Download or read book Remembering a Legend Chinua Achebe written by N. Emenyonu and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2014-12-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe recaptures for the literary world the inimitable legacies of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Africas leading novelist and literary philosopher of the 20th century. It addresses the questions of Achebes role in establishing the African art of the novel, his theories and standards for the criticism of African writing. The volume articulates unequivocally how Achebe provided the message and pioneered a confident voice to African writers to express the message with audacity; repudiate without equivocation, any form of distortions of African past and present realities. The essays remind the reader how Achebe brought to the field of world literature new perspectives and vitality that distinguished the African art of storytelling from imaginative creativities elsewhere. This volume presents Achebes articulation of the traditional and modern in African narrative techniqueslinking the skills of the traditional artist (oral performer) to those of the modern writer; how the modern African creative artist can embellish his/her art with oral resources such as folktales, proverbs, sayings, festivals, songs, riddles, and myths. Chinua Achebes unique distinctions as a novelist lie in the areas of informed vision and artistic integrity. His greatest legacy to 20th century world literature probably is his pioneer role in the nativization and ingenious use of the English language. The exceptional genius of Achebe touched many traditional and cultural bases in his fiction, essays, and memoirs. The critical responses to Achebes works in this book, address adequately almost every aspect of his creative imagination and craftsmanship. The reader will find in this convenient volume several seminal studies by two eminent scholars of Achebes intriguing genius that authenticate him as among the best literary craftsmen of the 20th century and undeniably Africas best.

Download or read book Remembering a Legend Chinua Achebe written by Emenyonu, Ernest N. and published by African Heritage Press. This book was released on 2014-12-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remembering a Legend: Chinua Achebe recaptures for the literary world the inimitable legacies of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Africa's leading novelist and literary philosopher of the 20th century. It addresses the questions of Achebe's role in establishing the African art of the novel, his theories and standards for the criticism of African writing. The volume articulates unequivocally how Achebe provided the message and pioneered a confident voice to African writers to express the message with audacity; repudiate without equivocation, any form of distortions of African past and present realities. The essays remind the reader how Achebe brought to the field of world literature new perspectives and vitality that distinguished the African art of storytelling from imaginative creativities elsewhere. This volume presents Achebe's articulation of the traditional and modern in African narrative techniques-linking the skills of the traditional artist (oral performer) to those of the modern writer; how the modern African creative artist can embellish his/her art with oral resources such as folktales, proverbs, sayings, festivals, songs, riddles, and myths. Chinua Achebe's unique distinctions as a novelist lie in the areas of informed vision and artistic integrity. His greatest legacy to 20th century world literature probably is his pioneer role in the 'nativization' and ingenious use of the English language. The exceptional genius of Achebe touched many traditional and cultural bases in his fiction, essays, and memoirs. The critical responses to Achebe's works in this book, address adequately almost every aspect of his creative imagination and craftsmanship. The reader will find in this convenient volume several seminal studies by two eminent scholars of Achebe's intriguing genius that authenticate him as among the best literary craftsmen of the 20th century and undeniably Africa's best.

Download or read book Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress written by B. Nyamnjoh and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2021-06-09 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a timely addition to debates and explorations on the epistemological relevance of African proverbs, especially with growing calls for the decolonisation of African curricula. The editors and contributors have chosen to reflect on the diverse ways of being and becoming African as a permanent work in progress by drawing inspiration from Chinua Achebe's harnessing of the effectualness of oratory, especially his use of proverbs in his works. The book recognises and celebrates the fact that Achebe's proverbial Igbo imaginations of being and becoming African are compelling because they are instructive about the lives, stories, struggles and aspirations of the rainbow of people that make up Africa as a veritable global arena of productive circulations, entanglements and compositeness of being. The contributions foray into how claims to and practices of being and becoming African are steeped in histories of mobilities and a myriad of encounters shaped by and inspiring of the competing and complementary logics of personhood and power that Africans have sought and seek to capture in their repertoires of proverbs. The task of documenting African proverbs and rendering them accessible in the form of a common hard currency with fascinating epistemological possibilities remains a challenge yearning for financial, scholarly, social and political attention. The book is an important contribution to John Mbiti's clarion call for an active and sustained interest in African proverbs.

Download or read book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Book Analysis written by Bright Summaries and published by BrightSummaries.com. This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlock the more straightforward side of Things Fall Apart with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, which centres on the great warrior and champion wrestler Okonkwo as he deals with the challenges resulting from disagreements in his clan, the arrival of white missionaries in his village and the mounting tension between tradition and modernity. The engaging narrative provides a compelling, immersive portrait of Igbo life in Achebe’s native Nigeria and a thoughtful exploration of the impact of colonialism and of themes such as masculinity, honour, pride and disobedience. Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian writer who sought to use his novels, short stories, essays and poetry to examine the struggles facing his country and expand popular conceptions of Africa and its people. He is widely considered to be the founding father of modern African literature. Find out everything you need to know about Things Fall Apart in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

Download or read book A study on the writing style of Chinua Achebe written by Dr. Ashish Gupta and published by Shashwat Publication. This book was released on 2024-03-08 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinua Achebe was a master that mastered a variety of distinct approaches that authors may use to create tales. There are many different ways that writers can tell stories. When it comes to creating stories, authors have the capacity to use a variety of techniques. One of the narrative techniques that Achebe utilised was referred to as "flashback," and it was included into his work. However, Achebe utilised a variety of approaches, and one of those methods was flashback. Whenever we get to this point in the story, the story will take us on a trip through time to show us something that took place in the past. This book delves into the rich tapestry ofchebe’s writing style, examining the intricate threads that weave together his exploration of Igbo culture, the clash between tradition and colonialism, the multi-dimensional characters he breathes life into, the narrative structures that captivate readers, the language and diction that form a linguistic bridge between worlds, the social commentary that critiques historical injustices, and the symbolism and imagery that elevate his works to realms of profound meaning. The work of Achebe is not only a reflection of a particular cultural environment; rather, it is a mirror that is held up to the intricacies of the human experience. As we begin our investigation, we will travel across the landscapes of Nigeria’s pre-colonial and colonial history. We will also navigate the twisting routes of Achebe’s narratives, which merge the past and the present in a seamless manner. The individuals that we come across are not only figments of our imagination; rather, they are manifestations of the internal tensions, moral conundrums, and the indomitable spirit that characterises mankind in the face of hardship. The unfolding of this investigation takes place against the backdrop of Achebe’s linguistic artistry, which is a dance that captures the spirit of cultural hybridity through the merging of English and Igbo expressions.

Download or read book Character and the Supernatural in Shakespeare and Achebe written by Kenneth Usongo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through mainly a New Historicist critical approach, this book explores how Shakespeare and Achebe employ supernatural devices such as prophecies, dreams, gods/goddesses, beliefs, and divinations to create complex characters. Even though these features indicate the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their protagonists. Both writers appropriate supernatural features to mirror tragic flaws such as ambition, arrogance, impulsiveness, and fear that contribute to the downfall of Macbeth, Lear, Okonkwo, and Ezeulu. We relate to some of these characters because they project our inner minds, principal drives that may be hidden within us. Therefore, Shakespeare and Achebe’s preoccupation with the supernatural adds subtlety to their characterization and enhances their readability by situating their art beyond time, place, or particularity.

Download or read book Yearning for Dis Connections written by Hassan Yosimbom and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2023-09-30 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a nuanced consideration of the Cameroonian experience, Yearning for (Dis) Connections makes critical interventions into debates about coexistence, citizenship, identity formation and performance, democracy and modernity in Cameroon. The essays in the book ranges across Francophone and Anglophone Cameroons to provide a challenging assessment of the common ways of writing and thinking for and of and about the Cameroonian world. The book criticises the blinders of Cameroon's Francophonecentred leadership, analysing its failure to heed Anglophone Cameroon's ontological and epistemological critiques of Cameroon's ongoing exclusions masked by pretences of a Francophone universalism. Yosimbom uses the works of Nyamnjoh, Ndi, Besong and Takwi to explore how Cameroonian worlds are on the move of and for identity negotiations. He also explores how the uneven development of those Cameroonian worlds has been creating growing gaps within and among regions while at the same time Francophonising Anglophones and Anglophonising Francophones through four-fold processes of complementarities, continuity and discontinuity, diachrony and synchrony. The book demonstrates that persistent Francophone hegemony and resurgent Anglophone nationalism often fail to realise that all Cameroonians have been shuffled like a pack of cards; that cultures are formed through complex dialogues and interactions with other cultures; that the boundaries of cultures are fluid, porous and contested; that identities are multiple and layered in complex, pluralist democratic societies; and that there is need for public recognition of cultural and identity specificities in ways that do not deny their fluidity, nimbleness and incompleteness.

Download or read book Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1994-09-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order. With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

Download or read book Chinua Achebe written by Kirsten Holst Petersen and published by Heinemann International Incorporated. This book was released on 1991 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Literary History of the Igbo Novel written by Ernest N. Emenyonu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-02-07 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the trends in the development of the Igbo novel from its antecedents in oral performance, through the emergence of the first published novel, Omenuko, in 1933 by Pita Nwana, to the contemporary Igbo novel. Defining "Igbo literature" as literature in Igbo language, and "Igbo novel" as a novel written in Igbo language, the author argues that oral and written literature in African indigenous languages hold an important foundational position in the history of African literature. Focusing on the contributions of Igbo writers to the development of African literature in African languages, the book examines the evolution, themes, and distinctive features of the Igbo novel, the historical circumstances of the rise of the African novel in the pre-colonial, era and their impact on the contemporary Igbo novel. This book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, literary history, and Igbo studies.

Download or read book The Anglophone Literary Linguistic Continuum written by Andindilile, Michael and published by NISC (Pty) Ltd. This book was released on 2018-11-05 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Andindilile in The Anglophone Literary–Linguistic Continuum: English and Indigenous Languages in African Literary Discourse interrogates Obi Wali’s (1963) prophecy that continued use of former colonial languages in the production of African literature could only lead to ‘sterility’, as African literatures can only be written in indigenous African languages. In doing so, Andindilile critically examines selected of novels of Achebe of Nigeria, Ngũgĩ of Kenya, Gordimer of South Africa and Farah of Somalia and shows that, when we pay close attention to what these authors represent about their African societies, and the way they integrate African languages, values, beliefs and cultures, we can discover what constitutes the Anglophone African literary–linguistic continuum. This continuum can be defined as variations in the literary usage of English in African literary discourse, with the language serving as the base to which writers add variations inspired by indigenous languages, beliefs, cultures and, sometimes, nation-specific experiences.

Download or read book New Perspectives on the Nigeria Biafra War written by Chima J. Korieh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-13 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra War: No Victor, No Vanquished analyzes the continued impact of the Nigeria-Biafra war on the Igbo, the failure of the reconstruction and reconciliation effort in the post-war period, and the politics of exclusion of the memory of the war in public discourse in Nigeria. Furthermore, New Perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra War explores the resilience of the Igbo people and the different strategies they have employed to preserve the history and memory of Biafra. The contributors argue that the war had important consequences for the socio-political developments in the post-war period, ushering in two differing ideologies: a paternalistic ideology of “co-option” of the Igbo by the Nigerian state, under the false premise of ‘No Victor, No Vanquished,” and the Igbo commitment to self-preservation on the other.

Download or read book Omenuko written by Nwana, Pita and published by African Heritage Press. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Omenụkọ (real name: Igwegbe Odum) whose home in Okigwe, Eastern Nigeria, was a popular spot for field trips by students in schools and colleges, as well as a favourite attraction for tourists in the decades before and after the Nigerian Independence in 1960. Generations of Igbo children began their reading in Igbo with Omenụkọ, and those who did not have the opportunity to go to school still read Omenụkọ in their homes or at adult education centers. Omenụkọ was a legendary figure and his 'sayings' became part of the Igbo speech repertoire that young adults were expected to acquire. Omenụkọ, a classic in Igbo Literature, written by Pita Nwana and published in 1933 by Longman, Green & Co, Ltd, London, is in this translation made accessible to a global audience. Emenyonu utilizes his mastery of both languages (Igbo and English) to faithfully present to his audience a complete rendition of Omenụkọ as originally written. The timeless significance of this novel as a progenitor of the Igbo language novel is again underscored.

Download or read book Myth Literature and the African World written by Wole Soyinka and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-09-13 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, here analyses the interconnecting worlds of myth, ritual and literature in Africa.

Download or read book What Is the What written by Dave Eggers and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What Is the What is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee in war-ravaged southern Sudan who flees from his village in the mid-1980s and becomes one of the so-called Lost Boys. Valentino’s travels bring him in contact with enemy soldiers, with liberation rebels, with hyenas and lions, with disease and starvation, and with deadly murahaleen (militias on horseback)–the same sort who currently terrorize Darfur. Eventually Deng is resettled in the United States with almost 4000 other young Sudanese men, and a very different struggle begins. Based closely on true experiences, What Is the What is heartbreaking and arresting, filled with adventure, suspense, tragedy, and, finally, triumph.

Download or read book Coming to Birth written by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye and published by The Feminist Press at CUNY. This book was released on 2000-12-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this quietly powerful and eminently readable novel, winner of the prestigious Sinclair Prize, Kenyan writer Marjorie Macgoye deftly interweaves the story of one young woman’s tumultuous coming of age with the history of a nation emerging from colonialism. At the age of sixteen, Paulina leaves her small village in western Kenya to join her new husband, Martin, in the bustling city of Nairobi. It is 1956, and Kenya is in the final days of the "Emergency," as the British seek to suppress violent anti-colonial revolts. But Paulina knows little about, about city life, or about marriage, and Martin’s clumsy attempts to control her soon lead to a relationship filled with silences, misunderstandings, and unfulfilled expectations. Soon Paulina’s inability to bear a child effectively banishes her from the confines of traditional women’s roles. As her country at last moves toward independence, Paulina manages to achieve a kind of independence as well: She accepts a job that will require her to live separately from her husband, and she has an affair that leads to the birth of her first child. But Paulina’s hard-won contentment will be shattered when Kenya’s turbulent history intrudes into her private life, bringing with it tragedy—and a new test of her quiet courage and determination. Paulina’s patient struggles for survival and identity are revealed through Marjorie Macgoye’s keen and sensitive vision—a vision which extends to embrace the whole of a nation and a people likewise struggling to find their way. As the Weekly Standard of Kenya notes, "Coming to Birth is a radical novel in firmly asserting our common humanity."

Download or read book A Good Cherokee a Good Anthropologist written by Steve Pavlik and published by UCLA American Indian Studies Center. This book was released on 1998 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nonfiction. Robert K. Thomas (1925-1991) was a Cherokee nationalist, social scientist, anthropologist, philosopher, teacher, activist, and spiritual leader. The collection of essays in this book range from highly personal accounts of the contributor's relationship with Thomas to scholarly works inspired by his teachings and writings. This book is a tribute to a Cherokee man whose inspiring leadership touched many.