillar through which tradition is preserved in both Things Fall Apart and A Grain of Wheat. By calling for a reversion to traditional communal ways within government, Thiong’o places culture and tradition in much the same place of reverence as did Achebe. It is worth noting that A Grain of Wheat was a part of the African Writer Series, and was written while Achebe was still chief editor of the
It would not be disingenuous to say that Chinua Achebe was not only Africa’s best known author, but was also its most influential. Achebe all but wrote the Ahiara Declaration: it is his voice and ideals being broadcast therein, not just Colonel Ojukwu’s. His efforts as Biafra’s public relations minister helped to raise awareness to the humanitarian atrocity occurring in Biafra as a result of Nigeria’s total blockage. Moreover, Achebe was the editor of the African Writer Series. This series was composed of 360 titles, 3 of which were accorded Nobel prizes, this series—with Achebe at the helm—put African literature in touch with a larger international audience. His editorship of this series allowed him to influence African literature, …show more content…
The book covered in class that follows Things Fall Apart chronologically, is perhaps also the one that most closely adheres to the template established by Achebe. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o also makes use of the authoritative, explanatory, and third person collective voice to advance his politics to a Kenyan equivalent of Achebe’s audience (i.e. Kenyan readers). Thiong’o’s politics appear much the same as Achebe’s, he is arguing against the use of an autocratic executive, in favor of a government more representative of the people. A government based on a traditional, rurally based, communal set of morals. His novel, like Achebe’s, is set in a rural village. A rural village whose inhabitants were suffering from collective post traumatic stress disorder as a result of colonial rule. Thiong’o, in the original 1967 edition of his novel, depicts his female characters in much the same light as did Achebe. The most prominent female character in the novel is Mumbi. Mumbi is much the prototypical mother which the nationalists, i.e. Achebe and Mwigwithania’s contributors, cast as the pillar of cultural continuation. She is a binding, strong, and loyal force who brings the men of the novel together, and offers them a way to move past their trauma. Even the name Mumbi has motherly roots, meaning the ‘Master builder’ within traditional lore. The mother is the pillar through which tradition is preserved in both Things Fall Apart and A Grain of Wheat. By calling for a reversion to traditional communal ways within government, Thiong’o places culture and tradition in much the same place of reverence as did Achebe. It is worth noting that A Grain of Wheat was a part of the African Writer Series, and was written while Achebe was still chief editor of the