Event notes

“At first approach, an event is thus the effect that seems to exceed its causes -- and

the space of an event is that which opens up by the gap that separates an effect from

its causes.” (5)

“at its most elementary, event is not something that occurs within the world, but is a

change of the very frame through which we perceive the world and engage in it.” (12)

--> this is related to a change in ideology, in the Althusserian sense. It’s also the most

Heideggerian view of event (Ereignis) (see 30).

The Christian Fall is an example of “event as rupture in the normal run of things”

(35)

Event as “the Fall itself, the loss of some primordial unity and harmony which never

existed, which is just a retroactive illusion.” (45) --> This is the notion of a return to

origins in post-colonial situations, where the event of colonialism means the loss of a

pre-colonial unity/identity that never existed (e.g. India) (43-44). Achebe makes this

quite obvious in the fights within families, within Umuaro, and between villages

(Umuaro vs Okperi).