Chinua Achebe

**Chinua Achebe**, rođen kao **Albert Chinualumogu Achebe** (16.11. 1930 - 23.3. 2013.) je bio nigerijski romanopisac, pjesnik i kritičar. Najpoznatiji je po svom debitantskom romanu *[[Things Fall Apart]]* (1958), koji se smatra najčitanijom knjigom moderne afričke književnost.

Odrastao je u kršćanskoj obitelji u Igbo selu Ogidi na jugu Nigerije, te se uspjehom u školi izborio za univerzitetsku stipendiju. Postao je fasciniran svjetskim religijama i tradicionalnim afričkim kulturama, te je za studija počeo pisati. Nakon diplome je radio za nigerijsku radio-televizijsku kuću Nigerian Broadcasting Service te se preselio u Lagos. Stekao je svjetsku slavu romanom *Things Fall Apart* kasnih 1950-ih; slijedili su romani *[[No Longer at Ease]]* (1960), *[[Arrow of God]]* (1964), *[[A Man of the People]]* (1966) i *[[Anthills of the Savannah]]* (1987). Achebe je romane pisao na engleskom te branio njegovu upotrebu od onih koji su ga, kao jezik kolonizatora, smatrali neprimjerenim afričkoj književnosti. Godine 1975. izazvao je kontroverzu predavanjem *[[An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"]]* u kome je piscva Josepha Conrada optužio za rasizam.

Kada se oblast Biafra godine 1967. otcijepila od Nigerije, Achebe je postao vatreni zagovornik nezavisnosti i ambasador nove države. Tada je u zapadnim državama molio za pomoć kako bi pomogao svom narodu napaćenom ratu i glađu. Nakon završetka rata i nigerijskog preuzimanja Biafre, Achebe se kraće vrijeme bavio lokalnom politikom, ali je od nje odustao zgađenje elitizmom i korupcijom. Neko vrijeme je živio u SAD, a godine 1990. se, nakon što je paraliziran u prometnoj nesreći, vratio u Nigeriju.

Achebeovi romani se najviše bave tradicijama i običajima Igbo društva, efektima dolaska kršćanstva, kao i sukobom različitih vrijednosnih sistema za i poslije kolonizaciji. Stil mu se temelji na narodnim pričama Igboa i kombinira standardno pripovijedanje s poslovicama i govorima. Osim romana je pisao i novele, dječje knjige i eseje. Poslije je predavao jezike i književnost na Bard Collegeu u Annandale-on-Hudsonu u američkoj državi New York.

## Djela

**Romani**
* *[[Things Fall Apart]]*, (1958)
* *[[No Longer at Ease]]*, (1960)
* *[[Arrow of God]]*, (1964)
* *[[A Man of the People]]*, (1966)
* *[[Anthills of the Savannah]]*, (1987)

**Nopvele**
* "Marriage Is A Private Affair", (1952)
* "Dead Men's Path", (1953)
* *The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories*, (1953)
* "Civil Peace", (1971)
* *Girls at War and Other Stories*, (1973)
* *African Short Stories* (editor, with C.L. Innes), (1985)
* *Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories* (urednik, zajedno s C.L. Innesom), (1992)

**Poezija**
* *Beware, Soul-Brother, and Other Poems*, (1971) (
* *Don't let him die: An anthology of memorial poems for Christopher Okigbo* (urednik, zajedno s Dubemom Okaforom), (1978)
* *Another Africa*, (1998)
* *Collected Poems*, (2004)
* *Refugee Mother And Child*

**Eseji, kritike i politički komentari**
* *The Novelist as Teacher*, (1965)
* *[[An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"]]*, (1975)
* *Morning Yet on Creation Day*, (1975)
* *The Trouble With Nigeria*, (1984)
* *Hopes and Impediments*, (1988)
* *Home and Exile*, (2000)

**Dječje knjige**
* *[[Chike and the River]]*, (1966)
* *How the Leopard Got His Claws* (with John Iroaganachi), (1972)
* *The Flute*, (1975)
* *The Drum*, (1978)

## Izvori

## Literatura
* Achebe, Chinua (1965). "English and the African Writer". *Transition* **18**: 27-30. .
* Achebe, Chinua (1975). *Morning Yet on Creation Day*. London: Heinemann Educational. .
* Achebe, Chinua (1989). *Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays*. New York: Doubleday. .
* Achebe, Chinua (1994). *Things Fall Apart*. New York: Anchor Books. .
* Agetua, John (Ed.) (1977). *Critics on Chinua Achebe, 1970-76*. Benin City, Nigeria: Bendel Newspapers Corp.
* Azohu, Virginia (1996). "Culture and the Frontiers of Language". In Ihekweazu, Edith. *Eagle on Iroko: Selected Papers from the Chinua Achebe International Symposium, 1990*. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC. .
* Bicknell, Catherine (1996). "Achebe's Women: Mothers, Priestesses, And Young Urban Professionals". In Ihekweazu, Edith. *Eagle on Iroko: Selected Papers from the Chinua Achebe International Symposium, 1990*. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC. .
* Booker, M. Keith and Simon Gikandi (2003). *The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia*. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. .
* Egar, Emmanuel Edame (2000). *The Rhetorical Implications of Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' * Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. .
* Egejuru, Phanuel (1996). "Orethory Okwu Oka: A Neglected Technique In Achebe's Literary Artistry". In Ihekweazu, Edith. *Eagle on Iroko: Selected Papers from the Chinua Achebe International Symposium, 1990*. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC. .
* Egejuru, Phanuel Akubueze (2001). *Chinua Achebe: Pure and Simple, an Oral Biography*. Stoke-on-Trent: Malthouse Press. .
* Ekwe-Ekwe, Herbert (2001). *African Literature in Defence of History: An Essay on Chinua Achebe*. Dakar: African Renaissance. .
* Emenyonu, Ernest N. (1991). "Chinua Achebe's *Things Fall Apart*: A Classic Study in Colonial Diplomatic Tactlessness". In Peterson, Kirsten Holst and Anna Rutherford, eds. *Chinua Achebe: A Celebration*. Oxford, England: Dangeroo Press. .
* Emenyonu, Ernest N. (1996). "Foreword: For Whom The Honour Is Due". In Ihekweazu, Edith. *Eagle on Iroko: Selected Papers from the Chinua Achebe International Symposium, 1990*. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC. .
* Emenyonu, Ernest N. (Ed.) (2004). *Emerging Perspectives on Chinua Achebe* Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press.  (v. 1),  (v. 2).
* Ezenwa-Ohaeto (1997). *Chinua Achebe: A Biography*. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
* Gera, Anjali (2001). *Three Great African Novelists*. New Delhi: Creative Books. .
* Gikandi, Simon (1991). *Reading Chinua Achebe: Language and Ideology in Fiction* London: J. Currey. .
* Innes, Catherine Lynette (1990). *Chinua Achebe*. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
* Innes, C. L. and Bernth Lindfors (Eds.) (1978). *Critical Perspectives on Chinua Achebe*. Washington: Three Continents Press. .
* Jaya Lakshmi, Rao V (2003). *Culture and Anarchy in the Novels of Chinua Achebe* Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot.
* July, Robert W (1987). *An African Voice*. Durham (NC): Duke University Press. .
* Killam, G. D. (1977). *The Writings of Chinua Achebe* London: Heinemann Educational. .
* Laurence, Margaret (2001). *Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists, 1952-1966*. Alberta: University of Alberta Press. .
* Lindfors, Bernth (1982). *Early Nigerian Literature*. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Ltd. .
* Mezu, Rose Ure (2006). *Chinua Achebe: The Man and His Works*. London: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd. .
* Niven, Alistair (1991). "Chinua Achebe and the Possibility of Modern Tragedy". In Peterson, Kirsten Holst and Anna Rutherford, eds. *Chinua Achebe: A Celebration*. Oxford, England: Dangeroo Press. .
* Njoku, Benedict Chiaka (1984). *The Four Novels of Chinua Achebe: A Critical Study* New York: P. Lang. .
* Nnolim, Charles (1996). "The Artist in Search of The Right Leadership: Achebe As A Social Critic". In Ihekweazu, Edith. *Eagle on Iroko: Selected Papers from the Chinua Achebe International Symposium, 1990*. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC. .
* Ogbaa, Kalu (1999). *Understanding Things Fall Apart*. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. .
* Ogede, Ode (2001). *Achebe and the Politics of Representation: Form Against Itself, From Colonial Conquest and Occupation to Post-Independence Disillusionment* Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. .
* Ojinmah, Umelo (1991). *Chinua Achebe: New Perspectives* Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited. .
* Okpewho, Isidore, (Ed.) (2003). *Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart': A Casebook* Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. .
* Sallah, Tijan M. and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2003). *Chinua Achebe, Teacher of Light: A Biography* Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. .
* Tredell, Nicolas (2000). *Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness*. New York: Columbia University Press. .
* Yankson, Kofi E. (1990). *Chinua Achebe's Novels: A Sociolinguistic Perspective*. Uruowulu-Obosi, Nigeria: Pacific Publishers. .
* Yousaf, Nahem (2003). *Chinua Achebe*. Tavistock : Northcote House in Association with the British Council. .

## Vanjske veze
* Stream of Achebe lecture , at University of Pennsylvania
* A long way from home Interview in the *[[The Guardian]]*, 10 July 2007
* Interview, online from CBC Words at Large (audio)
* Achebe reading his poetry 
* 
* 
* 
* The Ahiara Delcaration: The Principles of the Biafran Revolution