An Interview with Chinua Achebe

1. An Interview with Chinua Achebe

2. About Achebe • Born in Nigeria on November 16, 1930 • Recognized at an early age for his intelligence • Around 1948, Nigeria open their first University • “Things Fall Apart” is his best know work • “Father of modern African writing”

3. Things Fall Apart • “Depicts the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia----- one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people. It describes his family and personal history, the customs and society of the Igbo, and the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community during the late nineteenth century”

4. General Themes in Achebe’s Work • Culture • Western v. African • Colonialism • European colonization of Africa • Masculinity v. Femininity • Criticized by some as a sexist writer

5. Standout Points from Interview • “Art is not something which is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.” • “It does not mean that our heroes have to be angels.” • “That is what literature, what art, was supposed to do: to give us a second handle on reality so that when it becomes necessary to do so, we can turn to art and find a way out.” Culture

6. Standout Points from Interview • “I was able to reassess what I had read and all I had to go by at the point was the colonial novel written by white people about us.” • “So in that sense it’s at Ibadan that I grew up, and growing up is part of the decision to write.” Colonialism

7. Masculinity v. Femininity • Traditional Igbo patriarchal societies • Men have multiple wives • Women are beaten • Men are superior to women

8. List of other works • No Longer at Ease (1960) • Arrow of God (1964) • A Man of the People (1966) • Anthills of the Savannah (1987)