African Writer

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Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe which was basically a Nigerian novelist born in 1930, is considered to be one of the most influential and impressive writers which the last century has ever seen due to his methods of original writings in the African literature. Chinua Achebe is the most impressive novelist of the African region who founded the basis of modern trends in the writing. There are a major role and participation of the Chinua Achebe in the progress and development of the literature especially in novel writing (Zolfagharkhani et al., 2013). He has not limited only to African region but the whole world remained under the influence of his writing because of his landmark and masterpiece of the novel know as “Things Fall Apart” which was translated into 50 languages based upon more than 12 million copies. No Longer at Ease and Anthills of the Savannah are also the part of his major achievements in the English literature.

While talking about his early life the most important thing which changed and became the reason of diversification of his whole career was the stepping down of his family from the practice of their traditional beliefs and then a sudden conversion towards Christianity. Due to this incident, his whole life is a balanced combination of a traditional approach regarding religion and the most important the image or impact of Christianity. The first thing, he learned from his family as a tradition or custom was the storytelling. This approach improved his skills regarding writing and that’s why in Philip’s Central School he was a renowned student and got a lot of appreciation from his teachers.

During his college life, most of his spent in the library in book reading. From his college life, he was well known due to his reading and writing skills that's why he had been the center of attention for the teachers and his fellow students. He got a scholarship in medicine from the very first Nigerian University in1948 but due to his interest, he focused on literature and history instead of medicine. This was the time when he started writing different stories and articles and he began to know as an author. In 1950 he wrote an article named as "Polar Undergraduate" which was very famous. He completed his graduation in 1953.

He started his career as a school teacher but regarding writing his journey began when he started working for Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) as a dialogue writer. From his college life, he was unhappy from English writers as they misinterpreted the real image of the African culture. In this regard, he started working on his first novel to aware of the world about the reality of the customs and traditions of the African culture. There were a few African writers including Cyprian Ekwensi who inspired him and that’s why he followed their approach in his literature. His first novel was published by a British company

His first novel "Things Fall Apart" was published in 1958 which influenced the whole world. In this novel, he gave a true picture of the culture of the African region. Similarly, the main point of the novel was to emphasize the difference between the Christian influence and the local African community. Further, he focused on the impacts of the imperialism and the colonial powers which governed Nigeria for decades (Zolfagharkhani et al., 2013). This novel was so impressive and detailed that it became the part of course in many colleges and universities of the world. The importance of this novel can be understood by the fact that it was translated into more than 50 different languages of the world.

The period of the 1960s remained very successful for Achebe as after his first novel in 1960 he wrote many novels which were basically the succession of the first novel. The main theme and the idea were the same as all these novels emphasized the influence and impacts of the colonial powers in the whole African region. He tried to show how these imperial powers manipulate the civilization of the culture of this region by their economic and literary tools (Osinubi, 2016). In this regard, his novel Arrow of God and Man of the People were very impressive which were published in 1964 and 1966 respectively.

Chinua and Christopher, who was also a famous poet of that time, initiated a program regarding press to provide good quality of books for the children of the African region. For the purpose of awareness among the masses about the conflict or civil war, Achebe delivered lectures in many universities of the United States. Achebe served as a senior faculty member in different universities of Nigeria from 1970 to 1977 and this was the time when he started the directorship of many publishing houses located in many parts of the country.

While talking about the services of Achebe regarding the writing than the first thing comes in mind is his achievements during the 70s decade when he completed many stories and books mainly related and specified for the children. Morning Yet On, Creation Day and Soul Brother are considered his best pieces regarding story writing and books for children. The most famous thing of his career as a teacher is his lecture which was delivered in the university about the racial differences and discrimination happening in the African region especially in Nigeria and later this lecture was named as "An Image of Africa".

One of his major achievements was the publishing of Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah which was later selected for the Booker McConnell Prize. After that in 1988, he released Hopes and Impediments. But the year 1990 proved unhealthy for Achebe as he paralyzed in a car accident and he limited for the rest of life on a wheelchair. After this incident, he shifted to the USA for 15 years where he started teaching at Bard College but soon he left Bard College and after 2009 he joined many universities as a senior faculty member. Achebe received many honorary degrees from more than 35 universities of the world (Osinubi, 2016).

Due to his big achievements, Achebe received many awards including Man Booker International Prize of 2007 and at the time of award ceremony, he was named as the father of modern African literature. In the year 2010, he was awarded Lillian Gish Prize and this awarded is mainly specified for the person having huge participation in increasing the beauty of world and welfare of the humanity in any field of life. Achebe was awarded Nigerian National Merit Award known as the highest honor regarding literary and intellectual services by anyone. Among his major received awards, one was the Honorary Fellowship of American Academy of Arts.

In the later years of his life, he was appointed by the United Nations Population Fund as a goodwill ambassador but his career or journey of writing remained throughout his whole life. His whole life gives an impression of his closeness and realistic approach towards the political situation of Nigeria. He gave a comparison between the present situation and the situation of the post-colonial era. According to Achebe, there was a comprehensive and impressive link between these two factors and due to all the impacts of imperialism, there are many problems which still exists in the whole African region. In 2013 Chinua Achebe died in Boston.

Work Cited

Achebe, C. and Gikandi, S., 2003. The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Gikandi, S., 2001. Chinua Achebe and the invention of African culture. Research in African Literatures, 32(3), pp.3-8.

Moyers, B.D. and Flowers, B.S., 1989. A world of ideas: Conversations with thoughtful men and women about American life today and the ideas shaping our future (p. 320). New York: Doubleday.

Osinubi, T.A., 2016. Micro-Politics of Buttocks: The Queer Intimacies of Chinua Achebe. Research in African Literatures, 47(2), pp.162-185.

Zolfagharkhani, M. and Shadpour, R.S., 2013. An eco critical study of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 4(2), pp.210-214.