Chinua Achebe

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chinua Achebe's first novel Things Fall Apart (1959) ushered in a new era where African countries, which had recently achieved post-colonial independence, now achieved an independence of a different kind - the freedom of imagination and artistry, as African authors told the stories of their geography, their culture, and their experience from the point of view of Africans, and not from the point of view of those who perceived them from only from the outside. "It sparked my love affair with African literature," Toni Morrison said. Maya Angelou said it was a book where “all readers meet theirr brothers, sisters, parents, and friends - and themselves - along Nigerian roads.” Margaret Atwood called Achebe “a magical writer...One of the greatest of the twentieth century.” And Nelson Mandela, who read Achebe's works while in captivity, said he was a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down.” In this episode of The History of Literature, we look at the life and legacy of Chinua Achebe, the impact of Things Fall Apart, and Achebe's critique of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. Music Credits: “Unnamed Africa Rhythm” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:09.0	I knew that something needed to be done. Something needed to be done.
0:13.0	Something needed to be done.
0:15.0	Yes.
0:16.0	And what was that?
0:17.0	That was my place in the world, my story, the story of myself, the story of my people. I was already familiar with stories of different people.
0:39.0	I mean because you grew up reading English literature.
0:42.0	Yes, yes, and having an English education
0:47.1	and encountering accounts of events and people.
0:52.2	And at some point I began to miss my own. I was
1:00.0	think of it in terms of a gap in the book shelf where a book has been taken out and the gap is there.
1:11.0	A gap in the bookshelf.
1:15.0	That's author Chinua Acheve talking about his decision to write his masterpiece,
1:20.0	Things Fall Apart, which ushered in a new era in world literature.
1:26.2	The era where African countries, which had recently achieved post-colonial independence,
1:32.0	now achieved an independence of a different kind, the freedom of imagination
1:37.0	and artistry as African authors told the stories of their geography, their culture, and their experience
1:44.0	from the point of view of Africans
1:46.0	and not from the point of view of
1:48.0	those who perceive them only from the outside.
1:52.0	A gap in the bookshelf.
1:54.8	What a perfect metaphor.
	...

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