Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Narration: Envisioning Language

Description

This book examines vital intersections of narration, linguistic innovation, and political insight that distinguish Chinua Achebe’s fiction as well as his non-fiction commentaries. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of these intersections: Achebe’s narrative response to Western authors who have written on Africa, his integration of Igbo folklore, the political implications of writing African literature in English, his use of Nigerian Pidgin, and the Nigerian Civil War. It also addresses the teaching of Achebe’s works. Achebe drew on diverse resources to offer searching psychological and political insights that contribute not only a decidedly African political viewpoint to the modern novel, but also a more inclusive narrative consciousness. Achebe’s adaptations of Igbo oral art are intrinsic to his writing’s political engagement because they assert the integrity and authority of the African voice in a global order defined by colonialism. This book reveals how his work has helped to restructure a global vision of Africa. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-22 An Adequate Revolution: Achebe Writes Africa Anew....Pages 23-40 Of Flight, Fraud, and Freedom: Achebe’s Political Tricksters....Pages 41-76 Language and Ambivalence in Achebe’s Writing....Pages 77-95 Language and the Power of Subordination: Achebe’s Integration of Nigerian Pidgin....Pages 97-110 Beyond Black and White: British Identity in Achebe’s Fiction....Pages 111-125 Catastrophe, Aftermath, Amnesia: Chinua Achebe’s “Civil Peace”....Pages 127-142 Unfolding Dialogue: Teaching Achebe’s Fiction....Pages 143-165 Conclusion: The Ends of Narration....Pages 167-170 Back Matter....Pages 171-176