| Home and Exile Contributor(s): Achebe, Chinua (Author) |
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ISBN: 0385721331 ISBN-13: 9780385721332 Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group OUR PRICE: $22.80 Product Type: Paperback Published: September 2001 Annotation: More personally revealing than anything Achebe has written, Home and Exile-the great Nigerian novelist's first book in more than ten years-is a major statement on the importance of stories as real sources of power, especially for those whose stories have traditionally been told by outsiders. In three elegant essays, Achebe seeks to rescue African culture from narratives written about it by Europeans. Looking through the prism of his experiences as a student in English schools in Nigeria, he provides devastating examples of European cultural imperialism. He examines the impact that his novel Things Fall Apart had on efforts to reclaim Africa's story. And he argues for the importance of writing and living the African experience because, he believes, Africa needs stories told by Africans. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures - Biography & Autobiography | Political - Political Science | History & Theory - General |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2001022599 |
| Physical Information: 0.4" H x 5.2" W x 8" (0.25 lbs) 128 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Ethnic Orientation - African |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A rare opportunity to glimpse a bit of the man behind the monumental novels. --Chicago Tribune Powerful and deeply personal, these three essays by the great Nigerian author articulate his mission to rescue African culture from the narratives written by Europeans. Looking through the prism of his experiences as a student in English schools in Nigeria, he recalls his first encounters with European perspectives on Africa in the works of Joyce Cary and Elspeth Huxley. He examines the impact that his novel Things Fall Apart--as well as fellow Nigerian Amos Tutola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard and Jomo Kenyatta's Facing Mt. Kenya, among other works--had on efforts to reclaim Africa's story. He confronts the persistence of colonial views of Africa. And he argues for the importance of living and writing the African experience: Africa needs stories told by Africans. |