Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of 'Things Fall Apart'

212 Pages·2020·2.615 MB·English

by  Désiré Baloubi, Christina R. Pinkston

AFRICAN HISTORIES
AND MODERNITIES
Celebrating
the 60th Anniversary of
’Things Fall Apart‘
Edited by Désiré Baloubi · Christina R. Pinkston
African Histories and Modernities
Series Editors
Toyin Falola
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX, USA
Matthew M. Heaton
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA, USA
This book series serves as a scholarly forum on African contributions to
and negotiations of diverse modernities over time and space, with a par-
ticular emphasis on historical developments. Specifically, it aims to refute
the hegemonic conception of a singular modernity, Western in origin,
spreading out to encompass the globe over the last several decades. Indeed,
rather than reinforcing conceptual boundaries or parameters, the series
instead looks to receive and respond to changing perspectives on an
important but inherently nebulous idea, deliberately creating a space in
which multiple modernities can interact, overlap, and conflict. While privi-
leging works that emphasize historical change over time, the series will
also feature scholarship that blurs the lines between the historical and the
contemporary, recognizing the ways in which our changing understand-
ings of modernity in the present have the capacity to affect the way we
think about African and global histories.
Editorial Board
Akintunde Akinyemi, Literature, University of Florida, Gainesville
Malami Buba, African Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies,
Yongin, South Korea
Emmanuel Mbah, History, CUNY, College of Staten Island
Insa Nolte, History, University of Birmingham
Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, International Studies, Rhodes College
Samuel Oloruntoba, Political Science, TMALI, University of South Africa
Bridget Teboh, History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14758
Désiré Baloubi • Christina R. Pinkston
Editors
Celebrating the
60th Anniversary of
‘Things Fall Apart’
Editors
Désiré Baloubi Christina R. Pinkston
Norfolk State University Norfolk State University
Norfolk, VA, USA Norfolk, VA, USA
ISSN 2634-5773 ISSN 2634-5781 (electronic)
African Histories and Modernities
ISBN 978-3-030-50796-1 ISBN 978-3-030-50797-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50797-8
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
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To the memory of Chinua Achebe, to his wife, his children,
and his extended family, as well as all those who believe in themselves
and in others as equally important human beings.
P
reface
Arguably, one of the most profound African-famed writers of his time and
ours is, certainly, Chinua Achebe. His first novel, Things Fall Apart,
remains a “must read” literary text for numerous notable reasons, as the
authors make astutely clear in their chapters of this book. Their perspec-
tives render thought-provoking, critically insightful, and well-intentioned
considerations for scholars of all ages, cultures, and genders. Note, for
example, Professor Kasongo Mulenda Kapanga who, in his article, con-
tends that there are “irreconcilable differences” between the viewpoints of
Joseph Conrad in his novel Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe in his
book Things Fall Apart regarding Conrad’s “condescension of Africa.”
Dr. Page Laws discusses “turning the tide for African literary criticism” as
she examines Achebe’s “image of Africa” in her article. Among her many
valid points, Dr. Laws mentions how Achebe—the individual and the
writer of African descent—is “invisible to some readers [but] all-too-visi-
ble to others.” The emphasis of her chapter concerns the “reception his-
tory” of “Achebe’s lecture-essay, issues of fairness towards Conrad … plus
ways that Achebe’s important essay informs the teaching of both
authors today.”
Other contributors to this important book analyze topics such as these.
Dr. Désiré Baloubi “purports that Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) have a vital role to play in a collective endeavor to
reconnect America to Africa” in his chapter entitled “Encouraging
American Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Teach African
Languages and Cultures.” Author Martha Michieka discusses the notion
of “two Englishes,” that is, she questions “whose language African
vii
viii PREFACE
novelists use and … whose literature they produce” in her chapter “My
English, My Literature: Owning Our African Englishes and Literatures.”
She “proposes that the English Ogola and other African authors are
entirely their own and the cultures they express fully African.”
In brief, each writer in this noteworthy book deserves an audience as he
or she details reasons why Chinua Achebe and his novel Things Fall Apart
must continue to be celebrated beyond sixty years. Mentioned in this fore-
word are just a few of the many authors in this book who should be heard,
read, reviewed, and studied, for they separately make certain Chinua
Achebe’s voice remain powerfully poignant, prominent, and prolific, today
and for years to come. In closing, what can be learned from all the chap-
ters, especially from those contributed by Professors Bernth Lindfors and
Don Burness, is that Chinua Achebe deserves a masquerade. Reading his
works “will free us from the darkness of ignorance and from the prison of
Plato’s cave.”
Norfolk, VA Christina R. Pinkston
a
cknowledgments
We, Dr. Désiré Baloubi and Dr. Christina Pinkston, express deep gratitude
to Professor Toyin Falola, who graciously introduced us to the publishers
of this book. Special thanks go to Dr. Melvin T. Stith—Former Interim
President of Norfolk State University (NSU)—and his Presidential
Cabinet, Dr. Leroy Hamilton, Jr., and the Office of the Provost, Dr.
Cassandra Newby-Alexander and Professor Chinedu Okala, Dean and
Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, respectively. We also thank
Dr. Page Laws, Former Dean of the NSU Honors College, who gave gen-
erously of her time and provided her private home to accommodate spe-
cial guests for the celebration of Chinua Achebe. Furthermore, we
recognize all the members and leaders of the Southeast African Languages
and Literatures Forum (SEALLF) for their invaluable support and contri-
bution. Special thanks go to Professor Toyin Falola for his support.
In addition, Dr. Baloubi and Dr. Pinkston thank the members of the
local organizing committee of the Ninth SEALLF Annual Conference:
Dr. Michele Rozga, Dr. Annie Perkins, Dr. Jocelyn Heath, and Ms.
Annette Robinson. Above all, we give full credit to the NSU Department
of English and Foreign Languages for taking the initiative to host the six-
tieth anniversary of Things Fall Apart.
Finally, we express tremendous appreciation to NSU students and fac-
ulty campus-wide for attending the conference and assisting in any way
possible to make the occasion a grand success. Most sincerely, we thank
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
everyone who made this dream a reality; the list is too long to name each
person. Of course, we are grateful beyond measure to Don Burness and
Bernth Lindfors for sharing their fond, precious, and personal memories
of Chinua Achebe, which constitute the backbone of this book, truly a
product of collective endeavors.