WORLD LITERATURE

THE NIGERIAN AUTHOR CHINUA ACHEBE

GROUP 6 :
JESIKA (2114026076)
RAIHANA YASMIN (2114026079)
RANI ADISTY P. (2114026089)

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCES
UNIVERSITAS MULAWARMAN
2023

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 PREFACE

Praise and thanksgiving we pray to God Almighty because for the blessings of His
grace and guidance, we were able to complete this paper entitled The Nigerian Author
Chinua Achebe. The purpose of the writingthis paper is to fulfill the duties of Mrs. Fatimah,
M.Hum. in the field of World Literature course. In addition, this paper also aims to add
insight to readers and also for writers.
We would like to give thanks to Mrs. Fatimah, M.hum. as a lecturer who has given
this assignment so that she can add knowledge and insight in accordance with the field of
study that we are engaged in. We also want to thank all those who participated to complete
this paper. Hopefully through the explanation in this paper, readers can gain insight and
knowledge. We also hope that this paper is able to understand the Nigerian Literature
precisely and clearly. If there are mistakes and shortcomings, we are ready to receive input
from readers. Thank you.

Samarinda, November 07, 2023

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The Authors

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 Table of Contents

PREFACE I
CHAPTER I 1
INTRODUCTION 1
A. Background of the Paper 1
B. Purposes of the Paper 2
CHAPTER II 3
CONTENT 3
A. Biography of Chinua Achebe 3
B. The Most Popular Work of Chinua Achebe 5
C. The Influence of Chinua Achebe’s Work to World Literature 6
D. The Influence on Chinua Achebe’s Writing 7
CHAPTER III 8
CLOSING 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY 9

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Paper

African literature as a whole and Nigerian literature in particular was not birthed
by the presence of the colonial masters, but rather, existed in myths, folktales, legends,
songs and other various forms centuries before Europeans invaded the continent. That
period is what is known as the classical period of Nigerian literature. Literature is a
vehicle of ideologies; a composition of language that serves as a cultural representation
of a people. Literature, therefore, is more than an imaginative epistle.
Nigerian literature before the 19th centuries was in form of orature. And as is the
case in any society, literature comes first in orality, and only much later did it
metamorphosize into written form, and Nigeria is no different. Although it has to be said
that recording Nigerian oral literature is a tad difficult as its practitioners were, more
often than not, members of a cult who jealously guarded certain knowledge.
The emergence of Chinua Achebe and his contemporaries in the 1940s/60s
marked a milestone in the Nigerian literary history. Famed writer and educator Chinua
Achebe was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe on November 16, 1930, in the Igbo town
of Ogidi in eastern Nigeria. He is one of the authors who gave African literature focus
and direction. He addressed basic African problems like colonialism, neo-colonialism
and propagated African values to the outside world.
Chinua Achebe made a splash with the publication of his first novel, Things Fall
Apart, in 1958. Renowned as one of the seminal works of African literature, it has since
sold more than 20 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages.
Things Fall Apart, is recognized as a literary classic and is taught and read everywhere in
the English-speaking world.. A year after publication, the book won the Margaret Wong
Memorial Prize, a major literary award.Achebe followed with novels such as No Longer
at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), and served as
a faculty member at renowned universities in the U.S. and Nigeria.
In 2012, Achebe published There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.
The work re-opened the discussion about the Nigerian Civil War. It would be his last
publication during his lifetime; Achebe died after a short illness on 21 March 2013 in
Boston, United States. An unidentified source close to the family said that he was ill and
 was hospitalised in the city. The New York Times described him in his obituary as "one
of Africa's most widely read novelists and one of the continent's towering men of
letters." The BBC wrote that he was "revered throughout the world for his depiction of
life in Africa". He was buried in his hometown of Ogidi.

B. Purposes of the Paper

1. To inform about the biography of Chinua Achebe as a Nigerian author.
2. To know about the most popular work from Chinua Achebe.
3. To explain about the influence of Chinua Achebe’s work to world literature.
4. To explain about the influence on Chinua Achebe’s writing.

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 CHAPTER II
CONTENT

A. Biography of Chinua Achebe

Achebe was born in the Igbo (formerly
spelled Ibo) town of Ogidi in eastern Nigeria on
November 16, 1930, the fifth child of Isaiah Okafor
Achebe and Janet Iloegbunam Achebe. His father
was an early Ogidi convert to Christianity. Both his
parents stood at a crossroads of traditional culture
and Christian influence, which made a significant
impact on the children, especially Chinua. His
parents were converts to the Protestant Church
Mission Society (CMS) in Nigeria and was an instructor in Christian catechism. Nigeria
was a British colony during Achebe's early years, and educated English-speaking
families like the Achebes occupied a privileged position in the Nigerian power structure.
His parents even named him Albert, after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria
of Great Britain. (Achebe himself chose his Igbo name when he was in college.)
 Education
Achebe attended the Church Missionary Society's school where the primary
language of instruction for the first two years was Igbo. At about eight, he began learning
English. His relatively late introduction to English allowed Achebe to develop a sense of
cultural pride and an appreciation of his native tongue — values that may not have been
cultivated had he been raised and taught exclusively in English. Achebe's home fostered
his understanding of both cultures: He read books in English in his father's library, and
he spent hours listening to his mother and sister tell traditional Igbo stories.
At fourteen, Achebe was selected to attend the Government College in Umuahia,
the equivalent of a university preparatory school and considered the best in West Africa.
Achebe excelled at his studies, and after graduating at eighteen, he was accepted to study
medicine at the new University College at Ibadan, a member college of London
University at the time. The demand for educated Nigerians in the government was
heightened because Nigeria was preparing for self-rule and independence. Only with a
college degree was a Nigerian likely to enter the higher ranks of the civil service.

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 The growing nationalism in Nigeria was not lost on Achebe. At the university, he
dropped his English name "Albert" in favor of the Igbo name "Chinua," short for
Chinualumogo. Just as Igbo names in Things Fall Apart have literal meanings,
Chinualumogo is translated as "My spirit come fight for me."
At University College, Achebe switched his studies to liberal arts, including
history, religion, and English. His first published stories appeared in the student
publication the University Herald. These stories have been reprinted in the collection
Girls at War and Other Stories, which was published in 1972. Of his student writings,
only a few are significantly relative to his more mature works; short stories such as
"Marriage is a Private Affair" and "Dead Man's Path" explore the conflicts that arise
when Western culture meets African society.
 Career Highlights
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953, Achebe joined the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer of radio talks. In 1956, he went to
London to attend the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Staff School. While in
London, he submitted the manuscript for Things Fall Apart to a publisher, with the
encouragement and support of one of his BBC instructors, a writer and literary critic. The
novel was published in 1958 by Heinemann, a publishing firm that began a long
relationship with Achebe and his work. Fame came almost instantly. Achebe has said
that he never experienced the life of a struggling writer. Upon returning to Nigeria,
Achebe rose rapidly within the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. As founder and
director of the Voice of Nigeria in 1961, Achebe and his colleagues aimed at developing
more national identity and unity through radio programs that highlighted Nigerian affairs
and culture.
 Political Problems
Turmoil in Nigeria from 1966 to 1972 was matched by turmoil for Achebe. In
1966, young Igbo officers in the Nigerian army staged a coup d'ètat. Six months later,
another coup by non-Igbo officers overthrew the Igbo-led government. The new
government targeted Achebe for persecution, knowing that his views were
unsympathetic to the new regime. Achebe fled to Nsukka in eastern Nigeria, which is
predominantly Igbo-speaking, and he became a senior research fellow at the University
of Nigeria, Nsukka. In 1967, the eastern part of Nigeria declared independence as the
nation of Biafra. This incident triggered thirty months of civil war that ended only when
Biafra was defeated. Achebe then fled to Europe and America, where he wrote and
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 talked about Biafran affairs.

 Later Writing
The 1960s proved to be a productive period for Achebe. In 1961, he married
Christie Chinwe Okoli, with whom he would go on to have four children, and it was during
this decade he wrote the follow-up novels to Things Fall Apart: No Longer at Ease (1960)
and Arrow of God (1964), as well as A Man of the People (1966). He also wrote and
published several children's books that express his basic views in forms and language
understandable to young readers. Like many other African writers, Achebe believes that
artistic and literary works must deal primarily with the problems of society. He has said that
"art is, and always was, at the service of man" rather than an end in itself, accountable to no
one. He believes that "any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a
purpose."
In his later books, Achebe confronts the problems faced by Nigeria and other
newly independent African nations. He blames the nation's problems on the lack of
leadership in Nigeria since its independence. In 1983, he published The Trouble with Nigeria,
a critique of corrupt politicians in his country. Achebe has also published two collections of
short stories and three collections of essays. He is the founding editor of Heinemann's African
Writers series; the founder and publisher of Uwa Ndi Igbo: A Bilingual Journal of Igbo Life
and Arts; and the editor of the magazine Okike, Nigeria's leading journal of new writing.
 Teaching and Literary Awards
In addition to his writing career, Achebe maintained an active teaching career. In
1972, he was appointed to a three-year visiting professorship at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst and, in 1975, to a one-year visiting professorship at the University
of Connecticut. In 1976, with matters sufficiently calm in Nigeria, he returned as professor of
English at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with which he had been affiliated since 1966. In
1990, he became the Charles P. Stevenson, Jr., professor of literature at Bard College,
Annandale, New York.
Achebe received many awards from academic and cultural institutions around the
world. In 1959, he won the Margaret Wong Memorial Prize for Things Fall Apart. The
following year, after the publication of its sequel, No Longer At Ease, he was awarded the
Nigerian National Trophy for Literature. His book of poetry, Christmas in Biafra, written
during the Nigerian civil war, won the first Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1972. More than
twenty universities in Great Britain, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States have awarded
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Achebe honorary degrees.
In 2012, Achebe published There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.
The work re-opened the discussion about the Nigerian Civil War. It would be his last
publication during his lifetime; Achebe died after a short illness on 21 March 2013 in Boston,
United States. An unidentified source close to the family said that he was ill and was
hospitalised in the city. The New York Times described him in his obituary as " one of
Africa's most widely read novelists and one of the continent's towering men of letters."The
BBC wrote that he was "revered throughout the world for his depiction of life in Africa." He
was buried in his hometown of Ogidi.

B. The Most Popular Work of Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe made a splash with the publication of his first novel, Things Fall
Apart, in 1958. Renowned as one of the seminal works of African literature, it has since sold
more than 20 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages. Achebe
followed with novels such as No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964) and Anthills
of the Savannah (1987), and served as a faculty member at renowned universities in the U.S.
and Nigeria.

1. Things Fall Apart (1958)

Things Fall Apart, first novel by Chinua Achebe, written in English and published
in 1958. Things Fall Apart helped create the Nigerian literary renaissance of the 1960s.
The novel chronicles the life of Okonkwo, the leader
of an Igbo community, from the events leading up to
his banishment from the community for accidentally
killing a clansman, through the seven years of his
exile, to his return, and it addresses a particular
problem of emergent Africa—the intrusion in the
1890s of white missionaries and colonial government
into tribal Igbo society. Traditionally structured, and
peppered with Igbo proverbs, it describes the
simultaneous disintegration of its protagonist
Okonkwo and of his village. The novel was praised
for its intelligent and realistic treatment of tribal
beliefs and of psychological disintegration coincident with social unraveling. Chinua
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Achebe's Things Fall Apart is probably the most authentic narrative ever written about
life in Nigeria at the turn of the twentieth century. Although the novel was first published
in 1958 — two years before Nigeria achieved its independence — thousands of copies
are still sold every year in the United States alone. Millions of copies have been sold
around the world in its many translations. The novel has been adapted for productions on
the stage, on the radio, and on television. Teachers in high schools, colleges, and
graduate schools use the novel as a textbook in many types of classes — from history
and social studies to comparative literature and anthropology.
When Things Fall Apart was first published, Achebe announced that one of his
purposes was to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who
perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. Unless Africans could tell
their side of their story, Achebe believed that the African experience would forever be
"mistold," even by such well-meaning authors as Joyce Cary in Mister Johnson. Cary
worked in Nigeria as a colonial administrator and was sympathetic to the Nigerian
people. Yet Achebe feels that Cary, along with other Western writers such as Joseph
Conrad, misunderstood Africa. Many European writers have presented the continent as a
dark place inhabited by people with impenetrable, primitive minds; Achebe considers
this reductionist portrayal of Africa racist. He points to Conrad, who wrote against
imperialism but reduced Africans to mysterious, animalistic, and exotic "others." In an
interview published in 1994, Achebe explains that his anger about the inaccurate
portrayal of African culture by white colonial writers does not imply that students should
not read works by Conrad or Cary. On the contrary, Achebe urges students to read such
works in order to better understand the racism of the colonial era.

2. No Longer at Ease (1960)

In the sequel No Longer at Ease (1960) he
portrayed a newly appointed civil servant, recently
returned from university study in England, who is
unable to sustain the moral values he believes to be
correct in the face of the obligations and temptations
of his new position. It is the story of an Igbo man, Obi
Okonkwo, who leaves his village for an education in
Britain and then a job in the Nigerian colonial civil
service, but is conflicted between his African culture
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and Western lifestyle and ends up taking a bribe. The novel is the second work in what is
sometimes referred to as the "African trilogy", following Things Fall Apart and
preceding Arrow of God, though Arrow of God chronologically precedes it in the
chronology of the trilogy. Things Fall Apart concerns the struggle of Obi Okonkwo's
grandfather Okonkwo against the changes brought by the British.

3. Arrow of God (1964)

Achebe's third book, Arrow of God, was published in 1964. Along with Things
Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease, it is considered part of The African Trilogy, sharing
similar settings and themes. The novel centres on
Ezeulu, the chief priest of several Igbo villages in
colonial Nigeria, who confronts colonial powers and
Christian missionaries in the 1920s. The novel was
published as part of the influential Heinemann African
Writers Series.The idea for the novel came in 1959,
when Achebe heard the story of a Chief Priest being
imprisoned by a District Officer. He drew further
inspiration a year later when he viewed a collection of
Igbo objects excavated from the area by archaeologist
Thurstan Shaw; Achebe was startled by the cultural
sophistication of the artifacts. When an acquaintance
showed him a series of papers from colonial officers,
Achebe combined these strands of history and began work on Arrow of God. The phrase
"Arrow of God" is drawn from an Igbo proverb in which a person, or sometimes an
event, is said to represent the will of God. Arrow of God won the first ever Jock
Campbell/New Statesman Prize for African writing. In 2022, it was included on the "Big
Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the
Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

4. A Man of People (1966)

"A Man of the People" is a satirical novel written by Chinua Achebe, published in
1966. It tells the story of Odili, a young teacher in a small African country who becomes
involved in politics and is swept into a corrupt world of greed and power.The novel is set
in a fictional African country called "Nanga," and it provides a scathing critique of post-
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colonial African politics and the challenges faced by
newly independent nations. Achebe's first three novels
were all clearly set in Igbo villages in Nigeria.
However, "A Man of the People" was set in a fictional
African country, as Achebe sought to write African
literature on the condition of the continent in more
general terms. The novel does not include any specific
ethnic or cultural groups. The problems portrayed in
the book, such as bribery, incompetence, and
governmental apathy, were experienced by many West
African nations in the neo-colonial era. As Nigeria had
not experienced a coup when Achebe wrote "A Man of
the People," his model for the novel's events must have been military coups in other
African nations. Despite his intentions, however, the subsequent coup in Nigeria meant
that the book was again seen as being principally about Nigeria. Through vivid and
engaging storytelling, Achebe portrays the complexities and contradictions of African
politics, shedding light on the challenges of nation-building, the abuse of power, and the
struggle for integrity and social justice. "A Man of the People" is a thought-provoking
novel that explores the intricacies of African politics and the human condition, and it
remains a relevant and powerful critique of political corruption in contemporary
societies.

5. Anthills of the Savannah (1964)

Anthills of the Savannah was Achebe’s fifth
novel, first published in the United Kingdom 21 years
after Achebe's previous one (A Man of the People in
1966), and was credited with having "revived his
reputation in Britain". A finalist for the 1987 Booker
Prize for Fiction, Anthills of the Savannah has been
described as the "most important novel to come out of
Africa in the 1980s". Anthills of the Savannah takes
place in the imaginary West African country of Kangan,
where a Sandhurst-trained officer, identified only as
Sam and known as "His Excellency, "has taken power
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 following a military coup. Achebe describes the political situation through the
experiences of three friends: Chris Oriko, the government's Commissioner for
Information; Beatrice Okoh, an official in the Ministry of Finance and girlfriend of
Chris; and Ikem Osodi, a newspaper editor critical of the regime. Other characters
include Elewa, Ikem's girlfriend, and Major "Samsonite" Ossai, a military official known
for stapling hands with a Samsonite stapler. Tensions escalate throughout the novel,
culminating in the assassination of Ikem by the regime, the toppling and death of Sam,
and finally the murder of Chris. The book ends with a non-traditional naming ceremony
for Elewa and Ikem's month-old daughter, organized by Beatrice
Achebe also published several collections of short stories and children’s books,
including How the Leopard Got His Claws (1973; with John Iroaganachi). Beware, Soul-
Brother (1971) and Christmas in Biafra (1973) are collections of poetry. Another Africa
(1998) combines an essay and poems by Achebe with photographs by Robert Lyons.
Achebe’s books of essays include Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975), Hopes and
Impediments (1988), Home and Exile (2000), The Education of a British-Protected Child
(2009), and the autobiographical There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
(2012). In 2007 he won the Man Booker International Prize.

C. The Influence of Chinua Achebe’s Work to World Literature

Chinua Achebe was an important figure in literature, and his work had a
significant impact on the genre. He was one of the first African writers to achieve
international recognition and helped to pave the way for other African writers to gain
recognition for their work.
Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” is widely regarded as one of the most
important works of African literature and has had a significant impact on world
literature. Achebe’s use of English to tell an African story was groundbreaking, and his
portrayal of African characters as fully realized human beings challenged many
stereotypes that had been perpetuated by Western writers. Other writers who have had a
significant impact in the literary world include Ngügi wa Thiong’o, Chimamanda Ngozi
and Ben Okri.
The reception of African literature has significantly changed overtime. In the
early days of African literature, many Western publishers were hesitant to publish works
by African writers, fearing that they would not be marketable. However, as African
literature began to gain a wider audience, it became clear that there was a hunger for
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 stories that reflected diverse experiences and perspectives. Today, African literature is
widely read and respected all over the world and has had a significant impact on the
literary world as a whole.

D. The influence on Chinua Achebe’s Writing

Chinua Achebe was influenced by various factors to start writing. Here are
some of the key influences that shaped his writing:
1. Nigerian authors publishing in English: Achebe was influenced by the small number of
Nigerian authors publishing in English, including Amos Tutuola and Wole Soyinka who
taught at his university
2. Personal experiences: Achebe grew up in a traditional Igbo family in Nigeria, which
exposed him to the rich cultural heritage and oral storytelling traditions of his people.
However, he also witnessed the destructive impact of colonialism on his community and
the erasure of African history and culture. These personal experiences shaped his
perspective and fueled his determination to write
3. Cultural heritage: Achebe's cultural heritage played a significant role in his writing. He
sought to challenge the ways in which literature was complicit in promoting the British
Empire through negative stereotypes of colonized and enslaved peoples. Achebe turned
to writing as a means to change how stories about West Africans were being told
4. Desire to challenge prevailing narratives about Africa: Achebe wanted to challenge
prevailing narratives about Africa that treated it as a primordial and cultureless foil for
Europe. He sought to give the African people a voice and to provide a perspective of
African culture that had been missing from literature
5. Literary aspirations : Achebe was interested in stories about life and adventure on other
lands, which prompted him to choose a career in writing. He realized the need to record
both the good and bad aspects of life, which encouraged him to become a writer.

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 CHAPTER III
CLOSING

CONCLUSION

Chinua Achebe was a prominent Nigerian writer and activist who made
significant contributions to African literature and cultural activism. Achebe’s writing
explored themes of colonialism, cultural identity, and political oppression, and often
challenged negative stereotypes of Africa. He was particularly interested in the effects of
colonialism on African societies and cultures and often used his writing to examine these
issues.
Achebe’s influence on African literature and beyond has been significant. He was a
vocal advocate for the promotion and celebration of African culture and worked to challenge
negative stereotypes of Africa in Western literature. He was also involved in various political
movements and was a cultural and political activist who used his writing and influence to
promote social and political change. Achebe’s work has inspired numerous African writers,
and his influence can be seen in the work of many contemporary African writers.
He has received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions to literature
and activism, including the Man Booker International Prize, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize,
and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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