African Voice Discussion

In class we discussed “An African Voice”, an interview with Chinua Achebe. The main takeaway I had was how Chinua emerged as “the founding father of African literature”. Things Fall Apart is one of the first books to tell the story of European colonization from an African perspective. Essentially, the novel marked a turning point for popular opinion as it changed the normal recount of history by the conqueror and shifted the story to be seen from the eyes of the conquered. Achebe was surprised at the widespread success of his novel simply because it was the first to elaborate on African colonies and portray it as a rich culture, one that was stripped away from the natives due to invasion. In fact, his account inspired many more stories to arise written by other minorities, empowering those who once did not have the courage to raise a voice to the oppressive past which had been largely overlooked and underemphasized. Thus, Things Fall Apart was revolutionary in finally shedding a light on the dark, disagreeable side of imperialism.