THE CLASH OF CULTURES IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S „THINGS FALL APART” (1958) – THE WESTERN INFLUENCE
THE CLASH OF CULTURES IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S „THINGS FALL APART” (1958) – THE WESTERN INFLUENCE

Summary/Abstract: This paper focuses on Things Fall Apart (1958) which is Chinua Achebe's first novel, almost certainly the African book that is most often read by Western readers and a staple in courses on African literature and culture. My central concern is to illustrate how Western and African cultures became entwined and how the influence went both ways. In most of his writings Achebe pleads for the preservation and revival of African cultural values. According to him African resources need to be regained and the fragmented colonial subjects need to be reconstituted in order that African people should acquire a sense of direction and identity. However, here I demonstrate that Achebe too, uses Western cultural strategies to convey these ideas as Western values have permeated everything African and elements of Sameness can no longer be ignored.

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