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The great Chinua Achebe was the man who gave Africa a voice The great Chinua Achebe was the man who gave Africa a voice
(6 months later)
My sister teaches Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart to her young teenage pupils – and, as a companion text, Shakespeare's Macbeth. This may seem, to any literary mind steeped in the orthodoxy (and supremacy) of the western canon, an act of reckless equivalence. But she and I are lucky enough to be of a generation whose parents, aware of the need to supplement that very canon, made sure that Achebe, Ngugi and Soyinka were on the shelves next to Hardy, Austen and, yes, Shakespeare.My sister teaches Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart to her young teenage pupils – and, as a companion text, Shakespeare's Macbeth. This may seem, to any literary mind steeped in the orthodoxy (and supremacy) of the western canon, an act of reckless equivalence. But she and I are lucky enough to be of a generation whose parents, aware of the need to supplement that very canon, made sure that Achebe, Ngugi and Soyinka were on the shelves next to Hardy, Austen and, yes, Shakespeare.
And now, teaching her select group of young African-Americans at a small private school in Virginia, it is Shakespeare she chooses to explain as exotic. The prospect of these children unleashed into the world with Achebe's protagonist Okonkwo as the standard and the Scottish laird as an example of how tragedy can also be told in "other places" is exhilarating. It also makes sense – two broken "big men" with deeply flawed personalities who bring about their own downfall; two explorations of society and family that face head on, with relevance for generations beyond their own time, questions of basic morality and the human stain. The permanence of the Scottish play is easily taken for granted. But I cannot help but think that without the audacity of Achebe's belief that the world was ready to read a story of Africa, by an African, from his own perspective, our literary landscape would be condemned to a bleak monochrome.And now, teaching her select group of young African-Americans at a small private school in Virginia, it is Shakespeare she chooses to explain as exotic. The prospect of these children unleashed into the world with Achebe's protagonist Okonkwo as the standard and the Scottish laird as an example of how tragedy can also be told in "other places" is exhilarating. It also makes sense – two broken "big men" with deeply flawed personalities who bring about their own downfall; two explorations of society and family that face head on, with relevance for generations beyond their own time, questions of basic morality and the human stain. The permanence of the Scottish play is easily taken for granted. But I cannot help but think that without the audacity of Achebe's belief that the world was ready to read a story of Africa, by an African, from his own perspective, our literary landscape would be condemned to a bleak monochrome.
On hearing of the death of Achebe, friends – writers and readers both – have been in touch to exchange very African utterances of condolence. The great man is gone, says Ben Okri. Who will speak out for us now, writes Ike Anya. Each of us has a story of how reading Achebe revealed the possibility of putting ourselves at the centre of a narrative and allowed us to read in the first person.On hearing of the death of Achebe, friends – writers and readers both – have been in touch to exchange very African utterances of condolence. The great man is gone, says Ben Okri. Who will speak out for us now, writes Ike Anya. Each of us has a story of how reading Achebe revealed the possibility of putting ourselves at the centre of a narrative and allowed us to read in the first person.
In his debut, Achebe accorded the religion, culture and domestic economies of everyday Igbo lives a level of intimacy and humanity that rendered their experiences universal, boldly shifting the boundaries of perspective. When, in his essay on Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Achebe spoke of the prospect of rewriting a western view of Africa, he concluded: "Although the work of redressing which needs to be done may appear too daunting, I believe it is not one day too soon to begin."In his debut, Achebe accorded the religion, culture and domestic economies of everyday Igbo lives a level of intimacy and humanity that rendered their experiences universal, boldly shifting the boundaries of perspective. When, in his essay on Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Achebe spoke of the prospect of rewriting a western view of Africa, he concluded: "Although the work of redressing which needs to be done may appear too daunting, I believe it is not one day too soon to begin."
This year alone will see international publication of books by writers including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Taiye Selasi, NoViolet Bulawayo and Alain Mabanckou as lead titles – with none of the "specialist" back-of-the-bookshop timidity that would have been evident even 10 years ago. While this tremendous reach of writing by Africans may have happened regardless, I cannot help but wonder just how much of it is because of the possibilities opened by Achebe's own life and work.This year alone will see international publication of books by writers including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Taiye Selasi, NoViolet Bulawayo and Alain Mabanckou as lead titles – with none of the "specialist" back-of-the-bookshop timidity that would have been evident even 10 years ago. While this tremendous reach of writing by Africans may have happened regardless, I cannot help but wonder just how much of it is because of the possibilities opened by Achebe's own life and work.
This was a life lived in the heart of a continent at a time of great political and social change. When Achebe published his first novel in 1958, Nigeria was two years away from independence. It was a country blessed with the economic promise of rich reserves of oil and a vast, ethnically diverse population. Though Achebe chose initially to write of the past, he did so with a realism that eschewed romanticising and challenged his readers to recognise a contemporary truth – that we were still far from regaining what was lost, and were in danger of losing still more.This was a life lived in the heart of a continent at a time of great political and social change. When Achebe published his first novel in 1958, Nigeria was two years away from independence. It was a country blessed with the economic promise of rich reserves of oil and a vast, ethnically diverse population. Though Achebe chose initially to write of the past, he did so with a realism that eschewed romanticising and challenged his readers to recognise a contemporary truth – that we were still far from regaining what was lost, and were in danger of losing still more.
By 1964, his novel was the first by an African writer to be set as a required text in schools across the continent's English-speaking countries and it is, more than 50 years after publication, the most widely read work by an African writer; the book that, more than any other, has introduced readers across the world to the writing of the continent.By 1964, his novel was the first by an African writer to be set as a required text in schools across the continent's English-speaking countries and it is, more than 50 years after publication, the most widely read work by an African writer; the book that, more than any other, has introduced readers across the world to the writing of the continent.
Achebe went on to write four other novels – two of them, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God, tell the story of Okonkwo's descendants, charting the fate of Nigeria itself. These works laid out the landscape of writing from Africa in the decades that followed. They featured characters whose struggles with change and identity, modernisation and tradition and with power, corruption and moral accountability underscored the questions Africans were asking about their newly independent nations on an intimate human scale. With prose that takes the English language and infuses it with inflections and a history that is uniquely Igbo, discernibly Nigerian and unmistakably African, Achebe's is a realism that ensures the enduring relevance of his fiction.Achebe went on to write four other novels – two of them, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God, tell the story of Okonkwo's descendants, charting the fate of Nigeria itself. These works laid out the landscape of writing from Africa in the decades that followed. They featured characters whose struggles with change and identity, modernisation and tradition and with power, corruption and moral accountability underscored the questions Africans were asking about their newly independent nations on an intimate human scale. With prose that takes the English language and infuses it with inflections and a history that is uniquely Igbo, discernibly Nigerian and unmistakably African, Achebe's is a realism that ensures the enduring relevance of his fiction.
In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker international prize for fiction. In an essay celebrating the award, the critic Elaine Showalter acknowledged him as an artist who "changed imperishably the way we see and understand the world". In a writing life that included poetry, children's books, short stories and political commentary, Achebe's criticism contributed provocations that not only shaped the development of writing from Africa but also the way we read it. He remained consistently engaged with literature and politics, speaking in his most recent collection of essays, The Education of a British-Protected Child, of his belief that a writer's lot was to strive to "create... a different order of reality from that which is given to him".In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker international prize for fiction. In an essay celebrating the award, the critic Elaine Showalter acknowledged him as an artist who "changed imperishably the way we see and understand the world". In a writing life that included poetry, children's books, short stories and political commentary, Achebe's criticism contributed provocations that not only shaped the development of writing from Africa but also the way we read it. He remained consistently engaged with literature and politics, speaking in his most recent collection of essays, The Education of a British-Protected Child, of his belief that a writer's lot was to strive to "create... a different order of reality from that which is given to him".
Even where it may remain unacknowledged, the response to that urging is one that writers including Helen Oyeyemi, Igoni Barrett and Chinelo Okparanta – Nigerians living at home and in the diaspora who will also publish new works this year – embody with the effortless confidence of a generation securely perched on the shoulders of titans. And perhaps, along with these writers, my sister's young students, as they reach college age, armed with an equal understanding of Achebe and his non-African counterparts, will have a thing or two to contribute towards a truly universal canon.Even where it may remain unacknowledged, the response to that urging is one that writers including Helen Oyeyemi, Igoni Barrett and Chinelo Okparanta – Nigerians living at home and in the diaspora who will also publish new works this year – embody with the effortless confidence of a generation securely perched on the shoulders of titans. And perhaps, along with these writers, my sister's young students, as they reach college age, armed with an equal understanding of Achebe and his non-African counterparts, will have a thing or two to contribute towards a truly universal canon.
In her review of Achebe's last work, There Was a Country: a Personal History of Biafra, Chimamanda Adichie speaks of her countryman's memoir as a "Nigerian nationalist lament for the failure of the giant that never was; Achebe is mourning Nigeria's failures". I do not think it stretches things too far to say that Okonkwo's story is entirely applicable to Africa as we know it today.In her review of Achebe's last work, There Was a Country: a Personal History of Biafra, Chimamanda Adichie speaks of her countryman's memoir as a "Nigerian nationalist lament for the failure of the giant that never was; Achebe is mourning Nigeria's failures". I do not think it stretches things too far to say that Okonkwo's story is entirely applicable to Africa as we know it today.
In a continent too often burdened by the actions of "big men", with many of her people striving to rebuild the ruins of things that have fallen apart, the death of Achebe marks the loss of another kind of big man. This is one defined not by greed, corruption and a hunger for power, but by a generosity of spirit and an imagination that changed the course of literature. If the lesson of this great life is anything, if there is to be any revelation at hand, it is that knowing your story, and enacting the right to tell it yourself, is only just the beginning.In a continent too often burdened by the actions of "big men", with many of her people striving to rebuild the ruins of things that have fallen apart, the death of Achebe marks the loss of another kind of big man. This is one defined not by greed, corruption and a hunger for power, but by a generosity of spirit and an imagination that changed the course of literature. If the lesson of this great life is anything, if there is to be any revelation at hand, it is that knowing your story, and enacting the right to tell it yourself, is only just the beginning.
Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is deputy editor of Granta Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is deputy editor of Granta
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