The Prophetic Vision of Chinua Achebe Reclaiming Africa's Past, Writing Its Present, Shaping Its Future

Achebe had a keen grasp of how language demonstrated power, how power determined what was considered knowledge, and how this knowledge could become truth. ‘Does the white man understand our custom about land?’ ‘How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? […] He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.’ – Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart This excerpt from Achebe's most famous novel foregrounds a grasp of the embodied experience o
 

Every year, The Republic publishes the most ambitious writing focused on Africa, from news and analysis to long-form features.

To continue reading this article, Subscribe or Register for a Free Pass.

Already a subscriber? Log in.