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postcolonial literature

Better Essays

1) Below are a number of terms that you have been introduced to in this course. Choosing one of them, develop an essay of 1600 words by applying it to two of the texts studied in this course. (Remember to analyse the evidence present in the texts and to develop the main idea generated by the chosen term to its logical conclusion. In other words, these terms should be a starting point for the analysis, or the organising principle, in your essay):
The term indigenous proves problematic once examined under close analysis. Like a prism it reflects multiple lights, and the outcome is solely dependent upon the angle it is studied. In addition to its complexity of viewpoints, other words have been considered similar, if not used in the same …show more content…

The indigenous ethnicity depicted in Things Fall Apart is more concrete and can be defined simply as the Igbo culture. The text asserts this culture through the recollection and reinforcement of its history. Achebe strips the style and language of symbolism and metaphor, presenting the everyday ordinariness of the Igbo people. Things Fall Apart ‘unites humanity.’’ Unlike in King Solomon’s Mines these Africans are not detached and are relatable. This adoption of ‘scientific objectivity’ 5does not change in the text; the style remains constant (to the extent that there is no change in approach between pre-colonial and post-colonial Africa, portraying the transition as unremarkable). We as the reader trust the narrative being created for us, and therefore favour it over the alternative narrative of the District Commissioner, ironically titled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger (Pg 152). Consequently, the novel can be seen as not only an accurate historical account of Igbo culture, but also a compassionate delineation of its collapse.
The idea of preservation and resistance6 is expressed powerfully through the protagonist Okonkwo. “The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath” (Pg3). This extract isolated from the text denotes war with its beating of the drums and the suspension of breath. We are stirred by the idea of action and bloodshed, anticipated and conjured in our imaginations. This extract is in fact about

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