Chinua Achebe is one of the most well-known contemporary writers from Africa.

Achebe’s first novel, Things Fall Apart, is about the conflicts that arose when England colonized Nigeria in the late 1800’s. The British tried to replace African culture and religion with British culture and religion. Which led to violent reactions from many African people who rejected these changes.

Prior to Achebe’s writing, most of the writing about Africa was done by Europeans who did not know African culture. Consequently, any knowledge about African culture came only from a European perspective. What would that be?

Activity: Take out a sheet of paper and draw a map of Africa to the best of your ability. Include: Countries Cities Geographical features (oceans, deserts, mountains, etc.)

The Point? What does your map of Africa tell you about your knowledge of the culture we’re about to encounter in this book?

One of the main themes running through Things Fall Apart – and all of Achebe’s work -- is that all we can know about a culture has to come from within that culture.

European Colonialism In the 1850’s, 80% of Africa was still under traditional, local control. England and other colonial powers like France and Germany divided Africa into 50 countries.

They drew brand new boundaries over the 1,000 indigenous cultures and regions of Africa. The new countries divided some groups of people who lived peacefully together, while merging other groups who didn’t get along.

What types of problems do you think this would create for both England and Africans?

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in He was raised in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centers of British Anglican missionary work in Eastern Nigeria.

His grandfather was Okonkwo, the main character and a local chief of the Ibo tribe – the main character of the novel.

He is a graduate of University College, Ibadan. From 1972 to 1976, and again in 1987 to 1988, Mr. Achebe was a Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and also for one year at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Nigeria

Mr. Achebe has published novels, short stories, essays, and children's books. He was cited in the London Sunday Times as one of the 1,000 "Makers of the Twentieth Century," for defining "a modern African literature that was truly African" and thereby making "a major contribution to world literature."

What made Achebe’s African literature truly African? Things Fall Apart combines Western language forms and literary traditions with Igbo (or Ibo) words and phrases, proverbs, fables, tales, and other elements of African oral and communal storytelling traditions.

This helps record and preserve African oral traditions as well as to overcome the stereotypes that came from British colonialist language and culture.

The End of Colonialism Between 1885 and 1914 Britain took nearly 30% of Africa's population under its control, compared to 15% for France, 9% for Germany, 7% for Belgium and 1% for Italy. Nigeria alone contributed 15 million people, more than in the whole of French West Africa or the entire German colonial empire.

After WWII, England’s influence and power over its colonies around the world was weakened. England’s empire in Africa ended quickly, often leaving the newly- independent states ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of governing themselves.

Nigeria won independence in 1960, and many other African nations followed shortly thereafter.

Published in 1958, just before Nigerian independence, Things Fall Apart recounts the life of the village hero Okonkwo and describes the arrival of white missionaries in Nigeria and its impact on traditional Igbo society during the late 1800s.

What would white English missionaries have thought about this African ritual mask?

Hills and Mountains in the South East,

rainforest and savannah in the southwest and middle,

and Sahara’s in the north.

Nigeria can be divided into three climate regions, the far south, the far north, and the in-between…..

The south has a tropical rainforest climate, where annual rainfall is 60 to 80 inches a year. (NC gets 43.)

The north is almost desert-like climate, where rain is less than 20 inches per year.

The rest of the country is savannah, and rainfall is between 20 and 60 inches per year.

Because of farmland and population growth, Nigeria's few remaining elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards game are generally found inside major reserves. Hippopotamuses and crocodiles, however, are still common in the large rivers.

Birds, including species that migrate seasonally between Africa and Europe, are also abundant. Smaller animals such as antelope, monkeys, jackals, and hyenas are more common.

Nigeria had an eventful history. More than 2,000 years ago, the Nok culture in the present plateau state worked iron and produced sophisticated terracotta sculpture.

Leaded bronze pendant from Igbo-Ukwu (circa 10 AD)

Igbo (20th Century) Helmet Mask called Gbomgbodo

The history of the northern cities of Kano and Katsina dates back to approximately 1000 A.D.

Images of Nigeria Emir’s Palace

Nigerian countryside

In the following centuries, Hausa Kingdoms and the Bornu Empire became important terminals of north-south trade between North African Berbers and the forest people, exchanging slaves, ivory, and other products.

Village in the north

Herdsmen

Nigerian Family

Traditional Nigerian boxing called “dambe,” a martial art.

Nigerian Couple at their wedding

Religion Today, Nigeria is: 50% Muslim 40% Christian 10% traditional African

The Yoruba Kingdom of Oyo was founded in 1400s. In the 17th through 19th centuries, European traders established coastal ports for slave traffic to the Americas.

Lagos Harbor

Commodity trade, especially in palm oil and timber, replaced slave trade in the 19th century.

Cowries used as ornaments and as sacred objects

The Sacred Forest in Oshogbo The Sacred Forest in Oshogbo

In the early 19th century, the Fulani leader Usman dan Fodio launched an Islamic jihad that brought most of the Hausa states under the loose control of a muslim empire centered in Sokoto.

Post-Colonial History On October 1, 1960, the Federation of Nigeria achieved independence, initially as a constitutional monarchy.

From the outset, Nigeria's ethnic, regional, and religious tensions were magnified by the disparities in economic and educational development. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was adopted on October 1, 1963.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC took office as first Nigerian's first President.

Later, in the 1960’s, a massacre of the Ibos was followed by a civil war.

Several military rulers followed. General Abdulsalami Abubakar held elections in 1999 leading to the election of Olusegun Obasanjo, who took office in May, 1999.

Fishing Trade

Two women in traditional attire

Women pounding grain

Chinua Achebe

Three major sections of Things Fall Apart: 1.Thirteen short chapters describing the life of the Ibo people before the whites arive. 2. Seven years of Okonkwo’s exile; arrival of the white missionaries; conversion of Nwoye and his alienation from his father, Okonkwo. 3. White culture overtakes Ibo culture, Okonkwo returns.