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Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays
One of the most provocative and original voices in contemporary literature, Chinua Achebe here considers the place of literature and art in our society in a collection of essays spanning his best writing and lectures from the last twenty-three years. For Achebe, overcoming Eurocentrism goes hand in hand with eradicating the destructive effects of racism and injustice in Western society. He reveals the impediments that still stand in the way of open, equal dialogue between Africans and Europeans, between blacks and whites, but also instills us with hope that they will soon be overcome.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
44 people are currently reading
1307 people want to read
About the author
Chinua Achebe
161 books4,256 followersWorks, including the novel
Things Fall Apart
(1958), of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe describe traditional African life in conflict with colonial rule and westernization.
This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.
Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers," in African literature. In 1975, controversy focused on his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist."
When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe, a devoted supporter of independence, served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved in political parties but witnessed the corruption and elitism that duly frustration him, who quickly resigned. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and after a car accident left him partially disabled, he returned to the United States in 1990.
Novels of Achebe focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relied heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He served as the David and Marianna Fisher university professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
ollowing a brief illness, Achebe died.
This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.
Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers," in African literature. In 1975, controversy focused on his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist."
When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe, a devoted supporter of independence, served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved in political parties but witnessed the corruption and elitism that duly frustration him, who quickly resigned. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and after a car accident left him partially disabled, he returned to the United States in 1990.
Novels of Achebe focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relied heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He served as the David and Marianna Fisher university professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
ollowing a brief illness, Achebe died.
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May 13, 2015
This was a great collection of essays from one of my favourite authors. I'm quite in awe by how Achebe managed to almost singlehandedly put African literature on the map and it’s clear he cares a lot about his culture, his continent, and fiction in general.
If there’s anyone I would trust to succinctly point out what’s wrong with Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” it would be Achebe. Out of all the essays I read in this collection, his "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" was the most interesting, and had me saying "Yes!" more times than any other. "Heart of Darkness" had always bothered me, especially as so many people seem to like it. I admit I couldn't even finish it. What Achebe wrote about it sums up my feelings about the book:
“And yet it is set in Africa and teems with Africans whose humanity is admitted in theory but promptly underminded by the mindlessness of its context and the pretty explicit animal imagery surrounding it.”
But so many people say books like this aren't too be taken that seriously, they are just fiction. But the more I read the more I realize fiction isn't just fiction; it shapes our beliefs in so many ways. And when race is added to the mix, well...
The other essays were just as thought-provoking and interesting. I got the sense that this is the sort of book that needs to be taught in school. Achebe is a fearless critic of colonialism, racism, and imperialism, and rightly so. But the book also focuses on his advocacy of literature. In particular I really enjoyed his look into African oral tradition, and his contrasts of African and European literature. He got me thinking about the fact that African oral stories do not belong to anyone once said out loud, it gives a different view of authorship for sure, especially contrasted with a book. Things like that I'd never really considered before, despite coming from that tradition,.
This book was published in 1990 so a lot of things have changed since then. For one, America is now a lot more powerful and influential in Africa than Europe is, but still, I felt so many of the points in this book were still valid:
“Many Europeans have made enormous contributions towards the understanding of Africa in Europe. Some of them have even helped us to see ourselves anew in the freshness of an itinerant perspective. But what we are talking about here is dialogue which requires two people and cannot be replaced by even the most brilliant monologue.”
The last quote made me think about the present: I see the dialogue happening, especially online, and it's exciting to see these new voices entering the dialogue, unearthing stories that were hidden, ignored, or misunderstood. The empire is writing back, as they say, and it’s been powerful.
I always forget how funny Achebe is, and then I read something like this:
“How often do we hear people say, “Oh I don’t have the time to read novels,” implying that fiction is frivolous? They would generally add—lest you consider them illiterate—that they read histories or biographies, which they presume to be more appropriate to serious-minded adults. Such people are to be pitied; they are like a six-cylinder car which says: Oh, I can manage all right on three sparking-plugs, thank you very much. Well, it can manage somehow but it will sound like an asthmatic motorcycle!”
It would have been interesting to see how Achebe would have responded to Ben Okri's Guardian piece (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisf...),
If there’s anyone I would trust to succinctly point out what’s wrong with Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” it would be Achebe. Out of all the essays I read in this collection, his "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" was the most interesting, and had me saying "Yes!" more times than any other. "Heart of Darkness" had always bothered me, especially as so many people seem to like it. I admit I couldn't even finish it. What Achebe wrote about it sums up my feelings about the book:
“And yet it is set in Africa and teems with Africans whose humanity is admitted in theory but promptly underminded by the mindlessness of its context and the pretty explicit animal imagery surrounding it.”
But so many people say books like this aren't too be taken that seriously, they are just fiction. But the more I read the more I realize fiction isn't just fiction; it shapes our beliefs in so many ways. And when race is added to the mix, well...
The other essays were just as thought-provoking and interesting. I got the sense that this is the sort of book that needs to be taught in school. Achebe is a fearless critic of colonialism, racism, and imperialism, and rightly so. But the book also focuses on his advocacy of literature. In particular I really enjoyed his look into African oral tradition, and his contrasts of African and European literature. He got me thinking about the fact that African oral stories do not belong to anyone once said out loud, it gives a different view of authorship for sure, especially contrasted with a book. Things like that I'd never really considered before, despite coming from that tradition,.
This book was published in 1990 so a lot of things have changed since then. For one, America is now a lot more powerful and influential in Africa than Europe is, but still, I felt so many of the points in this book were still valid:
“Many Europeans have made enormous contributions towards the understanding of Africa in Europe. Some of them have even helped us to see ourselves anew in the freshness of an itinerant perspective. But what we are talking about here is dialogue which requires two people and cannot be replaced by even the most brilliant monologue.”
The last quote made me think about the present: I see the dialogue happening, especially online, and it's exciting to see these new voices entering the dialogue, unearthing stories that were hidden, ignored, or misunderstood. The empire is writing back, as they say, and it’s been powerful.
I always forget how funny Achebe is, and then I read something like this:
“How often do we hear people say, “Oh I don’t have the time to read novels,” implying that fiction is frivolous? They would generally add—lest you consider them illiterate—that they read histories or biographies, which they presume to be more appropriate to serious-minded adults. Such people are to be pitied; they are like a six-cylinder car which says: Oh, I can manage all right on three sparking-plugs, thank you very much. Well, it can manage somehow but it will sound like an asthmatic motorcycle!”
It would have been interesting to see how Achebe would have responded to Ben Okri's Guardian piece (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisf...),
May 14, 2015
An Image of Conrad
The only Achebe work I have read is the essay that resulted from the lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'", which I read after reading Conrad's novel for at least the third time:
http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa...
I had read extracts from the essay and was aware of its general thrust before re-reading the novel. I was looking forward to discovering a new twist on a novel that I had loved as a secondary school student. An awareness of the debate therefore infiltrated my reading and review.
Conrad's Heart of Darkness
The sub-title of the essay implies that Achebe's purpose was to analyse the racism within the novel. To the extent that he did so, his analysis is relatively selective, impressionistic and scattershot. There is little attempt to understand what Conrad was actually saying at a textual level nor to appreciate the depth of the allegory that unfolded over the course of the novella.
However, most importantly, Achebe wasn't content to analyse the subject-matter or prejudice of the novel or its characters. What took over from this exercise was the desire to launch a pseudo-academic character assassination of Conrad personally.
The Shadowy Narrator
Achebe is dismissive of the possibility that Conrad's personal views might be different from his characters:
"It might be contended, of course, that the attitude to the African in 'Heart of Darkness' is not Conrad's but that of his fictional narrator, Marlow, and that far from endorsing it Conrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism.
"Certainly Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person."
Achebe doesn't make any effort to identify or assess the alleged sense of irony or criticism. Instead, he seems to undermine the entire project on the basis of a "shadowy" narratorial device. This seems to reflect a lack of understanding of or sympathy for metafiction.
However, it relies for its power on the inference that the word "shadowy" is pejorative, just as the word "black" is supposed to be pejorative. The language of the essay dwells in the realm of gratuitous insinuation.
Ranting in the Alternative
Where I find the essay most lacking, and what effectively drags it down to the standard of an online rant, is that Achebe can't determine on what basis he wants to attack Conrad. So, he argues in the alternative.
First, he asserts that "Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist....His obvious racism has...not been addressed. And it is high time it was!"
What a clear statement of his polemical intent! Note that it is directed against the author personally, not the book or Marlow, although later Achebe opines that the novella is "an offensive and deplorable work".
If Achebe is not right in this argument, then he has an alternative argument:
"Marlow comes through to us not only as a witness of truth, but one holding those advanced and humane views appropriate to the English liberal tradition which required all Englishmen of decency to be deeply shocked by atrocities in Bulgaria or the Congo of King Leopold of the Belgians or wherever."
Remember that it's Marlow's racism that is being imputed to Conrad personally. Yet Achebe goes on to accuse Marlow (and implicitly Conrad) of "[tossing out] bleeding-heart sentiments".
Well, which is Marlow/Conrad? Racist or bleeding-heart liberal? Which is worse? Does it matter, if Achebe's goal was simply to pull Conrad off his pedestal and eviscerate him?
Cultural Arrogance
Achebe also criticises Conrad for the level of cultural superiority and condescension in the way whites relate to blacks in the novel. He argues that there is a determination not to accept blacks as equals.
The condescension derives from the Western view of the superiority of its own civilisation and culture.
However, Achebe seems to approach the issue from the perspective of whether, if Africans were integrated into Western society, they would be treated as equals. Clearly, historically, they were not, but that wasn't Conrad's fault.
Africans Want for Nothing, Westerners Promise Only Nothingness
As the novella progresses, there is an increasing sense that the Africans don't need to be civilised or "improved".
They have everything they need. They lack nothing. They would have remained content, if the West had stayed out of their world. Conrad is not judging their culture and finding it wanting.
To some extent, he adopts a form of cultural relativism. Early in the work, he comments that the Romans felt the same way about the English when they sailed up the Thames and conquered England. The sense of cultural superiority is not based in fact, but in myth.
Besides, it's clear at the end of the book that Western sophistication disguises an underlying inauthenticity and hypocrisy. The Africans were closer to themselves and the world than people in the West were. They only turned violent, understandably, when the West sailed up the Congo and brutalised them. Their violence was an act of defiance and self-defence. Western brutality was motivated by greed.
Our Heart of Darkness
Achebe's polemical intent blinds him to the real power of Conrad's work, and therefore the reason it continues to resonate in the West: we are the ones with a heart of darkness.
Ironically, Achebe's criticism has diminished the number of those readers who are prepared to read the novel and form their own opinion about just how prescient Conrad was. Achebe denied that this was his intent, but that was his effect. Now, 40 years after the original lecture, it's Achebe's own reputation that has arguably been damaged by his rant. Hopefully, it has done no long-term damage to the greater causes of anti-racism and anti-colonialism.
The only Achebe work I have read is the essay that resulted from the lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'", which I read after reading Conrad's novel for at least the third time:
http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa...
I had read extracts from the essay and was aware of its general thrust before re-reading the novel. I was looking forward to discovering a new twist on a novel that I had loved as a secondary school student. An awareness of the debate therefore infiltrated my reading and review.
Conrad's Heart of Darkness
The sub-title of the essay implies that Achebe's purpose was to analyse the racism within the novel. To the extent that he did so, his analysis is relatively selective, impressionistic and scattershot. There is little attempt to understand what Conrad was actually saying at a textual level nor to appreciate the depth of the allegory that unfolded over the course of the novella.
However, most importantly, Achebe wasn't content to analyse the subject-matter or prejudice of the novel or its characters. What took over from this exercise was the desire to launch a pseudo-academic character assassination of Conrad personally.
The Shadowy Narrator
Achebe is dismissive of the possibility that Conrad's personal views might be different from his characters:
"It might be contended, of course, that the attitude to the African in 'Heart of Darkness' is not Conrad's but that of his fictional narrator, Marlow, and that far from endorsing it Conrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism.
"Certainly Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person."
Achebe doesn't make any effort to identify or assess the alleged sense of irony or criticism. Instead, he seems to undermine the entire project on the basis of a "shadowy" narratorial device. This seems to reflect a lack of understanding of or sympathy for metafiction.
However, it relies for its power on the inference that the word "shadowy" is pejorative, just as the word "black" is supposed to be pejorative. The language of the essay dwells in the realm of gratuitous insinuation.
Ranting in the Alternative
Where I find the essay most lacking, and what effectively drags it down to the standard of an online rant, is that Achebe can't determine on what basis he wants to attack Conrad. So, he argues in the alternative.
First, he asserts that "Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist....His obvious racism has...not been addressed. And it is high time it was!"
What a clear statement of his polemical intent! Note that it is directed against the author personally, not the book or Marlow, although later Achebe opines that the novella is "an offensive and deplorable work".
If Achebe is not right in this argument, then he has an alternative argument:
"Marlow comes through to us not only as a witness of truth, but one holding those advanced and humane views appropriate to the English liberal tradition which required all Englishmen of decency to be deeply shocked by atrocities in Bulgaria or the Congo of King Leopold of the Belgians or wherever."
Remember that it's Marlow's racism that is being imputed to Conrad personally. Yet Achebe goes on to accuse Marlow (and implicitly Conrad) of "[tossing out] bleeding-heart sentiments".
Well, which is Marlow/Conrad? Racist or bleeding-heart liberal? Which is worse? Does it matter, if Achebe's goal was simply to pull Conrad off his pedestal and eviscerate him?
Cultural Arrogance
Achebe also criticises Conrad for the level of cultural superiority and condescension in the way whites relate to blacks in the novel. He argues that there is a determination not to accept blacks as equals.
The condescension derives from the Western view of the superiority of its own civilisation and culture.
However, Achebe seems to approach the issue from the perspective of whether, if Africans were integrated into Western society, they would be treated as equals. Clearly, historically, they were not, but that wasn't Conrad's fault.
Africans Want for Nothing, Westerners Promise Only Nothingness
As the novella progresses, there is an increasing sense that the Africans don't need to be civilised or "improved".
They have everything they need. They lack nothing. They would have remained content, if the West had stayed out of their world. Conrad is not judging their culture and finding it wanting.
To some extent, he adopts a form of cultural relativism. Early in the work, he comments that the Romans felt the same way about the English when they sailed up the Thames and conquered England. The sense of cultural superiority is not based in fact, but in myth.
Besides, it's clear at the end of the book that Western sophistication disguises an underlying inauthenticity and hypocrisy. The Africans were closer to themselves and the world than people in the West were. They only turned violent, understandably, when the West sailed up the Congo and brutalised them. Their violence was an act of defiance and self-defence. Western brutality was motivated by greed.
Our Heart of Darkness
Achebe's polemical intent blinds him to the real power of Conrad's work, and therefore the reason it continues to resonate in the West: we are the ones with a heart of darkness.
Ironically, Achebe's criticism has diminished the number of those readers who are prepared to read the novel and form their own opinion about just how prescient Conrad was. Achebe denied that this was his intent, but that was his effect. Now, 40 years after the original lecture, it's Achebe's own reputation that has arguably been damaged by his rant. Hopefully, it has done no long-term damage to the greater causes of anti-racism and anti-colonialism.
December 13, 2018
Hopes and Impediments is my first-hand introduction to Chinua Achebe as a writer and speaker. It is a collection of fourteen essays (and a postscript). The best part about this essay collection is that Achebe begins from the scratch. If he has to talk about mankind, he will begin with the cosmic changes. He is witty. He is well-read. The essays are full of anecdotes and stories.
Conrad was born in 1857 and what he portrayed in his work Heart of Darkness is, along with other reasons, also because of the effect of how the world treated the Blacks. In his essay, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Achebe talks about the existing prejudices that are often held high. Africa is an exact "antithesis" of Europe and Achebe justly portrayed the limitations that the novel brought: the Blacks were seen as something (and not even someone) that can be sidelined and not important for the larger history.
In 1979, Achebe was asked to talk about "The Necessity for Cultural Exchange in a Spirit of Partnership Between North and South". Hence emerged the second essay in this collection, Impediments to Dialogue between North and South. From Naipaul's comment on Africa's future (“Africa has no future”) to a comment of the British governor of Rhodesia on the partnership between black and white ("the partnership between the horse and its rider"), Achebe talked about the origin and the subsequent emergence of the dialogue between "the white man and his brother".
In Named For Victoria, Queen of England, the quirky and quintessential Achebe is still there in his full glory. Just when I think that this is it, I am revamped with more of his ideologies and wittiness. Well, Achebe wasn't the one who knew that he will have to take the profession of a writer as an adult. But he didn't want their story be told "by anyone else no matter how gifted or well intentioned".
In The Novelist as Teacher, he talks about the dual culture that he had to live in in the process of growing up. The dual culture he and his kith and kin were living in often forced them in a quandary. While they were actively involved in the new, there were longings for the old, be it the adoption of a new form of prayer or that of a new name given to him because of adopting Christianity. Achebe is not drab and pale. His words are so suffused with humour, that even when I am waiting to take in his thoughts, I can't stop chuckling. Here's what he had to say about relinquishing his baptized name, Albert Chinualumogu: "So if anyone asks you what Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria had in common with Chinua Achebe, the answer is: They both lost their Albert!"
The Novelist as Teacher lays down the responsibilities that writers have for the place they belong to. Theirs is a task to jolt the society awake and tell them to have gratitude for everything their home has to offer. A child not writing about the harmattan brings the point at home -- everything about home is to be made disarrayed in order to be acceptable. In The Writer and His Community, Achebe talked about the individualism of art and the subsequent difficulties that arose because he had choosen two worlds at the same time - the world of his home and his imposed home.
They say, change is the only constant and I have always felt the same. But never have I been so ambivalent about change before, as The Igbo World and Its Art made me. In this essay, Achebe very vibrantly points out "an arena" of the Igbo world. It is a world of complicity and inclusion. It is a world of process, not of product. It is a world that appreciates change more than ancient. And since change is so vital, hence there has been changes in the "awesomeness" of the world. But such a proud portrayal of the masquerade and Igbo customs has made me wary of it and now I am yearning for something I have never had.
Colonialist Criticism talks about how colonialism continued to affect the lives of African writers even after its end on the surface. Achebe talks at length, through his experiences, about the big brother attitude that continued to make its omnipresent existence felt to their "junior brother[s]".
Thoughts on the African Novel stipulated the tenancy of the term "African literature". The problem Achebe felt there is, in trying to define African literature, is the early conclusion that the writers in a conference at Uganda were trying to draw when the writers had just started writing about Africa. He explained this difficulty with a proverb: "Do not underrate a day while an hour of light remains." He further discussed about the limitations and challenges that arose subsequently in trying to reach to a firm dogma of a literature that could be called African.
I read Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard earlier this year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but I couldn't get much of why Tutuola choose to write about a palm-wine drinkard going in quest for his tapster. In his essay Work and Play in Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard, Achebe, as someone who had taught Tutuola, presented his condensed thoughts. I am still very confused as far as his ideas are concerned, but the general tone of Tutuola's work is at my hindsight now.
Don't Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo and Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist deal with Achebe's cherished writers of the African land. Language and the Destiny of Man is one of my favourites from this collection. It begins with "few greater successes" of mankind and goes on to talk about several myths and purposes that they serve.
In The Truth of Fiction, Achebe discusses about, first through Picasso's comment on the falsities of art, the truth of fiction. He establishes the power of fiction in comparison to "editorials and other preachments" and "the lessons of history". The notion of sense is attacked upon. This essay, like two other essays in this collection, enlightened me to the whys that were left unanswered while reading The Palm-Wine Drinkard.
I found What Has Literature Got to Do with It? a bit more complex that all the other essays in the collection. This essay talks about the limitations goals often put. Achebe takes example from various countries all over the world to prove his ideas. He further puts importance on the need for both science and humanities and delves very well in the arena of contemporary political and developmental problems.
Conrad was born in 1857 and what he portrayed in his work Heart of Darkness is, along with other reasons, also because of the effect of how the world treated the Blacks. In his essay, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Achebe talks about the existing prejudices that are often held high. Africa is an exact "antithesis" of Europe and Achebe justly portrayed the limitations that the novel brought: the Blacks were seen as something (and not even someone) that can be sidelined and not important for the larger history.
In 1979, Achebe was asked to talk about "The Necessity for Cultural Exchange in a Spirit of Partnership Between North and South". Hence emerged the second essay in this collection, Impediments to Dialogue between North and South. From Naipaul's comment on Africa's future (“Africa has no future”) to a comment of the British governor of Rhodesia on the partnership between black and white ("the partnership between the horse and its rider"), Achebe talked about the origin and the subsequent emergence of the dialogue between "the white man and his brother".
In Named For Victoria, Queen of England, the quirky and quintessential Achebe is still there in his full glory. Just when I think that this is it, I am revamped with more of his ideologies and wittiness. Well, Achebe wasn't the one who knew that he will have to take the profession of a writer as an adult. But he didn't want their story be told "by anyone else no matter how gifted or well intentioned".
In The Novelist as Teacher, he talks about the dual culture that he had to live in in the process of growing up. The dual culture he and his kith and kin were living in often forced them in a quandary. While they were actively involved in the new, there were longings for the old, be it the adoption of a new form of prayer or that of a new name given to him because of adopting Christianity. Achebe is not drab and pale. His words are so suffused with humour, that even when I am waiting to take in his thoughts, I can't stop chuckling. Here's what he had to say about relinquishing his baptized name, Albert Chinualumogu: "So if anyone asks you what Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria had in common with Chinua Achebe, the answer is: They both lost their Albert!"
The Novelist as Teacher lays down the responsibilities that writers have for the place they belong to. Theirs is a task to jolt the society awake and tell them to have gratitude for everything their home has to offer. A child not writing about the harmattan brings the point at home -- everything about home is to be made disarrayed in order to be acceptable. In The Writer and His Community, Achebe talked about the individualism of art and the subsequent difficulties that arose because he had choosen two worlds at the same time - the world of his home and his imposed home.
They say, change is the only constant and I have always felt the same. But never have I been so ambivalent about change before, as The Igbo World and Its Art made me. In this essay, Achebe very vibrantly points out "an arena" of the Igbo world. It is a world of complicity and inclusion. It is a world of process, not of product. It is a world that appreciates change more than ancient. And since change is so vital, hence there has been changes in the "awesomeness" of the world. But such a proud portrayal of the masquerade and Igbo customs has made me wary of it and now I am yearning for something I have never had.
Colonialist Criticism talks about how colonialism continued to affect the lives of African writers even after its end on the surface. Achebe talks at length, through his experiences, about the big brother attitude that continued to make its omnipresent existence felt to their "junior brother[s]".
Thoughts on the African Novel stipulated the tenancy of the term "African literature". The problem Achebe felt there is, in trying to define African literature, is the early conclusion that the writers in a conference at Uganda were trying to draw when the writers had just started writing about Africa. He explained this difficulty with a proverb: "Do not underrate a day while an hour of light remains." He further discussed about the limitations and challenges that arose subsequently in trying to reach to a firm dogma of a literature that could be called African.
I read Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard earlier this year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but I couldn't get much of why Tutuola choose to write about a palm-wine drinkard going in quest for his tapster. In his essay Work and Play in Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard, Achebe, as someone who had taught Tutuola, presented his condensed thoughts. I am still very confused as far as his ideas are concerned, but the general tone of Tutuola's work is at my hindsight now.
Don't Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo and Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist deal with Achebe's cherished writers of the African land. Language and the Destiny of Man is one of my favourites from this collection. It begins with "few greater successes" of mankind and goes on to talk about several myths and purposes that they serve.
In The Truth of Fiction, Achebe discusses about, first through Picasso's comment on the falsities of art, the truth of fiction. He establishes the power of fiction in comparison to "editorials and other preachments" and "the lessons of history". The notion of sense is attacked upon. This essay, like two other essays in this collection, enlightened me to the whys that were left unanswered while reading The Palm-Wine Drinkard.
I found What Has Literature Got to Do with It? a bit more complex that all the other essays in the collection. This essay talks about the limitations goals often put. Achebe takes example from various countries all over the world to prove his ideas. He further puts importance on the need for both science and humanities and delves very well in the arena of contemporary political and developmental problems.
January 13, 2019
Where does one begin with the mesmerizing writings of Achebe? Perhaps with his magical formula:
Simple English + Intellectual Insight + Close Analysis = Beautiful Writing
I think this sums him up, not only of this essay collection but of his fiction as well. The 14 essays that make up Hopes and Impediments are primarily from reviews first published in well-known literary magazines or lectures given at universities. The style is so accessible that even at 170 pages, the book is a quick read. It would be an added bonus to be interested in African literature or on any of the authors discussed in the reviews, but this is in no way a prerequisite.
On Racism and Colonialism
In ‘An Image of Africa’ Achebe discusses racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, that highly celebrated Western novel which was regarded as a good depiction of Africans – namely savages. The cliché image imposed by colonialism is ingrained in the white man’s psyche to such an extent by the beginning of the twentieth century that African writers undertook it upon themselves to tell their own stories. Their voices began to emerge and shine a light on their cultures, with Achebe’s Things Fall Apart published in 1958 starting the impetus for change. As if four centuries of slavery was not degrading enough, colonialism had to impose the white man’s superiority over the black savage while living on their own land and continuing to exploit their labor and resources. It is no surprise then that Achebe finds Conrad ‘a bloody racist’ in his depictions of what Africans are. The essay, only 20 pages long, is enough to draw the reader in and sustain Achebe’s argument’s through close textual analysis on selected passages and, more importantly, commentary from a prominent African writer.
Another two essays ‘Impediments to Dialogue Between North and South’ and ‘Named for Victoria, Queen of England’ also discuss racism in a different, lighter tone. In the first of these, North and South refer to Western Europe and Africa – an interesting perspective point if you are standing in Nigeria and commenting relative to that point of view – Achebe discusses the factors that impede dialogue, particularly the colonial attitude. The second essay reads like a charming rebellion. Achebe was baptized as Albert Chiualumogu but dropped the tribute to Victorian England when he went to university. One cannot but feel the sense of glee in this small act of his.
The Author’s Responsibility
According to Achebe, an author carries some responsibility in teaching his readers and he achieves this form of teaching about the Igbo culture in many of his novels. This is not to say that his novels are moral-based social commentaries as in many nineteenth-century Victorian novels; his ‘lessons’ are much more subtle and focus on elaborating the effects of different cultures interacting, whether through colonialism (the macroscopic) or with two tribal villages interacting (the microscopic), the reader is privy to understand the culture – often the Igbo – and is placed in the character’s position to see and feel the circumstances, and the necessary action that will result. Much of the inertia in Achebe’s characters derive from external factors and many of the choices they make are the ‘wrong’ choices for the ‘right’ reasons.
In ‘The Novelist as Teacher’, ‘The Writer and His Community’, ‘Thoughts on the African Novel’, ‘Language and the Destiny of Man’, The Truth of Fiction’ and ‘What has Literature Got to Do with It?’, Achebe reflects, discusses and elaborates on this writing style of his. These essays show us many facets of his working mind and his curiosities, and factors that bring about motivation to write what he writes. Also enjoyable here is the kind of commentaries he sometimes reveals about readers who wished certain endings or who thought him brash or abrasive, he offers the readers polite yet stinging dismissals. Achebe clearly believes in responsibility as a writer and is not ashamed of voicing his opinions on the matter.
On African Criticism
In ‘The Igbo World and Its Art’, Achebe briefly discusses Igbo art and some Igbo mythology on which the art is based. This short essay renders a taste of what Igbo art and culture is like, and what is profoundly interesting here is the similarities I discovered to Taoism and the principle of Yin and Yang, for in Igbo too ‘No condition is permanent’ even amongst the deities. Moreover, art is a communal process where the interest is not in the end product, the finished object, but in the process itself. Achebe could have written a whole book on Igbo art and it would have maintained one’s interest.
The remaining three essays are ‘Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm Wine Drinkard’, ‘Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo’ and ‘Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist’. In each of these essays, Achebe discusses the writers and the most prominent aspects around them that inspired their output. Colonialism or racism is never ignored. Praise is lavishly handed out, and rightfully so, to these pioneers of African literature. And, with the exception of Tutuola, their works and the impact they have had are discussed briefly. With Tutuola, the focus is on The Palm Wine Drinkard and the allegory it represents of Yoruba culture and of contemporary Nigerian life.
Simple English + Intellectual Insight + Close Analysis = Beautiful Writing
I think this sums him up, not only of this essay collection but of his fiction as well. The 14 essays that make up Hopes and Impediments are primarily from reviews first published in well-known literary magazines or lectures given at universities. The style is so accessible that even at 170 pages, the book is a quick read. It would be an added bonus to be interested in African literature or on any of the authors discussed in the reviews, but this is in no way a prerequisite.
On Racism and Colonialism
In ‘An Image of Africa’ Achebe discusses racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, that highly celebrated Western novel which was regarded as a good depiction of Africans – namely savages. The cliché image imposed by colonialism is ingrained in the white man’s psyche to such an extent by the beginning of the twentieth century that African writers undertook it upon themselves to tell their own stories. Their voices began to emerge and shine a light on their cultures, with Achebe’s Things Fall Apart published in 1958 starting the impetus for change. As if four centuries of slavery was not degrading enough, colonialism had to impose the white man’s superiority over the black savage while living on their own land and continuing to exploit their labor and resources. It is no surprise then that Achebe finds Conrad ‘a bloody racist’ in his depictions of what Africans are. The essay, only 20 pages long, is enough to draw the reader in and sustain Achebe’s argument’s through close textual analysis on selected passages and, more importantly, commentary from a prominent African writer.
Another two essays ‘Impediments to Dialogue Between North and South’ and ‘Named for Victoria, Queen of England’ also discuss racism in a different, lighter tone. In the first of these, North and South refer to Western Europe and Africa – an interesting perspective point if you are standing in Nigeria and commenting relative to that point of view – Achebe discusses the factors that impede dialogue, particularly the colonial attitude. The second essay reads like a charming rebellion. Achebe was baptized as Albert Chiualumogu but dropped the tribute to Victorian England when he went to university. One cannot but feel the sense of glee in this small act of his.
The Author’s Responsibility
According to Achebe, an author carries some responsibility in teaching his readers and he achieves this form of teaching about the Igbo culture in many of his novels. This is not to say that his novels are moral-based social commentaries as in many nineteenth-century Victorian novels; his ‘lessons’ are much more subtle and focus on elaborating the effects of different cultures interacting, whether through colonialism (the macroscopic) or with two tribal villages interacting (the microscopic), the reader is privy to understand the culture – often the Igbo – and is placed in the character’s position to see and feel the circumstances, and the necessary action that will result. Much of the inertia in Achebe’s characters derive from external factors and many of the choices they make are the ‘wrong’ choices for the ‘right’ reasons.
In ‘The Novelist as Teacher’, ‘The Writer and His Community’, ‘Thoughts on the African Novel’, ‘Language and the Destiny of Man’, The Truth of Fiction’ and ‘What has Literature Got to Do with It?’, Achebe reflects, discusses and elaborates on this writing style of his. These essays show us many facets of his working mind and his curiosities, and factors that bring about motivation to write what he writes. Also enjoyable here is the kind of commentaries he sometimes reveals about readers who wished certain endings or who thought him brash or abrasive, he offers the readers polite yet stinging dismissals. Achebe clearly believes in responsibility as a writer and is not ashamed of voicing his opinions on the matter.
On African Criticism
In ‘The Igbo World and Its Art’, Achebe briefly discusses Igbo art and some Igbo mythology on which the art is based. This short essay renders a taste of what Igbo art and culture is like, and what is profoundly interesting here is the similarities I discovered to Taoism and the principle of Yin and Yang, for in Igbo too ‘No condition is permanent’ even amongst the deities. Moreover, art is a communal process where the interest is not in the end product, the finished object, but in the process itself. Achebe could have written a whole book on Igbo art and it would have maintained one’s interest.
The remaining three essays are ‘Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm Wine Drinkard’, ‘Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo’ and ‘Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist’. In each of these essays, Achebe discusses the writers and the most prominent aspects around them that inspired their output. Colonialism or racism is never ignored. Praise is lavishly handed out, and rightfully so, to these pioneers of African literature. And, with the exception of Tutuola, their works and the impact they have had are discussed briefly. With Tutuola, the focus is on The Palm Wine Drinkard and the allegory it represents of Yoruba culture and of contemporary Nigerian life.
December 13, 2020
Achebe’s writing outspreads over a boisterous and precarious epoch in the annals of the Igbo and West Africa in general. He was born at a decisive time. His memories retrace steps, right back to the family accounts of his great-grandfather, the man who received the first Christian missionaries in that portion of the country, while his own rearing with a father who was a church teacher in a village, separated by the new customs and the old headed on to his prescribed, European-style education at government college and university.
After this came his uninterrupted experience of those central political events in modern African history, independence followed by disappointment, leading in this instance to civil war. His novels, short stories and poetry personify this experience, scrutinizing in an unremitting way its connotation in terms of individual lives and cultural history. The consistency and continuousness of this inspection make it more than the sum of its parts.
This assortment of essays is extracted from innumerable lectures, addresses and prefaces, and covers a wide range over a 23-year period. They exemplify his steadfast disquiets in literature and the arts in addition to his concern for wider social issues.
In bringing the work together into one volume, he admits, “I might simply have arranged the items in chronological order. Instead, and following a certain whim, I took my standard-bearer from the middle ranks and then picked my way back and forth to position the rest.”
The book describes the anticipations of Africans and the impairments that stay in their way to liberation.
The topics vary from the significance of art in the life of a people to a moving memorial to James Baldwin, but the theme throughout is the racism inherent in the Eurocentric view of Africa and the damaging effect it has had on the African psyche.
The topics discussed, include:
1. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
2. Impediments to Dialogue Between North and South
3. Named for Victoria, Queen of England
4. The Novelist as Teacher
5. The Writer and His Community
6. The Igbo World and Its Art
7. Colonialist Criticism
8. Thoughts on the African Novel
9. Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard
10. Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo
11. Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist
12. Language and the Destiny of Man
13. The Truth of Fiction
14. What Has Literature Got to Do with It?
In the leading essay of the collection, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", Achebe debunks Conrad's attempt in demarcating Africa. Achebe reproaches Conrad for regurgitation of preconceptions counter to the African psyche through his novella. He demarcates on the status of preserving good relations between the continents.
He declares Naipul’s unfairness not only vis-à-vis Africa, but also India and South America by ghettoizing them in his Area of Darkness.
The pickle with “Heart of Darkness,” Achebe states, is that “Africa is employed as a metaphorical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity. (It is) reduced to the role of a prop for the breakup of one pretty European mind.
He writes: “In the final consideration, his method amounts to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences, one about silence and the other about frenzy. We can inspect samples of this on page 103 and page 105 of the New American Library edition: (a) “It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention” and (b) “The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy.” Of course, there is a judicious change of adjective from time to time, so that instead of “inscrutable,” for example, you might have “unspeakable,” even plain “mysterious,” etc., etc…”
In the two essays ‘Impediments to Dialogue between North and South’ and ‘Named for Victoria, Queen of England’ Achebe harps upon racism in a altered, ighter tone. ‘North and South’ refers to Western Europe and Africa – an interesting perspective point if your are standing in Nigeria and commenting relative to that point of view – Achebe discusses the factors that impede dialogue, particularly the colonial attitude. ‘Named for Victoria’ reads like a delightful insurgence.
In the essay "Writer and his Community" for instance, Achebe talks of the artistic forms and literary outputs of the Africans. In the book, he also talks of the adversities faced by African writers in English. He analyzes the work of African writers like Amos Tutuola, Christopher Okingbo and Kofi Awoonor.
To be accurate, in all the titles, such as ‘The Novelist as Teacher’, ‘The Writer and His Community’, ‘Thoughts on the African Novel’, ‘Language and the Destiny of Man’, The Truth of Fiction’ and ‘What has Literature Got to Do with It?’, Achebe reveals, deliberates and enlarges on this script style of his.
These essays expound the untold facades of his working mind and his inquisitiveness, and dynamics that generate stimulus to write what he actually writes. In ‘The Igbo World and Its Art’, Achebe fleetingly deliberates on Igbo art and some Igbo folklore on which the art is founded. This essay condenses a sensitivity of what Igbo talent is like, and what is intensely stimulating here is the semblance one ascertains to Taoism. The remaining three essays are ‘Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm Wine Drinkard’, ‘Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo’ and ‘Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist’. In each of these essays, Achebe discusses the writers and the most prominent aspects around them that inspired their output. Colonialism or racism is never ignored.
Vital to Achebe’s fictional project is the deconstruction of Western accounts about African culture and, in relation to this, about Western colonialism.
The disbelieving of these narratives may have stood as an end in itself for Achebe, but it was also an inevitable effect of the author’s attempts to dramatize from an African belvedere the outmoded lives of his people, their involuntary encounter with empire, and the alterations their societies underwent throughout and subsequent to the colonial era.
Towards the end, there is a postscript on James Baldwin.
One of the top 100 books of recent times.
After this came his uninterrupted experience of those central political events in modern African history, independence followed by disappointment, leading in this instance to civil war. His novels, short stories and poetry personify this experience, scrutinizing in an unremitting way its connotation in terms of individual lives and cultural history. The consistency and continuousness of this inspection make it more than the sum of its parts.
This assortment of essays is extracted from innumerable lectures, addresses and prefaces, and covers a wide range over a 23-year period. They exemplify his steadfast disquiets in literature and the arts in addition to his concern for wider social issues.
In bringing the work together into one volume, he admits, “I might simply have arranged the items in chronological order. Instead, and following a certain whim, I took my standard-bearer from the middle ranks and then picked my way back and forth to position the rest.”
The book describes the anticipations of Africans and the impairments that stay in their way to liberation.
The topics vary from the significance of art in the life of a people to a moving memorial to James Baldwin, but the theme throughout is the racism inherent in the Eurocentric view of Africa and the damaging effect it has had on the African psyche.
The topics discussed, include:
1. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
2. Impediments to Dialogue Between North and South
3. Named for Victoria, Queen of England
4. The Novelist as Teacher
5. The Writer and His Community
6. The Igbo World and Its Art
7. Colonialist Criticism
8. Thoughts on the African Novel
9. Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard
10. Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo
11. Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist
12. Language and the Destiny of Man
13. The Truth of Fiction
14. What Has Literature Got to Do with It?
In the leading essay of the collection, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", Achebe debunks Conrad's attempt in demarcating Africa. Achebe reproaches Conrad for regurgitation of preconceptions counter to the African psyche through his novella. He demarcates on the status of preserving good relations between the continents.
He declares Naipul’s unfairness not only vis-à-vis Africa, but also India and South America by ghettoizing them in his Area of Darkness.
The pickle with “Heart of Darkness,” Achebe states, is that “Africa is employed as a metaphorical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity. (It is) reduced to the role of a prop for the breakup of one pretty European mind.
He writes: “In the final consideration, his method amounts to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences, one about silence and the other about frenzy. We can inspect samples of this on page 103 and page 105 of the New American Library edition: (a) “It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention” and (b) “The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy.” Of course, there is a judicious change of adjective from time to time, so that instead of “inscrutable,” for example, you might have “unspeakable,” even plain “mysterious,” etc., etc…”
In the two essays ‘Impediments to Dialogue between North and South’ and ‘Named for Victoria, Queen of England’ Achebe harps upon racism in a altered, ighter tone. ‘North and South’ refers to Western Europe and Africa – an interesting perspective point if your are standing in Nigeria and commenting relative to that point of view – Achebe discusses the factors that impede dialogue, particularly the colonial attitude. ‘Named for Victoria’ reads like a delightful insurgence.
In the essay "Writer and his Community" for instance, Achebe talks of the artistic forms and literary outputs of the Africans. In the book, he also talks of the adversities faced by African writers in English. He analyzes the work of African writers like Amos Tutuola, Christopher Okingbo and Kofi Awoonor.
To be accurate, in all the titles, such as ‘The Novelist as Teacher’, ‘The Writer and His Community’, ‘Thoughts on the African Novel’, ‘Language and the Destiny of Man’, The Truth of Fiction’ and ‘What has Literature Got to Do with It?’, Achebe reveals, deliberates and enlarges on this script style of his.
These essays expound the untold facades of his working mind and his inquisitiveness, and dynamics that generate stimulus to write what he actually writes. In ‘The Igbo World and Its Art’, Achebe fleetingly deliberates on Igbo art and some Igbo folklore on which the art is founded. This essay condenses a sensitivity of what Igbo talent is like, and what is intensely stimulating here is the semblance one ascertains to Taoism. The remaining three essays are ‘Work and Play in Tutuola’s The Palm Wine Drinkard’, ‘Don’t Let Him Die: A Tribute to Christopher Okigbo’ and ‘Kofi Awoonor as a Novelist’. In each of these essays, Achebe discusses the writers and the most prominent aspects around them that inspired their output. Colonialism or racism is never ignored.
Vital to Achebe’s fictional project is the deconstruction of Western accounts about African culture and, in relation to this, about Western colonialism.
The disbelieving of these narratives may have stood as an end in itself for Achebe, but it was also an inevitable effect of the author’s attempts to dramatize from an African belvedere the outmoded lives of his people, their involuntary encounter with empire, and the alterations their societies underwent throughout and subsequent to the colonial era.
Towards the end, there is a postscript on James Baldwin.
One of the top 100 books of recent times.
December 22, 2009
A Gem of a book. Literally. Because that’s what you’ll be left holding, in all its mesmerizing beauty, as the heat from Achebe’s prose blasts away the myths and patronizing images of Africa created in the west. The language is precise and elegant; the arguments cleanly and logically, Venn diagram like, laid out – his vivisection of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is alone worth the price of admission. An underrated classic from Africa’s grandmaster.
July 17, 2011
Chinua Achebe rocks so hard. It's not often I read an essay that makes me want to stand up and cheer--but the essays in this book made me feel that way over and over again. Achebe is brilliant at calling out racism and neocolonialism in all their blatant and subtle manifestations. Also, can I just say that I can't believe I made it through an MFA program without encountering the essay "The Truth of Fiction," because it is pitch-perfect, one of the best explanations I've ever read of the essential empathy-creating effects of fiction.
dropped
December 27, 2020 College reads: I only read chapters/sections relevant to my studies, hence the dnf (An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness)
August 9, 2016
This is an excellent collection of essays and journalism – most of them manage to look into African cultures in particular, while at time analyzing a theme fr humanity in general.
North and South
Achebe uses words ‘North’ and ‘South’ in same sense as we use ‘West’ and ‘East’. His North means Europe and also includes USA. He argues that Africa has so not been allowed to speak for itself – it has been assumed by west that it is incapable of doing so as if Africans were children or worse still animals; that even if Europeans (in Africa, Americans too are called Europeans) want to know about Africa, they will send their own expert to study it rather than listen to what Africans might have to say for themselves. To take a contemporary example, look at all those Discovery-Wildlife channels describing local cultures where all the hosts are Americans. Wouldn’t it be better if someone closer to those cultures was to describe them? There could be enough Africans who could explain their culture to world, even in European languages. But Achebe tells us about the European Prejudice which assumes any European must be cosmopolitan to be properly European; whereas a cosmopolitan African is a corrupted one and is incapable of representing his culture.
Art
My favorites parts in these essays are those where he talk about African cultural art and story telling.
The concept of ownership over art is absent in local African cultures. He said while an artist may demand privacy while working, once the work is finished it goes to public pool. The individualist idea of property over art – copyrights, patents etc is western and largely modern invention. Now you can see why Shakespeare didn’t become a billionaire despite all those successful plays.
Another observation that fascinated me was that most of artistic creations in these cultures would be left, ignored after using them at festival (or whatever use they may have) – and won’t be saved for reuse. The stress is on ‘processes rather than the ‘object’. It kind of reminds me of insistence of Rangolies Indians put in their verandas despite the fact they require a lot of handwork and are bound to be spoiled in a few days.
Heart of darkness
Perhaps the most discussed essay from the collection, it is about the racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Achebe’s argument and anger are both justified and I believe he could have made even best of Conrad lovers to stop and think, but he begins it by making an ad hominem attack on author which must have pushed some of them to defense.
Role of Novelist
The role and importance of a novelist, especially in African context, is a recurring themes. It is duty of novelist to fight against the inferiority complex in African mind arising out Colonist brainwashing which made them believe that their own culture was somehow inferior to others
Colonialist criticism
Achebe argues that West tells us things like novels are not suited for Africans, or that African novelists were still learning or how colonial mentality continues to show in western criticism of African novels. The novels which show the relative inferiority of culture of colonies (his example: Naipaul) are more likely to praised by western critics –as they suited their concise.
Universality and African Novels
A rather common criticism of African novel from Europe is that African novels are not universal, that they are always discussing local problems. Achebe argues that all novels are rationalized at least to some extent – and that lack of ‘universality’ is a very poor criteria for criticism. That what west calls ‘universal’ is the thing still centered on west – Africans can no better relate to those ‘universal’ novels than Western can do with African novels.
Language and Fiction
Achebe argues about importance of language and words – including but not limited to Orwellian concerns. He talks about myths across cultures talking about importance of words. There were time, according to some African myths, when everything you said would come true (somewhat similar belief is also seen in Hindu religious books.)
Fiction (including all art forms) is food for imagination and Imagination is mother of all compassion. Achebe discusses some very beautiful folk tales and myths; classifies fiction into positive and maleficent (superstitions, racism, sexism, patriotic arrogance etc) Achebe argues fiction becomes dangerous when we forget that it is fiction.
You should read fiction to be able to understand suffering of others, to learn from others' experience. Also,nothing is dangerous to compassion as privilege:
Achebe also discusses some of best of African Novels ( Palm Wine Drinnerd) and novelists (Christopher Ekighbo, Kofi Awanoor etc) which defiantly added to my reading list.
North and South
Achebe uses words ‘North’ and ‘South’ in same sense as we use ‘West’ and ‘East’. His North means Europe and also includes USA. He argues that Africa has so not been allowed to speak for itself – it has been assumed by west that it is incapable of doing so as if Africans were children or worse still animals; that even if Europeans (in Africa, Americans too are called Europeans) want to know about Africa, they will send their own expert to study it rather than listen to what Africans might have to say for themselves. To take a contemporary example, look at all those Discovery-Wildlife channels describing local cultures where all the hosts are Americans. Wouldn’t it be better if someone closer to those cultures was to describe them? There could be enough Africans who could explain their culture to world, even in European languages. But Achebe tells us about the European Prejudice which assumes any European must be cosmopolitan to be properly European; whereas a cosmopolitan African is a corrupted one and is incapable of representing his culture.
Art
My favorites parts in these essays are those where he talk about African cultural art and story telling.
The concept of ownership over art is absent in local African cultures. He said while an artist may demand privacy while working, once the work is finished it goes to public pool. The individualist idea of property over art – copyrights, patents etc is western and largely modern invention. Now you can see why Shakespeare didn’t become a billionaire despite all those successful plays.
Another observation that fascinated me was that most of artistic creations in these cultures would be left, ignored after using them at festival (or whatever use they may have) – and won’t be saved for reuse. The stress is on ‘processes rather than the ‘object’. It kind of reminds me of insistence of Rangolies Indians put in their verandas despite the fact they require a lot of handwork and are bound to be spoiled in a few days.
Heart of darkness
Perhaps the most discussed essay from the collection, it is about the racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Achebe’s argument and anger are both justified and I believe he could have made even best of Conrad lovers to stop and think, but he begins it by making an ad hominem attack on author which must have pushed some of them to defense.
Role of Novelist
The role and importance of a novelist, especially in African context, is a recurring themes. It is duty of novelist to fight against the inferiority complex in African mind arising out Colonist brainwashing which made them believe that their own culture was somehow inferior to others
Colonialist criticism
Achebe argues that West tells us things like novels are not suited for Africans, or that African novelists were still learning or how colonial mentality continues to show in western criticism of African novels. The novels which show the relative inferiority of culture of colonies (his example: Naipaul) are more likely to praised by western critics –as they suited their concise.
Universality and African Novels
A rather common criticism of African novel from Europe is that African novels are not universal, that they are always discussing local problems. Achebe argues that all novels are rationalized at least to some extent – and that lack of ‘universality’ is a very poor criteria for criticism. That what west calls ‘universal’ is the thing still centered on west – Africans can no better relate to those ‘universal’ novels than Western can do with African novels.
Language and Fiction
Achebe argues about importance of language and words – including but not limited to Orwellian concerns. He talks about myths across cultures talking about importance of words. There were time, according to some African myths, when everything you said would come true (somewhat similar belief is also seen in Hindu religious books.)
Fiction (including all art forms) is food for imagination and Imagination is mother of all compassion. Achebe discusses some very beautiful folk tales and myths; classifies fiction into positive and maleficent (superstitions, racism, sexism, patriotic arrogance etc) Achebe argues fiction becomes dangerous when we forget that it is fiction.
You should read fiction to be able to understand suffering of others, to learn from others' experience. Also,nothing is dangerous to compassion as privilege:
"Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.”
Achebe also discusses some of best of African Novels ( Palm Wine Drinnerd) and novelists (Christopher Ekighbo, Kofi Awanoor etc) which defiantly added to my reading list.
August 13, 2020
My mind feels richer and more open for having read this well-balanced collection of essays by Achebe. Collected over almost twenty-five years and first published thirty years ago, it is still fresh nonetheless. Arguments about the importance of literature and art in Nigerian or any society have lost none of its value nor urgency. Sadly, the same goes for the prevalence of racism and colonialism despite progress made in the meantime.
It surprised me to see how many are still defending Conrad's Heart of Darkness as not being the product of a racist mind fifty years on. But rather than focusing on such negatives, I just felt lifted up by the eloquence and fluency of every sentence, of the diverse and colorful citations of literature from across Africa as well as Europa and America. Wished these kinds of essays would be taught more widely, it's essential reading in my opinion.
The varied palette speaks to the imagination, and according to Chinua Achebe himself, that's just what fictions should do.
It surprised me to see how many are still defending Conrad's Heart of Darkness as not being the product of a racist mind fifty years on. But rather than focusing on such negatives, I just felt lifted up by the eloquence and fluency of every sentence, of the diverse and colorful citations of literature from across Africa as well as Europa and America. Wished these kinds of essays would be taught more widely, it's essential reading in my opinion.
The varied palette speaks to the imagination, and according to Chinua Achebe himself, that's just what fictions should do.
November 10, 2017
Though I had to skim a couple of essays because I lacked the context and was utterly lost (note to self: read Amos Tutuola's Palm Wine Drinkard and Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor), I only wish I were able to see Achebe speak in person. These pieces are filled with warmth, thoughtfulness, humor and razor sharp insight from his famous take down of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" to querying the nature of literature in society. My experience of literary criticism has rarely been this enjoyable from from to end.
October 13, 2013
While Achebe does make some valid points in his varies speeches and essays, as a reader, I am unfortunately blinded by his tone and ferver. Achebe looses some of his academic cred the moment he calls Conrad "a bloody racist". He even seems to go so far as to say that anyone who doesn't think Conrad is racist is inherently racist themselves.
There are some interesting sections regarding the need for communication between cultures, and the things that have prohibited a proper line of communication up until now.
However, there comes a point when you push your point so hard that you turn onto the person that you are arguing. At times, I feel as though Achebe crosses this line. Yes, it is absolutely true that the lines of dialogue are often unfortunately one sided, and that the lesser spoken communities in Africa have much that they can teach the rest of the world. However equality in traditional terms, would dictate that they be willing to listen to outsiders without such resentment. Each country should learn from each other, not just one preaching at the other. No matter who is doing the preaching.
Perhaps it is simply the form of the book, in putting all of his arguments, and sometimes, rants, together, but at times it feels as though Achebe is looking for something to be upset about. So perhaps reading the whole book cover to cover and taking it as fact would not be the best way to take in the book or Achebe's philosophy.
I disagree with Achebe on many points, (for example Descartes) but that does not mean that I think he is completely wrong. I would just hope that he would respect my having an opinion on matters that might be different from his.
There are some interesting sections regarding the need for communication between cultures, and the things that have prohibited a proper line of communication up until now.
However, there comes a point when you push your point so hard that you turn onto the person that you are arguing. At times, I feel as though Achebe crosses this line. Yes, it is absolutely true that the lines of dialogue are often unfortunately one sided, and that the lesser spoken communities in Africa have much that they can teach the rest of the world. However equality in traditional terms, would dictate that they be willing to listen to outsiders without such resentment. Each country should learn from each other, not just one preaching at the other. No matter who is doing the preaching.
Perhaps it is simply the form of the book, in putting all of his arguments, and sometimes, rants, together, but at times it feels as though Achebe is looking for something to be upset about. So perhaps reading the whole book cover to cover and taking it as fact would not be the best way to take in the book or Achebe's philosophy.
I disagree with Achebe on many points, (for example Descartes) but that does not mean that I think he is completely wrong. I would just hope that he would respect my having an opinion on matters that might be different from his.
November 22, 2015
I recently spent time reading the text of Chinua Achebe's 1975 lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" - which provided a carefully observed critique of the inherent racism(s) and negative representations of Africa and Africans that litter Joseph Conrad's (in)famous 19th century novella. Unlike the more ambivalent interpretations provided by writers such as Peter Edgerly Firchow (e.g. his book 'Envisioning Africa'), Achebe's analysis of the various literary stereotypes - and repeated myths about African landscapes as "places of negation", otherness, horror, etc. is consistently on point. More broadly, this collection of essays reminds me why Achebe's perspectives on African-European political and cultural relations remain timelessly important as context for any contemporary, critical considerations of the legacies arising from lived and fictionalized imperial histories.
January 21, 2016
This book contains various essays by the Nigerian Chinua Achebe (one of the first African authors to write Novels about Africans “from within”), tackling issues of writing, literature, Colonialism, Africa, and everything in between.
It also contains the essay where Achebe is dissecting Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to show its racist elements.
Other issues discussed in the book are the role of literature, of the African novelists, of the African novel, as well as various criticisms of his own critics, predominantly those that judge his art by applying to it American and European standards.
This book is worth reading to anyone interested in Literature, Colonialism, or both, two things which always go hand in hand where Achebe is concerned.
It also contains the essay where Achebe is dissecting Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to show its racist elements.
Other issues discussed in the book are the role of literature, of the African novelists, of the African novel, as well as various criticisms of his own critics, predominantly those that judge his art by applying to it American and European standards.
This book is worth reading to anyone interested in Literature, Colonialism, or both, two things which always go hand in hand where Achebe is concerned.
August 24, 2014
Thought provoking: Yes. Well argued: Sometimes. Exclamation points: Yes! (The most I've seen in criticism, ever!) I just wish he dug deeper, ruminated more on his subjects tackled here. A lot on 'this is not Africa' and arguing against Western broad summarizations of the continent, and yet using broad summarizations to defend his own arguments/theories. There is not a lot of textual evidence. Again, the question of whether to read Conrad, especially Heart of Darkness comes up. Achebe is very much against it. And yet the novel and his response does produce a curious and engaging dialogue.
May 15, 2007
This is a great collection of essays, including his famous attack on Conrad's Heart of Darkness as an unforgivably racist novel. There is also great material on issues like postcolonialism, oral vs written literature, as well as other topics. Achebe is a positive, hopeful voice in a global world that often seems bleak in terms of achieving multicultural harmony & understanding....
May 3, 2015
One of the greatest essayists in contemporary literature! Was blown away with his style and manner of writing about different forms of discrimination, racism, colonialism and victimization through the haze of modern history of African nation. You should definitely draw attention to Chinua Achebe's works if you are in a process of discovering cultural and ethical flaws of our society.
May 30, 2016
Reading the chapter on Kofi Awoonor made me determined to track down a copy of This Earth, My Brother.
His penultimate three chapters are a great summary of why I read and why I'd like to write. Language and the Destiny of Man, The Truth of Fiction and What has Literature got to do with It? are gems for the ages.
His penultimate three chapters are a great summary of why I read and why I'd like to write. Language and the Destiny of Man, The Truth of Fiction and What has Literature got to do with It? are gems for the ages.
April 30, 2010
Excellent collection of essays focusing on (mostly African) literature and art and on colonialism. The first essay alone--"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness"--is worth the price of admission.
May 13, 2009
A thought-provoking group of essays from the Nigerian author of THINGS FALL APART. His essay on Joseph Conrad is especially brilliant.
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January 3, 2013Thoughtful examinations of the difficulties and pleasures of being a man of letters from Africa's finest writer...
August 4, 2014
Wonderfully combative essays on Africa, literature, African literature, racism in literary criticism and the experience of being an African writer.
January 14, 2015
Concision without mercy; insight without cowardice: these are the heartening qualities of Achebe's essays.
May 10, 2015
A God among writers.
January 14, 2016
Challenging, thought-provoking, and absolutely brilliant. Just what I'd expect from Achebe.
May 1, 2024
I enjoyed this collection of Chinua Achebe’s essays less than I did the tighter-knit Home and Exile. I suppose this has something to do with the greater variety of subjects he touches upon in this collection, but also the occasional obscure references to events, places and writers that, as someone with a limited knowledge of African literature and modern history, I would have appreciated some footnotes for from later publishers. It was also the first time I felt one of Achebe’s books was very much a product of its time and many of the things he wrote in the 70s in particular felt a bit dated at times.
The essays I enjoyed the most were the ones in which he ponders the role of fiction and imagination as tools of development, education and empathy.
The essays I enjoyed the most were the ones in which he ponders the role of fiction and imagination as tools of development, education and empathy.
July 14, 2023
A little bit of Mr. Achebe goes a long way for me, and while I enjoy the witty barbs he zings here at various academics and critics, I'm of the opinion he is purposefully misreading Conrad's Heart of Darkness in the same way he accuses so many of his fellow writers and critics throughout these collected essays and reviews of misreading and misunderstanding African authors.
I dipped into this collection after enjoying Achebe's story "Dead Man's Path" for my GoodReads short story discussion group, but there isn't a lot here for the casual reader. His essay on Conrad is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of that book, but the rest of the material doesn't cry out to be remembered and won't appeal to most readers unless they are doing a deep dive into the author. Still, he's Chinua Achebe and so I'm going to give him that extra third star.
I dipped into this collection after enjoying Achebe's story "Dead Man's Path" for my GoodReads short story discussion group, but there isn't a lot here for the casual reader. His essay on Conrad is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of that book, but the rest of the material doesn't cry out to be remembered and won't appeal to most readers unless they are doing a deep dive into the author. Still, he's Chinua Achebe and so I'm going to give him that extra third star.
July 13, 2021
A nice sentiment but it struggled to captivate me. Maybe because most of the essays were transcripts of speeches/lectures I’m not sure. The essays were inconsistent and I gave up on the book for a few weeks before returning back to it to finish to the last few essays.
Not my favourite of Achebe, but within this slightly dense book of essays there were some moments of great clarity and insight. Sadly I will remember most of the book as a struggle to get through though.
Most of the essays were a bit waffly and didn’t have the same incision, impact or revelation as I was hoping for. I preferred Home and exile and Africa’s tarnished name.
A great essay at the end though on James Baldwin who is one of my favourite people of the 20th century
Not my favourite of Achebe, but within this slightly dense book of essays there were some moments of great clarity and insight. Sadly I will remember most of the book as a struggle to get through though.
Most of the essays were a bit waffly and didn’t have the same incision, impact or revelation as I was hoping for. I preferred Home and exile and Africa’s tarnished name.
A great essay at the end though on James Baldwin who is one of my favourite people of the 20th century
August 26, 2018
My favorite thing in Achebe is how he has mastered the polite but devastating criticism.
The most powerful essays in this work for me are the bookends: Achebe begins with a sharp critique of Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness. Conrad was my favorite author in high school, when I first discovered real literature. Achebe does a remarkable job of showing how the racism in the work isn't just some forgivable side issue, but radically shapes the regressive message of the entire piece -- and perpetuates the most idiotic of stereotypes.
Achebe ends with a powerful eulogy for James Baldwin. Impediments first, and then hopes.
The most powerful essays in this work for me are the bookends: Achebe begins with a sharp critique of Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness. Conrad was my favorite author in high school, when I first discovered real literature. Achebe does a remarkable job of showing how the racism in the work isn't just some forgivable side issue, but radically shapes the regressive message of the entire piece -- and perpetuates the most idiotic of stereotypes.
Achebe ends with a powerful eulogy for James Baldwin. Impediments first, and then hopes.
July 31, 2020
This collection had a number of interesting essays but the gem, for me, was the one explaining the racism of Conrad, largely because I have read and loved Heart of Darkness without noticing the racism rotting its foundations. Achebe's essay opened my eyes to the extent to which I have been (and am still) blind to racism that is not overt and I am extremely grateful for it. Much of the rest of the collection was about analysing Nigerian writers whom I had not before heard of, so I came away with new names to add to my TBR and some thought about how long and hard the fight is to undo white supremacy.
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