Universidade Federal da Bahia

LETA96 - O Romance de Língua Inglesa

Group Members: Nilo Caciel, Raiana Caetano, and Taylane da Paixão Silva

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe, a post-colonial analysis

Introduction

Throughout history, several European nations came to have military and political dominance of
much of the globe and their ideologies supported or attempted to legitimize their actions. Over the
second half of the 20th century, however, many of the colonized nations gained their independence
from their colonial rulers. Sometimes through a peaceful handover of power yet, often, through a
protracted popular uprising.

In the present day, that form of colonialism, in which one nation rules over another, is, though not
entirely absent, somewhat less common. Nonetheless, the absence of a formal colonial system has
not led to a completely equitable geopolitics or global culture. We only need to look at the disparity
in wealth between Europe and Africa or North America and Central/South America to see that
that is the case. In short, colonialism has a clear and persistent legacy. And postcolonialism is an
umbrella term which we use to describe a set of theories and practices which seek to explore the
legacy of colonialism in the present day. And much of this does attend to the political and
economic legacies of colonialism.

This paper will focus on the cultural legacy of colonialism and some of the ideas and theories that
have come to be used to explore the cultural legacy of colonialism in literature in the present day.

What does Postcolonial mean?

It is fair to say that the term Post-colonial (or Postcolonial) has been used in different ways. Amid
the independence movements in the second half of the 20th century, post-colonial was basically a
periodizing term. To describe a literary work with it was to name a historical moment, not a
political project or ideological affiliation. However, there was a better understanding, over the last
quarter of the 20th century, of colonialism as an intricate practice of subjugation that goes beyond
political and economical control. De facto, it involves much deeper forms of subjugation (cultural
and linguistic), what Ngugi wa Thiong’o called the “colony of the mind”, invisible and, for this
reason, more dangerous. Being aware of this, intellectuals came to understand that despite the end
of European control over the former colonies political and economical administration, cultural and
linguistic colonization would linger and it would take considerable time and effort to oust. Helen
Gilbert (2001) explains that, in some contexts, post-colonial started to indicate a degree of agency, or
at least a program of resistance against cultural domination. Therefore, post-colonial, at its core,
started to signal the existence of a particular historical legacy and a central concern with cultural
power. Scholars like Venn (2006) point out a particularity of European colonialism:

European colonization, he writes: the European model of colonialism is distinct from

other models in that its form of appropriation-as-dispossession is overlaid with a discourse
that locates the colonized as 'Other', not just the stranger or the different, but as
fundamentally and ontologically inferior beings to be brought under either the tutelage or
the ban of the West (itself constituted within the logic of the West and its 'other'). (Venn,
2006, p. 11)

Gandhi defines the post-colonial as “an act of remembering and interrogating the colonial past”, a
disciplinary project devoted to the academic task of revisiting, remembering, and crucially,
interrogating the colonial past. It is also evident the significant influence of Michel Foucault’s
explanation of the ways in which language, discourse, power and difference operate to maintain
control over the subordinate, colonized Other. Past-colonial writers are usually engaged with
emphasizing their differences from the assumptions of the imperial center. Their narratives
frequently portray the experiences of colonized people and, most importantly, are told from their
perspectives. To sum up, instead of a mere “came after” meaning, post-colonial literature is
generally defined as that which critically or subversively scrutinizes the colonial relationship
(Boehmer, 200S, p. 3), set out to defy colonialist perspectives, the myths of power and the imagery
of subordination. An epistemological marker, rather than a chronological one. (Quayson, 2000, p.
11)
When attempting to explain post-colonialism, claiming a single book as being the originator of an
entire field is a gross simplification of the truth. However, Edward Said’s 1978 book Orientalism
can certainly claim to popularize some of the key ideas which now sit as the foundation of
post-colonial theory. Whitin it, Said argued that “ideas, cultures, and histories cannot seriously be
understood or studied without their force, or more precisely their configurations of power also
being studied” (SAID, 1978, p.12).

Said thus argues that, because of many years of colonial rule, “the West” – a term which is largely
used to refer to nations which were not colonized – has had a significant amount more power in
dictating global culture than “the East” – a term which tends to be used to describe nations which
were colonized.

And Said suggests that what happened was that “the West” essentially took away “the East”’ ability
to represent or define itself and that, instead, “the West” came to define “the East” in a manner that
was useful for its own terms. In Said’s words, “the imaginative examination of things oriental was
based more or less exclusively upon a sovereign western consciousness out of whose unchallenged
centrality an oriental world emerged” (SAID, 1978, p. 1).

The central thrust of Said’s thesis is that in a global dominated by “the West”, “the East” has usually
been represented (often by “the West”) as being illogical, mysterious, strange, driven by base human
passions. In contrast to this, “the West” has often been represented as logical, cultured, and, in
short, the norm.

The postcolonialism movement then grew to look at the way indigenous people adapted to their
oppressor’s culture, the elements of their traditional culture that survived, and the ways moving
forward, how to express/retrieve “who they were”.

Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian author, wrote one of the first African novels about his traditional
culture, Things Fall Apart. It laid the groundwork for generations that would follow him and
inspired a genre of writing about African culture. Things Fall Apart is a character-driven novel
written in English. It mostly focuses on the inner thoughts or external actions of one main
protagonist, in this case, Okonkwo – who is individualistic and has his own view of what
constitutes being a man/masculinity. And that becomes obvious from the very start of the novel
“Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid
personal achievements.” (ACHEBE, 1958, p.1)

Here we have a novel set in Igboland, where we are given glimpses into a living culture which is
collectivist in so many ways. The story Achebe is telling is not of the culture itself, it’s not driven by
the pulls and pressures of that culture, it is the story of a self-made man. Showing Achebe’s beliefs
that Africans should be able to be participants in their stories and they should be treated as
individual characters capable of making right and wrong choices.

Things fall apart - Chinua Achebe

The novel is defined primarily as a space in which values and beliefs are fragmented and conflicting.
It is a hybrid literary form, as it is a space in which different voices, languages and belief systems
continually collide. For this reason the romantic narrative tends to be this pole where dramatic
tension takes shape. In the novel, the narrating voice is as important as the narrated fact, since it
bears the fingerprints of an individual writer, that is, the narrator is responsible for being this
reflection of the writer's subjectivity. A good novel is unique because of the way it is written,
because of the gaps created, the spaces left in white that often speak more than a thousand words.
The work “Things Fall Apart”, by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe is divided into three parts:
the first one is written about the family of the main character, Okonkwo, his personal history and
the Igbo customs and society, the second and third section presents the influence of European
colonialism and Christian missionaries on Okonkwo, his family and the Igbo community.
Similarly, to start this essay, we will bring three devices used by the author for the excellent
construction of the novel “Things Fall Apart”.
The first point is that the classic work “Things Fall Apart”, builds a prose between the real and the
fictional. Through the historical fact that is European colonization in the countries of the African
continent, the author builds a fictional story of a man called Okonkwo, from the Igbo community,
and narrates his life trajectory, from his childhood to his end. Achebe, he has the language device to
demonstrate how Okonkwo's fame as a fighting champion is neglected during the colonization
process. The author's idea is to reach the point of the novel genre, in which values ​and beliefs are
placed in a conflicting space. Thus, the racist view of the colonizer, which diminishes the culture
and identity of the other, finds conflict with the pre-existing cultural and social experience in the
Igbo community. It is interesting to emphasize the point of dramatic tension where the beginning
of the narrative builds the image of Okonkwo as an obstinate man, however, this vision begins to
be distorted, when he is silenced by the imposition of British colonization, which reflects not only
the loss of the identity of a man, but of an entire people.
The second artifice used is the reflection of the author's subjectivity, within the reality of the work.
The modern novel is known for this direct connection with individuality, which means that the
work is not apathetic to the author, just as the author is not apathetic to the work, but both are
connected. Thus, author Chinua Achebe, in addition to being one of the most respected writers
today, has also acted in diplomacy during conflicts between the Nigerian government and the Igbo
people. Therefore, Things Fall Apart is directly related to the author's personal experiences, being a
reflection of his individuality, and the impact he suffered during British colonization. Chinua
Achebe also makes an incisive criticism of neocolonialism, as a serious crime that uses the pretext of
protecting one people over another to exploit and take possession of their goods and lands. Not to
mention that this novel is the first written by Achebe and qualifies him as a pioneer in the
introduction of the African novel in world literature, thus playing a very important role in inserting
the discussion regarding the process and effects of British imposition. The linguistic issue is taken
up once more, as a fundamental piece, because ironically, it is through the language of the colonizer
that the author criticizes colonization. Creating yet another pole of dramatic tension, which
permeates the characteristic of the novel.
And, finally, the third artifice is the strategic writing that brings out the religious conflict
experienced by traditional societies with the arrival of European colonizers. Not only in Nigerian
communities, but on behalf of all peoples who suffered from European imposition, which Achebe
denounces how harmful these relationships are. Throughout the story of the character Okonkwo,
the point of divergence experienced by him is notorious, with the arrival of Christian missionaries,
where two different religions, two ways of seeing the world, coexist. Through the novel Things fall
apart, it is possible to follow the insertion of Christian missionaries in the Igbo community,
challenging pre-existing cultures and traditions, using subterfuge to win over believers and establish
the first churches. And, on the other hand, there is the Igbo tradition, full of history and legends,
which reveal the people's relationship with nature and their region. Throughout the work, the
presence of proverbs said by the elders is notable, proverbs have always been seen as a means to
teach the codes of Igbo society and the functioning of human behavior. The work also has
metaphors and comparisons, in order to represent the Igbo community.

References:

ACHEBE, Chinua. The African writer and the English language. In: WILLIAMS, Patrick;
CHRISMAN, Laura (ed.). Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory: a reader. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1994. p. 428-434.
ACHEBE, C.. Things fall apart New York: Anchor Books , 1994
Said, Edward W. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Penguin, 1978
VARUGHESE, Emma D. Beyond the Postcolonial: World Englishes Literature. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.