LIT4233-Fall 2025-Okonkwo

Who was this man, this late literary giant, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe (1930-2013), and why has he remained so significant in world letters? That Achebe was one of the most studied, revered, and influential literary and cultural figures of our time is irrefutable. In addition to his stature as Africa’s most important novelist, some scholars have insisted that no serious discussions of modern literature, modern African, African diaspora, world, twentieth- to twenty-first-century literature, or cultural, critical, and postcolonial theories for that matter, are complete if they omit his canon. In this course, we will examine Achebe’s life and career. We will study his five novels, Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, and Anthills of the Savannah, supplementing them with his short stories, essays, poetry, some of his television and transcribed interviews, and relevant criticism on his oeuvre. The major goal is to get students familiar with these works (which are seldom taught together) and unpack Achebe’s literary, political, cultural, and humanist concerns, his artistry, as well as his place in modern African fiction and world literatures. You may believe you have read and know Achebe’s critically acclaimed Things Fall Apart. Wait till we reread it in this class!