Understanding Things Fall Apart: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series)
By
Kalu Ogbaa (Author)
Hardback
Available / dispatched within 1 - 2 weeks
Quantity
Description
Things Fall Apart is the most widely read and influential African novel. Published in 1958, it has sold more than eight million copies and been translated into fifty languages. African culture is not familiar to most American readers however, and this casebook provides a wealth of commentary and original materials that place the novel in its historical, social, and cultural contexts. Ogbaa, an Igbo scholar, has selected a wide variety of historical and firsthand accounts of Igbo history and cultural heritage. These accounts illuminate the historical context and issues relating to the colonization of Africa by European powers, in particular Britain's colonization of Nigeria. Fascinating materials bring to light the novel's cultural context-folkways, language and narrative customs, and traditional Igbo religion. Among the documents included are a slave narrative, interviews, journal and magazine articles, and historical essays. Each chapter is followed by questions for class discussion and ideas for student paper topics. A selection of maps and photos of Igbo culture complement the text.
Following a literary analysis, historical documents trace the European powers' partition of Africa and the creation and colonization of Nigeria, home of the Igbo people. Several chapters on Igbo cultural harmony feature materials that explain the Igbo view of the world of humans and the world of the spirits, Igbo language, and traditional Igbo religion and material customs. Selections on the African novelists' novel place Things Fall Apart in the context of African literature and emphasize the difference between African and Western elements of fiction. A concluding chapter examines the debate on writing African novels in ex-colonizers' languages. This casebook will greatly enhance the reader's appreciation of the novel and understanding of Igbo history, society, culture, and civilization.
About the Author
KALU OGBAA, an Igboman scholar, is professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University, where he teaches Africana (African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean) and American literatures. He is the editor of The Gong and the Flute: African Literary Development and Celebration (Greenwood, 1994), and the author of Gods, Oracles and Divination: Folkways in Chinua Achebe's Novels (1992), Igbo (1965), as well as numerous articles on African and Commonwealth literatures.
More Details
- Contributor: Kalu Ogbaa
- Imprint: Greenwood Press
- ISBN13: 9780313302947
- Number of Pages: 256
- Packaged Dimensions: 156x235mm
- Packaged Weight: 567
- Format: Hardback
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Release Date: 1999-01-30
- Series: The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series
- Binding: Hardback
- Biography: KALU OGBAA, an Igboman scholar, is professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University, where he teaches Africana (African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean) and American literatures. He is the editor of The Gong and the Flute: African Literary Development and Celebration (Greenwood, 1994), and the author of Gods, Oracles and Divination: Folkways in Chinua Achebe's Novels (1992), Igbo (1965), as well as numerous articles on African and Commonwealth literatures.
Delivery Options
Home Delivery
Store Delivery
Free Returns
We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us. However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy.