Confronting the Widening Gyres of the Empire

Book excerpt: In the 19th century, European colonialism imposed a hegemonic grip over Africa, profoundly disrupting indigenous societies. Chinua Achebe, a seminal figure in postcolonial literature, embarked on an intentional mission to decolonize the literary canon through his writings, particularly by restoring Igbo culture as a means to counteract colonial legacies. This book offers a critical exploration of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, analysing how colonialism restructures power dynamics within Igbo society and how Achebe as a postcolonial writer reappropriates this power. By employing an interdisciplinary approach, this book analyses the pre-colonial power configurations in Igbo society. It then advances a postcolonial analysis of the colonial usurpation of power from the indigenous Igbo centre, before culminating in an examination of Achebe’s linguistic strategies as a tool for decolonization, aimed at reappropriating power back to the indigenous Igbo centre. This book is an indispensable resource for scholars and researchers of postcolonial literature and is aimed at providing an in-depth understanding of colonial disruption to indigenous societies while simultaneously emphasizing the pivotal role of literature and language in restoring cultural agency to the native context.