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Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with ''Things Fall Apart'', his '' No Longer at Ease'' (1960) and '' Arrow of God'' (1964) complete the so-called "African Trilogy"; later novels include '' A Man of the People'' (1966) and '' Anthills of the Savannah'' (1987). He is often referred to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization. Born in Ogidi, British Nigeria, Achebe's childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and postcolonial Christianity. He excelled in school and attended what is now the University of Ibadan, where he became fiercely critical of how European literature depicted Africa. Mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 following the Government of Nigeria, government's decision to move their capital to Abuja in the center of the country. The Lagos metropolitan area has a total Population and housing censuses by country, population of roughly 23.5 million as of 2018, making it List of urban areas in Africa by population, the largest metropolitan area in Africa. Lagos is a major African financial center and is the economic hub of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. The city has been described as the cultural, financial, and entertainment capital of Africa, and is a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, and fashion. Lagos is also among the top ten of the world's fast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Literature
African literature is literature from Africa, either oral ("orature") or written in African and Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of pre-colonial African literature can be traced back to at least the fourth century AD. The best-known is the ''Kebra Negast'', or "Book of Kings." A common theme during the colonial period is the slave narrative, often written in English or French for western audiences. Among the first pieces of African literature to receive significant worldwide critical acclaim was ''Things Fall Apart'', by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958. African literature in the late colonial period increasingly feature themes of liberation and independence. Post-colonial literature has become increasingly diverse, with some writers returning to their native languages. Common themes include the clash between past and present, tradition and modernity, self and community, as well as politics and development. On the whole, female writers are today far better represented in Afr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Massachusetts Review
''The Massachusetts Review'' is a literary quarterly founded in 1959 by a group of professors from Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It receives financial support from Five Colleges, Inc., a consortium which includes Amherst College and four other educational institutions in a short geographical radius. History ''MR'' bills itself as "A Quarterly of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs." A key early focus was on civil rights as well as African-American history and culture; the ''Review'' published, among many others, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sterling A. Brown, Lucille Clifton, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Martin Luther King Jr. Sidney Kaplan, a founder of the Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, was a founding member of ''MR'' as well; Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, also a founder of Afro-American Studies at UMass, continues to serve as a contributing editor. In 1969, co-editor Jules Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postcolonial Literature
Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries. It exists on all continents except Antarctica. Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the decolonization of a country, especially questions relating to the political and cultural independence of formerly subjugated people, and themes such as racialism and colonialism. A range of literary theory has evolved around the subject. It addresses the role of literature in perpetuating and challenging what postcolonial critic Edward Said refers to as cultural imperialism. Migrant literature and postcolonial literature show some considerable overlap. However, not all migration takes place in a colonial setting, and not all postcolonial literature deals with migration. A question of current debate is the extent to which postcolonial theory also speaks to migration literature in non-colonial settings. Terminology The significance of the prefix "post-" in "postcolonial" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Racism In Conrad's ''Heart Of Darkness''
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different race or ethnicity. Modern variants of racism are often based in social perceptions of biological differences between peoples. These views can take the form of social actions, practices or beliefs, or political systems in which different races are ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. There have been attempts to legitimize racist beliefs through scientific means, such as scientific racism, which have been overwhelmingly shown to be unfounded. In terms of political systems (e.g. apartheid) that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices or laws, racist ide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When colonization takes place under the protection of Colonialism, colonial structures, it may be termed settler colonialism. This often involves the settlers dispossessing Indigenous peoples, indigenous inhabitants, or instituting legal and other structures which disadvantage them. Colonization can be defined as a process of establishing foreign control over target territory, territories or people, peoples for the purpose of colonialism, cultivation, often by establishing Colony, colonies and possibly by settling them. In colonies established by Western European countries in the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, settlers (supplemented by Central European, Eastern European, Asian, and African people) eventually formed a large majority of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Nwapa
Florence Nwanzuruahu Nkiru Nwapa (13 January 1931 – 16 October 1993), was a Nigerian author who has been called the mother of modern African literature, African Literature. She was the forerunner to a generation of African women writers, and the first African woman novelist to be published in the English language in Britain. She achieved international recognition with her first novel ''Efuru,'' published in 1966 by Heinemann Educational Books. While never considering herself a feminist, she was best known for recreating life and traditions from an Igbo people, Igbo woman's viewpoint.Susan Leisure"Nwapa, Flora" Postcolonial Studies @ Emory, Emory University, Fall 1996. She published African literature and promoted women in African society. She was one of the first African women publishers when she founded Tana Press in Nigeria in 1970. Nwapa engaged in governmental work in reconstruction after the Nigerian Civil War, Biafran War; in particular, she worked with orphans and refug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Literature of Kenya, Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu language, Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English language, English. He has been described as having been "considered East Africa’s leading novelist". His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story ''The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright'', is translated into 100 languages from around the world. In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in his native Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances.Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, ''Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'', 1994, pp. 57†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinemann African Writers Series
The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an international audience for many African writers, including Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Steve Biko, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nadine Gordimer, Buchi Emecheta, and Okot p'Bitek. History 1958 – Heinemann (publisher), William Heinemann publishes Chinua Achebe's ''Things Fall Apart''. 2,000 hardcover copies were printed and sold at a price of 15 shillings. The book receives widespread acclaim. 1959 – Alan Hill, head of Heinemann’s educational department, visits West Africa. He finds that Achebe remains largely unknown in his home country of Nigeria due to the small print run and high price of his first novel. 1960 – Heinemann Educational Books (HEB) is set up as a separate company and begins to publicise Achebe in Africa. They start to rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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