Achebe had a keen grasp of how language demonstrated power, how power determined what was considered knowledge, and how this knowledge could become truth.
History reminds us that xenophobia is not an entirely South African problem. Indeed, across Africa, it has been used as a policy instrument by governments, time and time again.
The feminist champions of Hausa literature have their pens ready, full of fire, energy and imagination, emitting hidden truths through their words, and steadily reinventing the narratives of women in Northern Nigeria.
'The field' is an interesting concept. It only makes sense if we understand that there is also another place which is 'not-the-field'. But the common use of 'the field' suggests that it is shorthand for power relations as well as geography.
Lagbaja’s music is a symbolic bridge that connects the old to the new; the dangers, apprehension, and injustices of the military era to a new age of democracy and hope.
The changing fortunes of Eskom reflect the fortunes of South Africa; while South Africa itself has undergone huge changes between the fieldwork visits, there is a certain element of ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.’
Overflowing with idioms and a style of writing that mimics Igbo folklore, Arrow of God is a masterclass in Achebe’s ability to translate Igbo feelings into English.