Chinua Achebe and the development of Igbo/African studies

Abstract

This chapter examines the contributions of Chinua Achebe to the development of Igbo Studies in particular, and African Studies in general.1 Conceived in the colonial context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when very little was preserved in writing by the Africans on Igbo social life and customs, Achebe’s trilogy-Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964)-have particularly served scholars of all disciplines as a rare intellectual resource material.2 The plot of these works was primarily intended to shed light on different aspects of Igbo/African social institutions and practices as well as highlight the nature of conflicts that threatened the indigenous society as it came under alien intrusion.