I don't feel that everyone reading this will have the capacity to understand what I'm saying, and I know it will be an open avenue for people to bring about degenerative and hateful comments, but I want Nigerians to understand the extent by which our obsession with politics and wealth has made it impossible to see anything else in any other context than the political or the monetary one.

I've come to observe exactly why Things Fall Apart has become such a success cross the world, and it's for this reason that I say it's the most important book in modern black history. Things Fall Apart is unarguably the first time african history is depicted in a humanist light. By this I mean that this is the first time where the africanness and the historic backdrop wasn't the main character, the first time when the culture or context wasn't romanticized or polished by any bias or agenda. If you look at the progressive history of african art, from ancient to today, you see patterns. Our ancestors began with non-secular pieces that typically had an symbolic nature. The depictions were all meant to symbolize something and seldom would faith be seperate from the depictions.

The Benin bronzes represent another important moment because it was the first known time that such a large volume of secular art was produced and increasingly non symbolic standards. This means the people were made, as much as possible, to look like actual people as opposed to symbols of people. The eyes were in the shape of actual eyes as opposed to geometric eye like shapes used to depict eyes, the couture of the skin and dimensions of the body were approached with an emphasis on accuracy as opposed to symbols. Most importantly, the objective wasn't to glorify, but to take a snap shot of their contemporary world. Farmers, foreigners, common women, royal women, men, etc were depicted more often than mythical figures, and Gods and there was no set 'objective' for depicting these people other than the guild of craftsmen depicting for the sake of depicting and story telling.


Colonialism put a freeze to creativity in africa. We were in a strange situation where you had to be 'african' or 'western'. When identities became polarized, the also became stagnant. Aspects of african culture that didn't seem idealistically 'african' were cut out, and european culture was seen from a non objective lens. Infact, this represented the end of the objective lens in african culture. Africans can no longer 'own' their culture, as in mandate it for adaptation and time, establish an individualistic identity with the culture etc. It was all about the african as an ideal and not a reality. This is when you started hearing things we hear today such as africans aren't sexual, africans are religious, etc and europeans are liberal, europeans are scientific, etc.

This led to the rise of the pan African movement. The pan Africans, though noble in cause, created an 'african culture' that wasn't real. It was a romanticized rehash of the past. it cut out the parts that weren't pretty (usually based on the European context), and over emphasized parts that were politically or idealistically convenient and though created beautiful works or literature art etc, represented a return to symbolism and idealism. Our history was told to us as a history of pure glory, and glory defined by what europeans saw as glorious (conquering others, empires, kingdoms, technology, writing, and or putting black faces into western stories such as the famous 'did you know the greeks were taught by Africans?', 'did you know the original Hebrews were Africans etc'.

and Igbo man in this era would never tell you his ancestors left twins to die, that aspects of lesbianism were practiced and celebrated in our culture. A zulu man wouldn't tell you about homosexual practices of the Zulu warriors, everyone brushed away stories of human sacrifice. the past was 'better, and glorious' and we 'feel from glory' to be where we are today.





Things Fall Apart, in one simple and sweeping pen stroke re-wrote our mentality about ourselves whether we realize it or not, not just as igbos, but as human beings. The characters weren't made to depict the glory of the past culture. It wasn't made to show igbos as more 'advanced' or depict a romanticized aspect of our culture and African history in general that ruled the era it was written and and even rules us today. It wasn't even know igbos, Africa, history, etc. I was about people. It was about an individual that was a part of and surrounded by this culture and his flaws, qualities and attributes. The characters were three dimensional. Okonkwo had a complex and insecurity about his father as a failure so he was obsessed with being the ideal man so that others will forget his shameful origins. His father, an igbo man, wasn't concerned with the overt shows of manliness we as igbos are told today are the 'norm' for igbo men, he loved his wife and loved playing the flute. Tell your parent that you want to be a musician today and they well tell you, often, that 'our people don't do that'. Here is an african story that changed the course of our understanding of ourselves by being human.

Oddly enough, Things Fall Apart teachs more about african culture than romanticized books dedicated to teaching and it wasn't even a book written to teach. It was just a glimpse into an isolated pocket in time in Africa when the world was about to get flipped upside down. It didn't have a false and demonizing depiction of the Europeans either. It showed how Christianity helped abolish the cast system while speaking honestly about it. It showed at the same time how Christianity encouraged cowardice and confusion in men while elevating the position of women, the down trodden and outcasts.

It also does something very interesting. This history of african's depictions of themselves, is told in this book. consider Okonkwo to be the romanticized rendition of African history. Because he came from a position of feeling inferior he was obsessed with becoming an ideal igbo man, at the same time having a difficult time dealing with aspects of our culture that he didn't agree with such as the killing of his adopted 'son' at the behest of the oracle. He lived his entire life in constant denial of everything he didn't see fit for a man. Emotions, compassion, love, tenderness, openness etc, the same way romanticized african history rid its self of all the aspects that weren't seem fit for a 'civilized' or glorified people.



things fall apart represents the next phase in artistic expression for africans. It tells our story from a human perspective, with no agenda, no politics, no bias, and no desire to depict us as better or worst than we are. It's not about culture though the culture is there, it's about the people. things Fall apart represents the moment we stop seeing ourselves as igbo, yoruba, hausa, dongola, ashante, etc and as 'Ike, Mike, Obi, Tunde etc..'. It's an end to the us telling ourselves lies about our culture and our history and for the first time represents the ability to look at the things we were trying to hid from the world as natural and beautiful while still being evil and questionable.


may won't understand what i'm writing and i plan to write a more formal piece on this when I'm afforded the time. As of now, Thing fall apart is the most important book in modern black history because it represents the beginning of real humanism in africa, and this will in the future, as it has in the past, change everything.

I also understand that the romantic era didn't come about by ignorance and was necessary for the time being because our identity was under assault and it was necessary to fortify and be militant in our pride of it in order to defend our worth as human beings. The romantic era gave birth to The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, all of the writings of Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, Fela Kuti's music, Negritude, the pro-black pan African movement etc, and the inspiration it created freed us from bondage from others. I feel that Things Fall Apart showing our culture as africans for what it will in years to come free us from the bondage of ourselves.

I feel that another author that is doing this well is Chimamanda. Half a Yellow Sun is about the Biafra war, but the main characters aren't Ojukwu, Gowon, etc. It was regular people with petty jealousies, that were preoccupied with the same things all humans are preoccupied with such as sex. Most writing on Biafra, is still in the romantic vein where the writers bias determines the telling of the story.

These books are also more able to appeal to the rest of the world, as they have, because they're human stories, not just african stories. People can see themselves in these stories, not their 'ancestor' or parent etc, but themselves.

If Wishes were horses, iboland will be Israeli Colony. Lol
Dream ON! ON! ON! ON!

ikengawo,

i read this writeup and its thought provoking but in taking us back into the humanity of the african you must admit that there was no uniformity of the socion norms in african society. in other words, what is taboo in zululand may be permitted in iboland and what is normal in swaziland may be disallowed in iboland. really, every african culture is the voice of its own people and ethnicity, not of the entire continent. to the ibo people things fall apart is a true capture of what your society is but to many others who have read it they find it repulsive. in many cultures, not all, a child that addresses you and trust you as his father has sub-consciously surrendered his safety and dependence to your care. it is a high degree of betrayal and sin to knowingly harm the child to prove an ego. it is true things fall apart is widely read. the broad readership should not be equated as broad acceptance or representation of what africans are. in yorubaland it is taboo to kill one's child, whether biological or surrogate, there fore i reject your well written proposition as an ideal. once again it represents the igbo quest to be the savior of africa and the black man.

Op humour yourself. An average Igbo man and pride are twin brothers. Things fall apart my black raven Ass'sssss. Sure Its a master piece but elevating to a holy book status which is What you are exactly tryin to do is total Bs. Remind me again who wòn the Nobel prize for literature due to his excellence of expression and artistic creativity. Sure if achebe had wòn that Nobel prize, we for no hear word again for Una hand

I enjoyed reading this post. I am Igbo even though my mum is Yoruba, sometimes i find myself in situations where i have to defend either side from stereotypes. All we need right now is to move forward. That said i would sign out with some quotes.

“Real tragedy is never resolved. It goes on hopelessly forever.”
- Chinua Achebe (1930 – ).
“A war, with its attendant human suffering, must, when that evil is unavoidable, be made to fragment more than buildings: it must shatter the foundations of thought and re-create. Only in this way does every individual share in the cataclysm and understand the purpose of sacrifice.”
- Wole Soyinka (1934 – )
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.”
– Jimmy Carter (1924 – )
“Brother, hold your peace for the greatest wars are the ones fought for a woman, one for which a true warrior would die.”
Azubike Akinsowon Ahubelem (www.jollyrougeseries.com)