Thèses sur le sujet « Chinua Achebe »

Cette thèse s'ajoute aux rares études consacrées à la dimension religieuse et spirituelle dans les écrits de Chinua Achebe (1930-2013). Etudier le christianisme dans l'oeuvre d'Achebe, c'est prendre part, en compagnie de l'auteur de "Morning Yet on Creation Day", à ce qu'il désignait par 'my ritual return and homage'. Ce rite, loin d'être un retour aveugle aux sources natales et une exaltation du passé, est au contraire une cérémonie pénitentielle et oecuménique qui relie le passé, le présent et l'avenir, et s'ouvre aux valeurs spirituelles africaines et chrétiennes pour relever les défis du monde contemporain. Tel est l'alpha et l'oméga de la vocation littéraire et artistique. Né au Nigeria dans une famille ibo convertie au christianisme anglican pendant l'époque coloniale, baigné dans la révélation chrétienne dès sa tendre enfance, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe de son vrai nom, ne fut pas un homme d'Eglise mais un écrivain de la fidélité et de l'espérance. Chinua Achebe n'a cessé de revendiquer son enracinement africain et en même temps sa foi chrétienne. Dans son oeuvre, les références à la Bible sont légion et, la tradition animiste africaine (héritage précolonial) et la religion chrétienne (héritage colonial) s'opposent, s'interpénètrent et dialoguent.Auteur engagé et à la pensée complexe, Achebe récuse un christianisme dépourvu de sa substance qui fornique avec l'hydre impérialiste. Loin d'être rigide comme un 'ikenga', l'auteur reconnaît et se laisse "visiter" par l'esprit du christianisme qui brise les chaînes du désespoir et des pesanteurs d'ici-bas. La vision du romancier est une vision d'espoir, de libération socio-politique, économique et culturelle qui se moque des certitudes absolues, des fanatismes paralysants et des pensées uniques. L'artiste et l'oeuvre, le sujet et l'objet, à l'instar du pénitent, entreprennent une odyssée thérapeutique afin d'atteindre la plénitude de l'être et de la communion avec le Cosmos
To study Christianity in Chinua Achebe's writings is to perform a ritual ceremony. Such a ceremony was known as 'my ritual return and homage' by the author of "Morning Yet on Creation Day". It is not a mere homecoming and recover of the African past, but it is above all an act of atonement which binds past, present and future throughout the ritual of penitence and therapeutic ecumenism. In the writings of the novelist, animistic precolonial heritage and christian colonial one collide and open up in a philosophical and spiritual dialogue. Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born in an igbo family converted to Anglican Christianity during colonial Africa. Far from being frozen as an 'ikeng', the writer never rejected his chritian heritage. The protest and complex writer simply condemned colonial Christianity brought by the missionaries who came to save children of darkness. He recognizes however the essence of Christianity and the Gospel taught by Jesus that gives Hope and sets free all men and women, Jews and Gentiles.The prophetic vision of the writer is a vision of a political, economic and social liberation. Human values contained in Christian as well as in African beliefs ought to conscientize and transcend the foibles of modernity. Like a penitent, Art and the artist, the objet and the subject undergo a spiritual voyage to reach harmony within the entire universe

L'oeuvre de chinua achebe, l'ecrivain nigerian, releve d'un rapport original entre l'art et une vision du monde a la fois culturaliste, historiciste, populiste et progressiste. La critique litteraire n'a pas saisi l'enracinement africain de cette oeuvre parce qu'elle est une critique extravertie par rapport a cet heritage culturel: media occidentaux, discours domines par des sciences humaines refletant une domination occidentale. Etudiant les fondements linguistiques, anthropologiques, historiques, ideologiques et sociaux de cette reception, la these conclut qu'il ne peut y avoir d'etude consequente de cette oeuvre qu'au niveau du tiers monde et particulierement dans le lien entre la critique litteraire et le mouvement culturel qui, depassant la protonation neo-coloniale, creera la nation nigerianne en contradiction avec le processus d'integration negative a la rationnalite dominante
The works of the nigerian writer chinua achebe come from a very original relation between art and a culturalist, historicist, populist and progressive world vision. Literary critics have been unable to understand the african roots of these works because the critical institution is externalized: western mass media, discourses dominated by human sciences which reflect the western domination on the world. Studying the linguistic, anthropological, historical, ideological and social bias of this critical reception of achebe, the research feels that no real study of these works could grow out of a third world context and especially without a strong link with the cultural movement which, going beyond the neo-colonial protonation, will create the nigerian nation in opposition to the trend of negative integration to the prevailing rationality in the world

Dissertação (Mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão.
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L'idee directrice de notre these est que la condition humaine est le theme-cle des romans de chinua achebe. Le romancier nigerian decrit l'effondrement des institutions traditionnelles a un moment critique de l'histoire de son peuple. Vers la fin du xixe siecle, l'immixtion des valeurs occidentales dans le monde ibo devait engendrer des bouleversements dramatiques tant au niveau de la collectivite que sur le plan des comportements individuels. Les populations soumises etaient doublement alienees. Non seulement les missionnaires et les colonisateurs refuserent de leur reconnaitre une histoire et un heritage culturel authentiques, mais ils allerent jusqu'a leur priver de leur dignite d'hommes. Voila qui explique le devoir de parole du romancier nigerian. Chinua achebe demontre toutes les richesses de la culture traditionnelle ibo afin de corriger les prejuges simplistes que developpaient les envahisseurs quand ils portaient leur regard sur les moeurs locales. En meme temps, le romancier negerian se sent concerne par l'histoire recente de son pays. La fin de l'occupation britannique n'a pas coincide avec l'arret de la violence et de l'oppression. L'ere de l'independance est marquee par d'importants changements sociaux et psychologiques. Le fosse ne cesse de se creuser entre la poignee de possedants et les masses desheritees. L'homme a de moins en moins de raisons d'esperer. Aussi china achebe prone-t-il l'avenement d'une nouvelle societe. Il encourage ses concitoyens a construire un monde meilleur et leur propose une autre vision de la societe et une attitude faite de generosite et de courage devant la souffrance, la pauvrete et l'oppression. En donnant un large apercu du passe tribal de son peuple et en mettant en scene la nouvelle societe nigeriane, achebe montre qu'il se refuse a des solutions par trop simplistes. En effet, il met a nu une condition humaine marquee par le non-sens et l'alienation. Les paersonnages decrits dans ses romans sont profondement humains. Ils portent en eux les erreurs et les faiblesses propres au genre humain. Meme si la figure de l'homme telle qu'elle apparait dans les romans de chinua achebe semble vouee au desespoir et a l'angoisse, il demeure que le romancier nigerian reserve une grande place a l'espoir et a la reconciliation de l'homme avec lui-meme et avec son destin
The central tenet of this essay is that chinua achebe's novels are closely related to human condition. Achebe shows us the breakdown of important social institutions which was already beginning in the traditional society at a critical moment in history. The confrontation between the old order and western ways of life which occured shortly before the close of the nineteenth century forced drastic changes in the social patterns of nigerian rural life. The oppression brought about through the imposition of an outside culture was very severe. The white missionaries and colonialists had tended to deny the colonized not only a history and a cultural heritage, but also human dignity. Achebe reveals the complexity of his traditional culture so as to destroy such over-simplified arguments. But achebe realized that the oppression of his people went on after the end of the british occupation. Political changes caused painful social and psychological adjustements. The gap widens between the possessed and the large majority of the citizens. So the novelist pleads for a new society. He urges his fellow countrymen to build up a better world. He proposes a special view of life, a new attitude of generosity before suffering, poverty and oppression. In recreating the tribal past of his people and in presenting contemporary scene, chinua achebe refrains from offering simplistic solutions. The characters depicted in the novels are subject to human weakness and mistakes as human beings have always been. Though the nigerian novelist seems to paint a picture of despair and anguish, he is nevertheless implying the hope of human possibility. In a word, he celebrates human life

Cette thèse étudie les cinq romans publies par Achebe entre 1958 et 1987 et, secondairement, ses autres oeuvres : poèmes, nouvelles, essais. Elle démontre en deux livres (I - la société ; IIi- l'art) que l'oeuvre romanesque décrit une trajectoire la menant d'un haut degré d'organisation au chaos, tant dans les formes sociales décrites que dans les instruments esthétiques. La société, subdivisée en trois parties, analyse le portrait trace par Achebe de l'évolution de sa société. L'oeuvre d'Achebe est une étude concrète et minutieuse des mécanismes de la dégénérescence socioindividuelle, d'abord chez les Igbo, puis dans l'Afrique entière. La société se livre à une analyse théorique systématisée des causes de dégénérescence distinguées par Achebe, depuis l'arrivée du premier missionnaire chrétien dans un village Igbo, en passant par l'accession à l'indépendance, jusqu'à l'effondrement des structures héritées de la colonisation. Le dernier chapitre de la société montre cependant comment, au sein du chaos, le cinquième roman découvre les ferments d'une nouvelle organisation sociale respectueuse de toutes les catégories d'individus, et propose une utopie mêlant populisme et féminisme. L'art recense les prises de positions théoriques d'Achebe puis étudie les instruments de la création littéraire (structures, langage, modes). L'art d'Achebe n'a cessé d'évoluer vers la désintégration, une perte délibérée d'harmonie : confusion chronologique croissante, multiplication et perte de crédibilité des narrateurs, corruption de la langue, ambiguïté et énigmes de la narration, prépondérance grandissante de la modalité sur le contenu représentatif du discours, interférence…
This thesis studies the five novels published by Achebe between 1958 and 1987 and, subsidiarity, his poems, stories nd essays. In its two parts (society and art), it contends that the novels evolve from organization to chaos both in the evocation of society and in the aesthetic instruments of this evocation. Society analyses the three stages of Achebe's description of Igbo social evolution. Achebe pursues a concrete, searching enquiry into the mechanics of individual and social degeneracy, first among the Igbo, then throughout Africa. Society is a survey and analysis of the causes of degeneracy Achebe unveils, from the first arrival of a Christian missionary in an Igbo village, through Nigerian independence, to the collapse of post-colonial structures. The last chapter of society shows that, however, in the midst of chaos, the fifth novel perceives the leaven of a new social order respectful of all categories of individuals and combining populism with feminism. Art summarizes Achebe's theoretical stances before investigating his literary technique under three headings : structures, language, modes. Since his beginnings, Achebe's technique has steadily moved toward disintegration and disharmony, manifested in increasing chronological confusion, the multiplication of less and less credible narrators, corruption of language, ambiguous and enigmatic narratives, the prevalence of modality over actuality, growing interference and confusion between modes

Mestrado em Estudos Ingleses
0 objectivo desta dissertação é estudar a obra de Chinua Achebe dentro da literatura africana de expressão inglesa, tomando como ponto de partida não os canones ou medidas europeistas, mas as referências de tendência aficana, nomeadamente, as reflexões de Amilcar Cabral sobre a participação do escritor na luta pela libertação e unidade do povo no contexto das limitações impostas pelo colonialismo, bem como as possiveis manobras literárias existentes na sua produção. Na Parte I apresentarei alguns aspectos teóricos sobre a relação existente entre a literatura e a libertação política e cultural dos povos africanos. Focarei a posição tomada por alguns escritores e críticos africanos preocupados com a análise influenciada por características europeias e americanas, que tem sido feita as obras escritas por autores africanos. Reflectirei sobre o colonialismo e as suas repercussões na definição de "Negritude" por Leopold Sedar Senghor e nas teorias desenvolvidas por Frantz Fanon em relação ao tratamento dado ao Negro pelas potências colonizadoras. Na Parte I1 iniciarei o estudo de Things Fall Apart, A Man of the People e Anthills of the Savannah de Chinua Achebe, relacionando-as com a obra de Amilcar Cabral e as teorias por ele defendidas em relação à luta de libertação e unidade. Focarei tambem o que considero ser inovador na obra de Chinua Achebe e que contribuiu para a afirmação da Negritude, no sentido lato do termo e não no sentido essencialista de Léopold Sédar Senghor. Chinua Achebe. Na Parte III apresentarei as considerações finais realçando a importância da obra de Chinua Achebe como forma de contribuição para a afirmação da cultura africana em geral e da 1ibertação do seu povo em particular, não esquecendo os seus precursores nesta tarefa de libertação do poder colonial e que também foram motivo de reflexão neste trabalho.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Letras, Letras Estrangeiras e Tradução, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução, 2014.
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A obra do escritor nigeriano Chinua Achebe é aclamada e traduzida no mundo inteiro. Assim como outros de sua geração, Achebe tornou-se referência incontornável no que concerne a construção e consolidação da literatura nigeriana. Apesar de ser mais conhecido por seus romances, os contos escritos por Achebe também são objeto de análise para a compreensão do contexto cultural pós-colonial. Este trabalho se propõe a realizar a tradução para o português do Brasil de três dos doze contos da antologia Girls at War and Other Stories, para analisar, então, qual a posição dessas narrativas especificamente no conjunto da obra do autor. Civil Peace (1971), Sugar Baby (1972) e Girls at War (1973) demonstram o trabalho literário de Achebe e marcam também a produção ficcional de Achebe nesse período, após a deflagração da guerra separatista do Biafra (1967 – 1970), em que sua ficção se tornou mais rara. Como estes são os únicos contos que tratam explicitamente do conflito bélico, são marcadamente diferentes dos outros em sua construção linguística, expõem evidências da guerra em seu cerne. O desafio da tradução é destacar essas peculiaridades do texto pós-conflito e demonstrar a dor da guerra também em português. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT
The work of the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe is acclaimed and translated worldwide. Like other writers of his generation, Achebe became an essential reference regarding the construction and consolidation of Nigerian literature. Although best known for his novels, the short stories are also analyzed to obtain an understanding of the post-colonial cultural context. This research is based on translating into a Brazilian Portuguese three of the twelve short stories from the anthology, Girls at War and Other Stories (1973), with a view to analyzing the position these narratives in Achebe’s ouvre. Civil Peace (1971), Sugar Baby (1972) and Girls at War (1973) are examples of Achebe’s fictional production, which became rarer after the outbreak of the separatist war in Biafra (1967 - 1970). Since these are the only stories that explicitly deal with the armed conflict, they are markedly different from the others in terms of linguistic construction; the war is evident at the core of the narratives. The challenge of the translation work is to highlight these peculiarities of the post-conflict text and to convay the pain of the war in Portuguese.

The aim of this essay is to point out how Chinua Achebe uses different features of Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) in four of his novels. Firstly, there will be an explanation of the terms code switching and proverb, followed by an overview of Pidgin Languages and Nigerian Pidgin English. This study will then deal with two aspects of code-switching in Achebe’s novels: semantic, which includes intertwined Igbo vocabulary and proverbs; and syntactic, which is a study of Nigerian Pidgin English verb phrase constructions. The study will examine how the Igbo lexicon and proverbs function in the text and if/how it is possible to understand the meaning of the Igbo vocabulary. Further, it will examine how the verb constructions of the NPE dialogues are used and if they follow the norm set up by other linguists, or if Achebe alters their usage according to his own style.

No exercício de comparativismo literário entre as obras Things fall apart, do escritor nigeriano Chinua Achebe (1958), e Terra morta, do angolano Castro Soromenho (1949), é possível estabelecer aproximações e distanciamentos que dialogam entre si e podem trazer reflexões relevantes para o estudo das literaturas africanas. Enquanto a primeira oferece uma visão inédita a respeito do funcionamento interno da sociedade Ibo na Nigéria diante da situação colonial, a segunda transparece as frágeis relações dos colonos portugueses nas instituições políticas, econômicas e sociais do império na região da Lunda em Angola. Já por esse aspecto, os romances convergem para um panorama em comum ao apresentarem tanto o colonizado em Things fall apart quanto o colonizador em Terra morta de maneira distante dos estereótipos retratados pelas figuras coloniais, justamente por problematizarem questões internas e clivagens sociais e históricas. Assim, ao evidenciaram as fraturas internas, contribuem com a crítica sobre o sistema colonial ao mesmo tempo em que ajudam a construir outras visões históricas sobre o tema. Desse modo, as duas obras distanciam-se abertamente quanto aos contextos coloniais, que exigem, diante de uma leitura comparativa, um arcabouço teórico-crítico múltiplo que abarque as diferenças existentes nas dinâmicas coloniais e em seus contextos africanos específicos. O fato de os dois romances trazerem à cena regiões específicas na Nigéria habitada pelo povo Ibo e em Angola determinada como o espaço Lunda - e apresentarem uma multiplicidade de questões étnicas, raciais, sociais e identitárias, acaba distanciando os dois livros em perspectiva comparatista. Em termos aproximativos, no entanto, a problematização dos espaços e personagens retratados nas narrativas e a figura do narrador que assume posições políticas que se aproximam da categoria do autor implícito (BOOTH, 1983), permitem também uma leitura analítico-comparativa entre os romances. Se, por um lado, os contextos sociais e históricos distanciam os escritores e seus produtos literários; os romances se aproximam não apenas pelas categorias narrativas de personagens e espaço, mas também pela posição político-ideológica assumida por seus narradores. A consciência histórica e o compromisso político diante dos fatos narrados estão presentes na representação literária como uma tentativa de entender o funcionamento e apresentar uma crítica aos diferentes processos coloniais.
In the exercise of literary comparison between the novels Things fall apart, of the nigerian writer Chinua Achebe (1958), and Terra Morta, of the Angolan writer Castro Soromenho (1949), its possible to establish similarities and differences that interact with each other and can evoke important reflections for the african literatures study. While the first novel offers an unprecedented vision concerning the inner functioning of the Ibo nigerian society on the colonial situation, the second exposes the fragility of Portuguese settlers in the political, economic and social institutions of the potuguese empire in the region of Luanda, Angola. About this last aspect, the novels converge into a common panorama when presenting an image of the settler that does not fall into a stereotypical perspective of that category, precisely by problematizing inner questions and social and historical cleavages. By exposing the inner fractures of the Angolan society, both novels contribute by criticizing the colonial system and, at the same time, helping to construct other historical visions about the issue. Therefore, both novels deviate from each other when presenting different colonial contexts that require, in terms of a comparative reading, a multiple theoretical and critical framework able to contemplate the differences observed in the colonial dynamics and in its african specific contexts. The fact that both novels bring into discussion two specific regions the Nigeria inhabited by the Igbo people and the Angola established as the Lunda space and present a multiplicity of social, racial and ethnic issues result in a detachment of the novels by comparative means. However, in approximate means, the problematization of spaces and characters portrayed in the narratives and the role of the narrator, who assumes political positions similar as the implied author category (Booth, 1983), also permit an analytical-comparative reading between the two novels. If, in one side, the social and historical contexts set apart the writers and its literary products, the novels are get closer not only by means of space and narrative categories, but also in terms of political and ideological positions assumed by its narrator. The historical conscience and the political commitment concerning the themes addressed in the novels are shown in the literal representation as an attempt to understand and present a critique to the different colonial processes.

African American Studies
Ph.D.
This study examines the role of African novelists as major sources of historiography of Africa, and the socio-cultural experience of its people. Although many African novelists have over the years reflected issues of social and political significance in their works, only a few scholarly works seem to have addressed this phenomenon adequately. A major objective of this dissertation then is to help fill this gap by explicating these issues in the fiction of Chinua Achebe, a great iconic figure in African Literature. Utilizing the conceptual and analytical framework suggested in C.T. Keto's, Africa-Centered Perspective on History (1989), the contexts, themes, structures and techniques of the following five novels were examined: Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). The novels were shown to be replete with cogent social and political insights which provide an accurate portraiture of African/ Nigerian history of the 19th and 20th Century. The study seeks to make a modest contribution to the steadily mounting body of Africa centered criticism of the African novel/fiction within the context of African social and political history.
Temple University--Theses

Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera hur motivet mat används i samtliga fem romaner av den nigerianska författaren Chinua Achebe för att visa på det koloniala/postkoloniala tillståndet. Samtliga fem romaner av Achebe har studerats för denna uppsats. De olika verken har studerats utifrån hur mat som motiv utvecklar sig med tiden i hans romaner. Hur maten används i romanerna för att skildra landets utveckling och karaktärernas identitet i relation till den egna nationen och koloniallandet. Analysen visar att det går en skönja en utveckling genom romanerna. I de tidigaste romanerna används mat för att bekräfta identiteten inom igbo-kulturen. I senare böcker sker en konflikt i mötet med kolonialmakten och den mat som introduceras. De olika köken smälter med tiden samman och matens koppling till identitet försvagas.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Things Fall Apart is an unsentimental novel which appeared in 1958 as Chinua Achebe's first novel. It is regarded as a classic of world literature. It is deemed vital that such rich literature as the one of Achebe, be made accessible to readers in as many language communities as possible. It is through the vehicle of translation that a multitude of readers are endowed with the power to make some form of contact with much of the world's great writings. But translation of literature is a very complex process, which poses some difficult yet interesting problems that demand particular notice and specific attention. In translation of literature one is not just dealing with words written in a certain. time, space and sociopolitical situation, most importantly it is the cultural aspect of the text that should be taken into account. Therefore, translation of literature is not just the transfer of information between languages, but the transfer of one culture to another. Literary texts in isiXhosa and English, which are not only written in different languages but also represent different cultures, differ greatly in terms of linguistic, literary and cultural-social conventions. Challenges such as these make it difficult for a translator, in this case K.S. Bongela, to render the source language text flawlessly in the target language. This study thus investigates how Bongela coped with transmitting the cultural issues in Things Fall Apart into Lwadilik'udonga. It will highlight the various problems the translator encountered in search for equivalence and adequacy, and also analyse the strategies he has employed in this transference of cultural elements to the target text. As will be seen, it is possible to relate the translation of this text to the six general rules mentioned by Bassnett-MacGuire (1988: 116- 117) for the translator.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Things Fall Apart is 'n onsentimentele roman wat in 1958 as Chinua Achebe se eerste roman verskyn het. Dit word beskou as fn klassieke werk in die wêreld van letterkunde. Dit is ook belangrik dat letterkunde wat so ryk is soos dié van Achebe aan soveel verskillende taalgemeenskappe as moontlik bekend gestel word. Dit is as gevolg van vertaling dat fn verskeidenheid lesers die geleentheid het om kontak te maak met die wêreld se beste geskrewe werke. Letterkundige vertaling is fn baie komplekse proses waar uitdagende maar interessante probleme voorkom, en dit verg besondere en spesifieke aandag. Met die vertaling van letterkunde word daar nie net gebruik gemaak van woorde in fn sekere tyd, plek en sosio-politieke situasie nie, maar belangriker is die kulturele aspek van die teks waarmee rekening gehou moet word. Daarom is vertaling van letterkunde nie net fn oordra van informasie tussen tale nie, maar fn verplasing van een kultuur na fn ander. Letterkundige teks in isiXhosa en Engels is nie net in verskillende tale geskryf nie, maar verteenwoordig ook verskillende kulture wat baie verskil in terme van taalkunde, letterkunde en kultureel-sosiale gebruike. Sulke uitdagings maak dit baie moeilik vir die vertaler, in hierdie geval K.S. Bongela, om die brontaal foutloos in die teikentaal te vertaal. Die studie gaan oor hoe Bongela met die vertaling van Things Fall Apart na Lwadilik'udonga, die kuturele uitdagings gehanteer het. Die verskillende probleme waarmee fn vertaler met die soeke na gelykwaardigheid en geskiktheid in aanraking kom, asook die analise van strategieë wat gebruik word in die oorskakeling van die kulturele elemente in die teikenteks, word aan die lig gebring. In die studie sal daar aan die lig gebring word dat dit moontlik is om fn verband tussen die vertaling van die teks en die ses algemene reëls wat deur Bassnett-MacGuire (1988:116-117) aangegee word, te sien.

Il s'agit de présenter une étude critique et comparative des romans No Longer at Ease (1960) et A Man of the People (1966), de l'écrivain Nigérian Chinua Achebe, et de A geração da utopia (1992) et Predadores (2005), de l'Angolais Pepetela. Par l'analyse des contextes historique, géographique, politique et littéraire qui tournent autour et quitraversent la tessiture des romans étudiés, l'on propose de montrer comment les deux écrivains africains s'approprient du roman, genre cosmopolite par excellence, pour l'adapter aux conditions locales de production du roman dans l'Afrique postcoloniale, de façon à exprimer littérairement la (dis)jonction entre métropole et postcolonie et le processus de (re)construction de la nouvelle nation. Notre intérêt dans l'analyse de ces romans est de réfléchir sur les types de négociations et concessions que les narrateurs ont besoin de faire pour raconter leurs récits. Pour ce faire, nous étudions le statut du narrateur, la configuration des personnages, la transformation du processus social en forme littéraire, la représentation de la nation et le langage mis en pratique par les auteurs pour représenter cette réalité. Les personnages évoqués sont ceux qui représentent la nouvelle " bourgeoisie " du moment postcolonial du Nigéria et de l'Angola, lesquels font partie de cette nouvelle classe sociale, responsable par la sphère bureaucratique qui surgit dans les pays africains après les processus d'indépendance, à partir des années 1960. La mise en dialogue des écrivains Pepetela et Achebe se fonde dans la proximité de style littéraire présentée par eux et par le rapprochement démontré par l'élection des sujets traités dans leurs ouvrages. Il faut encore préciser qu'ils sont tous les deux des observateurs perspicaces de la réalité de leurs pays et qu'ils se servent d'un langage acéré, rempli d'une ironie subtile. L'on propose, donc, dans cette étude, devérifier la thèse de l'existence d'une articulation entre le thème de l'ascension des personnages corrompus, membres des nouvelles élites bourgeoises, et les modifications progressives des récits analysés, dans la mesure où l'on passe de la lecture des romans dont les trames narratives représentent des moments antérieurs aux mouvements d'indépendances vers la lecture de romans qui mettent en scène des contextes postérieurs aux indépendances. Partant de l'analyse des composantes identitaires et linguistiques, nous examinons les points de confluence et diffluence entre les oeuvres deAchebe et Pepetela dans la représentation des élites postcoloniales

La fragmentation et l’aliénation, thèmes récurrents dans la littérature postcoloniale, sont représentées par le contenu et la forme des œuvres étudiées dans cette recherche. Dans un cadre historique et fictionnel, les romans postcoloniaux de Chinua Achebe et de V.S. Naipaul inscrivent le postcolonisé fragmenté et aliéné dans des lieux et des milieux différents. La quête identitaire de ce dernier, entre tradition et modernisation, a déclenché son déracinement. En effet, tiraillé entre l’Occident et l’Orient, le postcolonisé, dans les romans de ces deux écrivains, est aliéné géographiquement et culturellement, ce qui explique son instabilité et sa quête identitaire interminable. L’espace dans le roman postcolonial est fragmenté pour aliéner davantage le postcolonisé qui cherche à mettre fin à cette aliénation. La double culture – orientale et occidentale – participe non seulement à la perte d’identité culturelle, mais aussi à celle des personnages. À la rencontre de l’Autre ou de l’Occidental, les personnages achibiens et naipauliens essayent de cacher leur « peau noire » avec un « masque blanc » par le biais du mimétisme de cet Autre. Cette littérature est distinguée par son métissage, son intertextualité ainsi que son aspect linguistique qui font d’elle une littérature dialogique avec la littérature occidentale et notamment la littérature coloniale. Une telle littérature indigène, exprimée dans une langue étrangère, reflète un attachement et un détachement. La non-linéarité joue un rôle important dans cette fiction, vu que les récits sont décomposés et fragmentés tout comme les personnages. C’est ainsi qu’on peut dire que selon des thématiques et des stylistiques divers que ces deux écrivains postcoloniaux ont réussi à présenter au lecteur la fragmentation et l’aliénation du postcolonisé dans son milieu et son ère
Fragmentation and alienation: recurring themes in the postcolonial literature, are represented by the content and the form of the studied literary works in this research. Within a historical and fictional setting, the novels of Chinua Achebe and V.S. Naipaul set the fragmented and alienated postcolonial figures in different places and surroundings. The quest for identity of these postcolonial figures, between tradition and modernization, has caused their uprooting. In fact, in the novels of these two writers, the postcolonial figures, who are torn between the Occident and the Orient, are geographically and culturally alienated. Hence, they are unstable and are in a never-ending quest. The setting in the postcolonial novel is itself fragmented so that it alienates more the postcolonial figures who try to make an end to this alienation. The double culture – oriental and occidental – does not only participate in losing the cultural identity, but also in losing the figures’ ones. While meeting the Other or the Occidental, the characters of Achebe and Naipaul try to hide their « black skin » under a « white mask » through the mimicry of this Other. This literature stands out by its hybridization, its intertextuality, as well as its linguistic aspect, which has turned into a dialogic literature, in a discourse with the occidental literature and notably the colonial one. Such an indigenous literature, revealed in a foreign language, shows an attachment and a detachment. The non-linearity plays an important role in this fiction, given that the tales are distorted and fragmented like the major characters of these stories. In this way, one can say that through varied thematic and stylistic features these two postcolonial writers have succeeded in presenting to readers the alienation and fragmentation of postcolonial figures within their surroundings and in their era

Orientador: Vilma Sant'Anna Areas
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: Este trabalho se propõe a analisar o primeiro livro do romancista nigeriano Chinua Achebe, Thingslall apart, comoromance de fundação da literatura nigeriana de língua inglesa. A partir de considerações teóricas das características do texto fundacional, buscamos identificar no decorrer da narrativa os elementos textuais que indicam uma possível leitura deste romance como fundacional, atentandopara os aspectos discursivos da História da África e da Literatura Africana em geral, da construção da nação, bem como da análise do conteúdo ficcional
Abstract: This academic work intends to analyze Chinua Achebe's first novel Thing sfall apart read as a founding novel, it is considered a cornerstone within the Anglophone Nigerian literature. From the point of view of some theorists of the foundational discourse, we sought to analyze the elements in the narrative which would function as icons for the thesis of a foundational novel. We focused on discursive elements of the African History and the Africa Literature in general, on the idea of Nation, as well as the analysis of content
Mestrado
Literatura Geral e Comparada
Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

Mestrado em Estudos Ingleses
O presente trabalho propõe-se analisar comparativamente duas obras de Chinua Achebe e Pepetela que se inserem no paradigma pós-colonial. Pretende-se deste modo observar de que modo os dois escritores utilizam a literatura para esboçar um retrato das suas sociedades e criar uma consciência e identidade que permita aos seus povos reflectirem sobre a sua condição pós-colonial. Pretende-se ainda analisar o modo como Achebe e Pepetela proclamam para o escritor um papel mais activo que o permita relacionar-se directamente com a história recente do seu país. Nas obras analisadas são expostas situações e personagens muito próximas da realidade social de Angola e da Nigéria. Os autores utilizam a língua do colonizador com vista a atingirem autonomia e liberdade. Finalmente, este trabalho propõe-se mostrar de que modo Chinua Achebe e Pepetela evidenciam a literatura na criação de uma consciência colectiva e na construção de uma identidade nacional de um povo ABSTRACT: This dissertation aims to analyze comparatively two works by Chinua Achebe and Pepetela which may be considered post-colonial. It is important to see in which way the two writers make use of literature to describe their societies in order to construct a national identity and to inspire their people to question their own post-colonial condition. Both authors proclaim an active role for the writer. Achebe and Pepetela write their novels in the language of the colonizer in order to acquire autonomy and freedom. Finally this dissertation aims to analyze how both authors value the role of literature in the creation of a collective conscience and the construction of a national identity

There are very few works not associated with the Western canon to have received as much attention as Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart (Ogbaa 1). However, contrary to the many post-colonial interpretations of this novel, this essay employs a psychoanalytical literary approach to discuss the cause of the protagonist’s eventual demise, based on the premise that human behaviour is driven by an unconscious process. Consequently, this essay argues that following the ego’s inability to repress the infantile demands of the unconscious, the preconscious and the conscious self, ever more compulsive, repetitive and neurotic behaviours are displayed. Furthermore, this essay argues that Okonkwo’s relationship to his mother plays a significant role in explaining the tense relationship with his own father and sons. Subsequently, the protagonist’s self-confidence turns to pride and his masculinity develops into totalitarian rule leading to uncontrollable rage, Okonkwo’s world literally falls apart.

A descolonização literária tem sido, de modo geral, o projecto da escrita ficcional pós-colonial. No mundo das letras africanas, Chinua Achebe (Nigéria), Ahmadou Kourouma (Costa do Marfim) e Mia Couto (Moçambique) têm questionado técnicas romanescas, discursos e estratégias dizcursivas ocidentais a partir de uma posição privilegiada entre dois mundos. este estudo pretende demonstrar que as literaturas africanas modernas se afirmaram como entidades autónomas das literaturas ocidentais e, mais especificamente, que um romance africano difere de um romance ocidental tanto a nível da sua dimensão ética e sócio-histórica como das convenções estéticas que o enformam. Com este nosso estudo, pretendemos, por conseguinte, demonstrar que estes autores providenciaram importantes modelos, no âmbito do romance, para uma prática literária africana. Seguindo uma metodologia comparatista, cobrimos um vasto período cronológico bem como diferentes áreas geográfico-literaárias africanas para encontrarmos migrações temáticas, discursivas, estilísticas e retóricas. Assumimos Achebe e as suas obras, Things fall apart (1958), A man of the people (1966) e Anthilis of the Savannah (1987), como elemento comparante, e tomámos as obras de Ahmadou Kourouma, Les soleils des indépendances (1970), e Mia Couto, A varanda do Frangipani (1996) e O último voo do flamingo (2000), como elementos comparados. A dissertação está dividida em três capítulos que abordam os principais vectores por onde passa o processo de descolonização literária nos três autores.(...)

A descolonização literária tem sido, de modo geral, o projecto da escrita ficcional pós-colonial. No mundo das letras africanas, Chinua Achebe (Nigéria), Ahmadou Kourouma (Costa do Marfim) e Mia Couto (Moçambique) têm questionado técnicas romanescas, discursos e estratégias dizcursivas ocidentais a partir de uma posição privilegiada entre dois mundos. este estudo pretende demonstrar que as literaturas africanas modernas se afirmaram como entidades autónomas das literaturas ocidentais e, mais especificamente, que um romance africano difere de um romance ocidental tanto a nível da sua dimensão ética e sócio-histórica como das convenções estéticas que o enformam. Com este nosso estudo, pretendemos, por conseguinte, demonstrar que estes autores providenciaram importantes modelos, no âmbito do romance, para uma prática literária africana. Seguindo uma metodologia comparatista, cobrimos um vasto período cronológico bem como diferentes áreas geográfico-literaárias africanas para encontrarmos migrações temáticas, discursivas, estilísticas e retóricas. Assumimos Achebe e as suas obras, Things fall apart (1958), A man of the people (1966) e Anthilis of the Savannah (1987), como elemento comparante, e tomámos as obras de Ahmadou Kourouma, Les soleils des indépendances (1970), e Mia Couto, A varanda do Frangipani (1996) e O último voo do flamingo (2000), como elementos comparados. A dissertação está dividida em três capítulos que abordam os principais vectores por onde passa o processo de descolonização literária nos três autores.(...)

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A presente dissertação propõe o estudo das consequências da dominação colonial britânica sobre a República Federal da Nigéria no que concerne à religião, educação, língua, raça e gênero, tendo como objetos de análise Things Fall Apart (1958) de Chinua Achebe e Purple Hibiscus (2003) de Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A maneira de ler e produzir literatura vem se metamorfoseando ao longo dos séculos XX e XXI, abrindo espaço para que despontem as literaturas pós-coloniais, isto é, obras que possuem como atributo comum o fato de emergirem da experiência da colonização. Impulsionada por este contexto, a produção literária africana vem conquistando espaço e notoriedade no cenário mundial. Este trabalho busca relacionar literatura e situação sócio-política, trazendo para o debate vozes historicamente silenciadas e abrindo possibilidades de resistência às perspectivas impostas pelo olhar do colonizador, através da investigação da literatura nigeriana. Embora o período de dominação britânica sobre a Nigéria tenha chegado ao fim, as consequências de tal política ainda se fazem presentes no cotidiano daquele povo, seja na religião tradicional brutalmente substituída pelo cristianismo, nos idiomas autóctones que perdem lugar para a língua inglesa, no sistema de aprendizado estrangeiro que toma o lugar do ensino familiar ou na valorização da pele branca e do sistema patriarcal de poder. Tendo destacado papel no estabelecimento da estrutura colonial, busca-se aqui converter a literatura em instrumento de libertação.
The present thesis proposes the study of the consequences of British colonialism over the Federal Republic of Nigeria concerning religion, education, language, race and gender, having as objects of analyses Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe and Purple Hibiscus (2003) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The way in which literature is written and read has been changing throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, opening space to the postcolonial literatures, that is, literatures that have as a common background the fact that they come from the experience of colonialism. Propelled by this context, African literary production has been achieving space and renown in the global scenery. This work aims to relate literature and social-political situation, bringing to the debate historically silenced voices, opening possibilities to resist the colonial gaze while investigating the Nigerian literature. Even though the british colonial rule has come to an end, the consequences of this politics are still present in the daily lives of that people, in the fact that traditional religion was brutally substituted by Christianism, in the ancient languages replaced by English, in the educational system that took over home schooling, in the valorization of white skin and the patriarchal power system. Literature has a central role in establishing colonial structures and this work tries to convert literature into a liberation tool.

Since its launch in 1962, Heinemann Educational Books' African Writers Series has played a crucial role in the dissemination of African literature worldwide, and contributed to the creation of critical awareness among readers and critics of its distinct qualities and values. While the creative works of celebrated African writers such as Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o have enjoyed a wide popularity, and elicited an important amount of critical attention, the role of HEB in promoting the literary careers of a whole generation of African writers has rarely been discussed and analysed.

La Terre est un seul pays," disent certains écologistes. Si cette formule unificatrice peut servir avec efficacité l'environnement physique et peut-être aussi l'économie internationale qui exigent l'harmonisation voire même la standardisation des moyens d'action, elle ne facilite pas la tâche des défenseurs de l'identité culturelle qui, elle, est une vision subjective de la réalité objective, une intelligence de la vie propre à un peuple ou même à un individu, un cachet identificateur et inimitable et qui, à ce titre, fait de la terre un grand ensemble de mondes distincts que l'on ne peut, ni ne doit uniformiser. Beaucoup de penseurs se sont penchés sur cette question mais la plupart ont eu tendance à voir dans cette marque distinctive un élément diviseur de l'humanité. Fort heureusement cependant, cette vision des choses semble périmée actuellement. C'est ainsi que les philosophes contemporains par exemple, comme le souligne F. Laruelle dans Philosophies de la différence (1986), voient la différence, non comme une force centrifuge ou une source de contradictions mais plutôt une distance positive qui unit immédiatement, et sans négativité ni dialectique les contraires.

Dans le sillage de la décolonisation, les récits colonialistes ont systématiquement été réécrits à partir de perspectives autochtones. Ce phénomène est appelé « The Empire writes back to the centre » - une tendance qui s'affirme dans la critique postcoloniale à la fin du XXe siècle. L'objectif de ces actes de réécriture est de lire des textes colonialistes d'une manière barthesienne à l'envers, de déconstruire les dogmes orientalistes et colonialistes, et éventuellement créer un dialogue où il était seulement un monologue. Tourner le texte colonial dedans/dehors et le relire à travers la lentille d'un code ultérieur permet le texte postcolonial de déverrouiller son précurseur colonial et le changer de l'intérieur. Dans ce cadre critique, Heart of Darkness (1899) de Joseph Conrad a été un texte particulièrement influent pour Chinua Achebe et V. S. Naipaul. Leurs romans Things Fall Apart (1958) et A Bend in the River (1979) peuvent être considérés comme une réécriture du roman de Conrad. Cependant, avant d'examiner leurs différentes stratégies de réécriture, il serait utile de les localiser dans la tradition postcoloniale de la réécriture. Alors que Achebe se démarque clairement comme la figure de proue du mouvement, le romancier trinidadien est difficile à catégoriser. Est-ce que Naipaul réécrit, de façon à critiquer, ou d'une manière d'adopter et de justifier, l’idéologie impériale? Comme pas toute réécriture est une forme de « writing back » en termes de critique anticoloniale, la position de Naipaul continue d'être considérée comme l’énigmatique entre-deux d'un «insider» devenu «outsider». Prenant acte de ses différentes perceptions critiques peut devenir un moyen de mettre en évidence de manière efficace la lecture erronée d’Achebe et le détournement de Naipaul du modèle Conradien, un moyen de fixer un cadre pour la conversation simulée cette thèse vise à créer entre les trois romanciers
In the wake of decolonization, colonialist narratives have systematically been rewritten from indigenous perspectives. This phenomenon is referred to as “the Empire writes back to the centre” – a trend that asserted itself in late twentieth-century postcolonial criticism. The aim of such acts of writing back is to read colonialist texts in a Barthesian way inside-out or à l’envers, to deconstruct the Orientalist and colonialist dogmas, and eventually create a dialogue where there was only a monologue. Turning the colonial text inside-out and rereading it through the lens of a later code allows the postcolonial text to unlock the closures of its colonial precursor and change it from the inside. Under this critical scholarship, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) has been a particularly influential text for Chinua Achebe and V. S. Naipaul. Their novels Things Fall Apart (1958) and A Bend in the River (1979) can be seen as a rewriting of Conrad’s novella. However, before examining their different rewriting strategies, it would be fruitful to locate them within the postcolonial tradition of rewriting. While Achebe clearly stands as the leading figure of the movement, the Trinidadian novelist is, in fact, difficult to pigeonhole. Does Naipaul write back to, that is criticize, or does he rewrite, and in a way adopt and justify, imperial ideology? Since not all rewriting involves writing back in terms of anti-colonial critique, Naipaul’s position continues to be explored as the enigmatic in-betweenness and double-edgedness of an “insider” turned “outsider.” Taking cognizance of these different critical perceptions can become a way to effectively highlight Achebe’s “(mis)-reading” and Naipaul’s “(mis)-appropriation” of Conrad, a way to set the framework for the simulated conversation this thesis seeks to create between the three novelists

In many former British colonies independence from colonial rule has produced a myriad of post-colonial tensions. Increasingly, writers from the indigenous race in these former colonies have felt moved to respond to these tensions in their imaginative fiction. This study has undertaken a comparative cross-cultural analysis of the works of two writers from such societies whose indigenous cultures share common assumptions, to explore the underlying impetus of these tensions, and the writers� proposals for resolving them. Chapter One assesses Witi Ihimaera as a writer, and explores his concept of biculturalism, with particular emphasis on the distinctly Maori point of view which informs his analysis of contemporary social problems. Chapter Two assays Ihimaera�s pastoral writings, Pounamu Pounamu, Tangi, and Whanau, tracing in them the development of his concept of biculturalism, and also the changes in Ihimaera�s writing that culminated in The new Net Goes Fishing, with the hardening of attitude that it expresses. Chapter Three looks at the revisionism of Ihimaera�s view of New Zealand history from a Maori viewpoint. It uses Ihimaera�s The Matriarch not only as a means of exploring this revisionist Maori perspective, but also as evidence of the radicalisation of Ihimaera�s views, and the broadening of the concept of biculturalism to embrace not only cultural, but social and political matters. Chapter Four considers Ihimaera�s The Whale Rider as a feminist restatement of earlier views and highlights the growing dilemma he faces concerning the concept of biculturalism. Chapter Five focuses on Achebe, the writer, and his view of the role of the African writer in contemporary society. It argues that Achebe views himself as a seer, a visionary writer who has the answer that could regenerate his society. Chapter Six analyses Achebe�s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, and argues that contrary to accepted views of Okonkwo, this character is not actually representative of his society but a deviant. It further argues that the post-colonial African societies� affictions with irresponsible leaders were already manifest in the colonial period, through characters such as Okonkwo and Ezeulu, whom Achebe sees as guilty of gross abuses of power and privilege. Chapter Seven looks at both No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People, and argues that the failure of the first indigenous administrative class stems both from their having an incomplete apprehension of all the aspects of their heritage and the responsibility which power imposes on those who exercise it, and also from lack of restraint in wielding of power. It further argues that the unbridled scramble for materialism has resulted in the destruction of democratic principles. In the context of contemporary New Zealand society, Ihimaera sees the solution for Maori post-colonial tensions as bicultural integration, but he is having problems with the concept in the face of increasing radical activism from Maoris who see it as little better than assimilation. Achebe, however, has opted for re-formism, having discarded traditionalism because it is inadequate for people in the modern world.

In the present thesis I will analyse the phenomenon of the shaping of identity in African and Canadian postcolonial texts. In the world of the texts, this phenomenon occurs when colonial subjects are caught between tradition and modernity. The African texts that I will discuss are Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and James Ngugi's The River Between, which I will compare to the Canadian Métis texts, Maria Campbell's Halfbreed and Beatrice Culleton's In Search of April Raintree. The primary goal of this thesis will be to compare these different texts in order to find the different methods chosen by each author in his or her representation of the space in which the colonial subject evolves and his or her reaction to the changes brought by colonisation. The methodology followed throughout the thesis will consist of a comparative and postcolonial analysis and historical contextualisation."--Résumé abrégé par UMI.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following mini-thesis, Things Fall Apart, Power and Krishnamurti, is concerned with the nature by which power is possibly viewed, maintained and transferred by the characters of Chinua Achebe' s novel, Things Fall Apart. The intent of this analysis is to incorporate traditional literary approaches to issues of power in the novel via polarised conceptions, such as east versus west, black versus white or indigenous culture and traditions versus Christianity. Yet simultaneously, by incorporating the unique world-view of Krishnamurti, power, as possibly represented in Things Fall Apart, will be scrutinised as a selfperpetuating entity which chooses its own agents for its manifestation, outside and not necessarily as results of constructions of race, religion or economical design. Specifically, I am interested in Achebe's fictional construction of the indigenous- African maintenance of power and authority within the novel; before and after the arrival of the European colonialists. Did all African villagers, as represented in the fictitious Umuofia, accept the powers-that-be with non-critical minds, or, was power and authority embedded in the processes whereby the Umuofians became accustomed and socially conditioned by the cultural constructs of their particular society? Personally, I do not perceive either of these approaches to be sufficient in the process of holistically comprehending African adaptation to and adoption of 'western' modes of culture. Instead, I believe that though the encroachment of European mercantilism and Christianity upon the African mental and physical landscape was undeniably brutal, this very brutality was in and of itself not variant, compared to psychological and physical maintenance of power in the indigenous realm. This is a primary area of concern of this thesis. I perceive that the African elite, like the European missionaries, used religion and perceptions of tradition and identity to hold on to their elitist and prestigious positions in the indigenous social network. Secondly, this thesis is critical ofthe perception that the dominant emergence of western spiritual and political constructs, over indigenous structures, is a direct result of the acquiescence or absolute physical and mental defeat of African people. Rather, I perceive that African people - in the processes of becoming aware of a new way of life and in making conscious decisions to incorporate this new world-view into their own life-scheme - altered the manipulation and maintenance of power and authority in indigenous society, within the context of Things Fall Apart. In effect, the transfer of political power in Things Fall Apart is not simply a matter of the destruction of African culture by the Europeans. Instead, it is a result of Africans becoming aware of a new way of life, and adopting aspects of this lifestyle in the place of their traditional norms. Krishnamurti's ideas will be incorporated into the above analysis to present a particular world-view that deliberately strives to counteract the human tendency to cling to philosophies, political persuasions, theories or religious fervor. I have included Krishnamurti in the examination of the tension and psychological conversion of African people (as represented in Things Fall Apart) due to moments when they themselves, in the process of introspection, sought to let go of ancient customs and explore the new and foreign, as represented by Christianity. It is my position that in the moments when indigenous authority was questioned by the masses, so began a multifold process: this included the reconstruction of the African self and the readjustment of power relations within the African collective. Krishnamurti posed the following question: When you are told what to do, what to think, to obey, to follow, do you know what it does to you? Your mind becomes dull, it loses its initiative, its quickness. This external, outward imposition of discipline makes the mind stupid, it makes you conform, it makes you imitate (1974:29). I am aware that by juxtaposing the above idea next to African culture might appear blasphemous in the 'new' South Africa, given the great effort to revive 'African' culture. I do not object to this revival and consciousness of tradition and heritage. Yet, I strongly agree with Krishnamurti that the maintenance of power by a select group of elite Africans in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial dispensations is a result of the conformity and acceptance of the masses of African people of the social, spiritual and economic constructions of the elite. The very patterns whereby Africans think was, through centuries, developed by a select group of individuals, as reflected in Things Fall Apart. Culture and tradition have acted as standards whereby individuals measure the worth of their individuality. Hence, Krishnamurti views the struggle of freedom; the struggle of individuals to shake of cultural or traditional constraints, as crucial to the full development of the human self. "Freedom," he says, "liberty, the independence to express what one thinks, to do what one wants to do, is one of the most important things in life. To be really free ... within oneself, is one of the most difficult and dangerous things" (1974:30. As this thesis progresses, we will probe Krishnamurti's claim that the individual attempt to be free, as possibly represented in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, may be both difficult and dangerous.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die volgende mini thesis, "Things Fall Apart, Power and Krishnamurti" is besorg op die manier hoe mag anskou, behou en oorgedra work binne karakters van Chinua Achebe se novel, "Things Fall Apart". Die doel van hierdie analise is om bewus te raak van die tradisionele liturere benadering tot konsepte soos mag gesien vanuit ft polografiese oogpunt, soos bv. oos teenoor wes, swart teenoor wit of inheemse kuluur en tradisie teenoor Christenskap. Inteendeel, deur die unieke sienswyse van Krishnmurti in te sluit, sal mag soos vervat in "Things Fall Apart", in totaliteit gekritiseer word deur sy eie manifesteringe en nie noodwendig vanuit ft oogpunt van ras, geloof of ekonomie nie. Ek is spesifiek geinteriseerd in Achebe se fiktioneie konstruksie van die Inheemse Afrikaanse behouing van magsbeheer in hierdie novel. Beide voor en nadat Europese kolonisme hier gearriveer het, het Afrikaner inwoners, soos voorgehou in die fiktiese "Umofia" magsbeheer in hulle gedagtes aanvaar? Of was magsbeheer onvoorwaardelik in hulle ingeplant deur die sosiale en kulturele aspekte van hul spesifieke gemeenskap. My persoonlike sienswyse is dat hierdie banadering ft oordeelkundige benadering is om gevolglik die Afrikaner aanvaring en uitoefening van westerse kulturele modes te verstaan. Inteendeel argumenteer ek dat die indringing van Europese merkantalisme en Christendom bo-op die Afrikaner geestelike en natuurkundige landskappe onerkenbaar geweldadig was en dat hierdie geweldadigheid in en vanself nie veranderlik was nie, invergelyking met die sielkundige en fisiese behouing van mag soos voorbehou in die Inheemse koningkryk. Die elite wie die opperpriester van prekoloniale Afrikaner gemeenskap saamgestel het, wie aangedring het op ft vorm van getrouheid tot kulturele en politieke konstruksies soos deur hulle bepaal, het ook die psige krag van die plaaslike dorpsbewoners misbruik. Dit is my primere punt van fokus in hierdie thesis. My argument is dat die Afrikaanse elite, soos Europese sendelinge, geloof en persepsies van tradisie en identitiet gebruik het om vas te kleef aan hul eie elite en invloedryke posisies binne die Inheemse en sosiale netwerk. Tweedens, hierdie thesis is krities van die persepsie dat die verskyning van Westerse spiruturele en politieke konstruksies oor inheemse strukture, ft direkte gevolg was van die instemming tot absolute psise en geestelike omverwerping van Afrikaner mense. Ek sal beweer dat Afrikaner mense, in die proses van gewoont raak aan ft nuwe lewenstyl, doelbewuste keuses gemaak het om hierdie nuwe wereld sienswyse in hul eie lewenstyl te inkorpireer. In hierdie proses is die magsbeheer soos voorbehou in die Inheemse gemeenskap gemanupileer binne die konteks van "Things Fall Apart". Gevolglik, die direkte oordrag van politieke mag in "Things Fall Apart" was nie net eenvoudig ft vernietiging van Afrikaner kultuur deur Europese nie. Inteendeel, dit was ft direkte gevolg van Afrikaners wat bewus geraak het van ft nuwe lewenstyl, en in die proses het Afrikaners hierdie lewesstyl as hul eie aanvaar. Krishnamurti se sienswyse sal geinkorpireer word in die boostaande analise wie se wereldwye sienswyse doelbewus stry teen die mens se geneighheid om aan te kleef aan filosofiese en politieke oortuigende gedagtes van theorie en geestelike opgewondenheid. Ek het spesifiek Krishnamurti se sienswyse ingekorpireer om die konflik en filosofiese veranderinge in Afrikaner mense te ondersoek (soos voorbehou in "Things Fall Apart") as gevolg van oomblikke waarin die Afrikaners hulself introspeksie doen en in dié proses, van hul eie eeue oue tradisies en gewoontes afstand gedoen het om die nuwe forum soos voorbehou deur Christenskap aan te kleef. Dit is my sienswyse dat gedurende hierdie tydperk magsbeheer bevraagteken was deur die magdom van mense. Dis hoe die rekonstruksie van die Afrikaner "Ek" en die herskedulering van magsbeheer verhoudinge binne die Afrikaner kollektief plaasgevind het. Krishnamurti stel die volgende vraag: Wanneer ft mens gesê word wat om te doen, wat om te dink, wat om te gehoorsaam, wat om te volg, weet jy wat dit aan n mens doen? Nmens se brein raak traag en die brein verloor sy inisiatief en sy fluksheid. Die uitwendige, die buitewerking van discipline maak jou brein dom, dit laat jou naaboots. (1974:29). Ek is bewus dat deur bogenoemde idea en Afrikaner kultuur naas mekaar te stel mag as godslasterend voorkom binne die konteks van die "nuwe" Suid Afrika, gegewe die groot inspanning om "Afrikaner" kultuur te hernu. Ek maak nie beswaar teen die heruwing en bewussyn van tradisie en erfenis nie. Ek stem saam met Krishnamurti dat deur die beheer van mag van fi selektiewe groep van elite Afrikaners in die prekoloniale, koloniale en post-koloniale dipensasies te gee, is as gevolg van die aanmeerning en aanvaarding deur die magdom van die Afrikaner gemeenskappe van sosiale, spirituele en ekonomiese konstruksies soos dié van dié elite. Die denks wyse waarlangs Afrikaners dink, was vir eeue lank, uitgebrei deur fi selektiewe groep mense, soos voorgehou in "Things Fall Apart". Kultuur en tradisie het fi standard geword waarby fi mens hom kan mee verlyk om sy waarde as individu te kan bepaal. Om hierdie rede, sien Krishnamurti die geveg vir vryheid as die geveg vir individue om kulturele en tradisionele beperkige af te skud en dis inderdaad belangrik vir die uitbreiding van die mens se eie identiteit. "Vryheid", sê hy, "liberalisme, die onafhanklikheid om uit te spreek wat fi mens dink, te doen wat fi mens wil doen, is een van dié mees belangrikste dinge in die lewe. Om innerlik vry te wees ... is een van die moeilikste en gevaarlikste dinge in die lewe" (1974:30). Soos hierdie thesis voortgaan, sal ek Krishnamurti se beweering dat die individu se poging om vry te wees, soos moontlik voorgestel in Achebe se " Things Fall Apart" dalk beide moeilik en gevaarlik mag wees.

La consequence principale de la colonisation europeenne de l'afrique, est la desintegration de la societe traditionnelle africaine. Au cours de cette periode, l'africain est devenu un aliene, aussi bien sur le plan culturel, economique que politique; il a aussi perdu son identite. Aujourd'hui il lutte pour retrouver et conserver les valeurs qui constituent les bases de son identite veritable. Malheureusement la victoire se trouve compromise, non plus tellement par les mefaits du colonialisme, mais aussi et de plus en plus par l'irresponsabilite de certains africains qui ne pensent qu'a leurs interets personnels. Cette these porte sur l'etude de l'alienation et de la quete d'identite de l'africain dans un monde domine par des valeurs nouvelles. Nous nous sommes concentres sur les quatre romans suivants de l'ecrivain nigerian chinua achebe: things fall apart, no longer at ease, arrow of god et a man of the people
The contact between europe and africa resulted on the one hand in the disintegration of the african society as a whole, and on the other hand in alienation and loss of identity for individuals. Africans are fighting today to regain the dignity they lost during the colonial period. Unfortunately, the 'irresponsibility' of some african nowadays is negatively affecting the struggle. This quest of identity is the cornerstone of achebe's works

Thesis (M.A.)--Cleveland State University, 2008.
Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 20, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-110). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center. Also available in print.

The purpose of this essay is to conduct a character analysis on Eugene Achike from Chimamana Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus, to see whether or not the character is used by Adichie as a portrayal of colonial Nigeria and its values. I have done this by looking at the themes of violence and hypocrisy in relation to Eugene’s language usage, religious attitude, and behaviour towards others, and comparing these aspects of his personality with the attitudes shown by colonialists in colonial Nigeria. The more important issues that prove Eugene’s character is a portrayal of colonial Nigeria are: his utter disregard for his heritage and background, including the physical disregard of his father; his absolute control over his family members, both physically and mentally, which leads to violent outbursts if he is disobeyed; the fact that he is shown in the novel to be a direct product of the missionaries and colonial structure that was present in Nigeria when he grew up. These things, together with the subtle connections in Adichie’s writing that connect her novel to Things Fall Apart, firmly place Purple Hibiscus in the postcolonial category. Thus, I concluded that Eugene’s character is a portrayal of Colonial Nigeria.
Syftet med denna upsats är att genomföra en karaktärsanalys på karaktären Eugene Achike i Chimamanda Ngozi Adichis roman Purple Hibiscus, för att se ifall karaktären används av Adichie som en skildring av koloniala Nigeria och dess värderingar. Jag har gjort detta genom att undersöka två teman – våld och hyckleri – i samband med Eugenes användning av språk, religös attityd, och beteende mot andra, för att då jämföra dessa aspekter av hans personlighet med attityderna kolonisatörer hade i koloniala Nigeria. De viktigaste sakerna som bevisar att Eugenes karaktär är en skildring av koloniala Nigeria är: hans fullständiga ignoreing av sin bakgrund, inklusive den fysiska ignorering av hans pappa; hans absoluta kontroll över sin familj, både fysiskt och mentalt, vilket leder till våldsamma utbrott om han inte blir åtlydd; det faktum att han beskrivs som en produkt av missionärerna och koloniala samhället vid flera tillfällen i boken. Detta tillsammans med romanens subtila kopplingar till Achebes Things Fall Apart, placerar tveklöst Purple Hibiscus i den postkoloniala kategorin. Därmed drar jag slutsatsen att Eugene’s karaktär är en skildring av koloniala Nigeria.