Duanyang Zhao
COMPSTD 1100
September 19, 2020
Hi, I am going to present some contexts of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Specifically, I will look into the Igbo society in Nigeria before and after the colonization, as well as the cultural impacts of colonialism on Nigeria.
Things Fall Apart can be regarded as a post-colonial literary classic that reproduces the environment, nature, land, and home space of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. In the novel, Achebe pays attention to both natural and humanistic landscapes, both natural geographical space and social spiritual space. Before the arrival of the Western colonists, the natural and social ecology of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria showed a rather organic harmony: from the sun, the moon and the stars, wind, rain and thunder, mountains and rivers to forest land, fish, snakes and insects, birds and beasts, all living and inanimate things “naturally” coexist in an interconnected “ecological network”.
Before the Western colonists invaded Africa, the African tribes respected nature and believed in animism. The tribal nature and society presented a harmonious relationship. But this kind of ecological harmony ceased to exist after the colonists invaded, and the colonialists’ “ecological imperialism” eventually led to the collapse of the local natural ecology, social ecology, and spiritual ecology. It is not difficult for readers to see that the British colonists in Things Fall Apart mainly implemented their “ecological imperialism” through colonial violence, Christianity, school education, technology, and commodities.
Under the coercion of “ecological imperialism” violence by Western colonists and the penetration of Christian culture, the natural, social, and spiritual ecology of African tribes has inevitably fallen into a crisis. A modern society alienated from the nature of the countryside has emerged, and people’s words and thoughts cannot be separated from the religion, education, technology, and commodities of the Western colonists. With such a huge change, the author Achebe’s mood seems to be mixed. On the one hand, those anti-ecological backward customs and ideas in African traditional culture were gradually destroyed; on the other hand, the natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology of the ancient African tribes also eventually collapsed, leading to a rootless social culture in Nigeria.
Works Cited
Aparna, Banik and Dawar Shobharam. “The Impact of Colonization and Cultural Change on the Igbo People: A Study of Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart.” International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR). https://ijsr.net/archive/v6i5/ART20173216.pdf
Kenalemang, Lame Maatla. “Things fall apart: an analysis of pre and post-colonial Igbo society.” (2013). https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:648320/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Duanyang,
This is a great presentation. The information you present gave me a better overall understanding of Things Fall Apart. It was easy to see that British imperialists were forcefully taking over land of the tribes in Nigeria; however, your ecological description of this devastation gave me a more well rounded understanding of the situation. I specifically like your quote, “ecological harmony ceased to exist after the invasion of the colonist”, as this is a perfect description of the novel.
Hi Duanyang
Thank you for your insightful blog post. This was a good pre-reading to understand more of Things Fall Apart.
I enjoyed the perspective you chose to cover this week. It is fascinating how different cultures differ spiritually and the Igbo people really value nature and the impact it can have. Nature is very important in my own spiritual life so prior to reading I already feel some sort of connection with the Igbo people’s outlook on nature.
Hi Duanyang,
Your presentation was truly interesting and great. The explanation of the Igbo tribe and African tribes before their colonization is very helpful in providing background information for Things Fall Apart. British colonization in Africa really impacted the strong relationship and dependency these tribes had to nature, negatively affecting their everyday lives. This presentation gives a better understanding as to how “ecological imperialism” of Westerners changed African culture and development.
Hello! I really like the point you make about all of them living in harmony together before being invaded. I think that is something that is cool to think about, and something that makes alot of sense to me, if another country were to invade the United States as we are all living in harmony and force views and many other things on us in the near future, im sure it would change everything and the normal day to day harmony that we see today.