Language has an important role in the novel "Things fall apart" since it is represented as a cultural difference. Achebe wrote this novel with Igbo words and expressions in order to demonstrate that Africa is not the silent continent that people tend to see. He wants to show that African people express themselves, and not with isolated and incomprehensible sounds. But apart from that, he also wants to show that Igbo language cannot be translated into English due to its complexity.
The main goal that Achebe wanted to achieve with the creation of this novel was to critic the image of Africa that most of colonial writers had established. To do so, he had the necessity to write the novel in English as it was the only way that these writers could read it. That's why he wrote the whole novel in English, with expressions from the Igbo language to make clear that the latest is as important and valued as any other language.
From my point of view, the fact of using English as a "vehicle" to connect the colonies with the world is of paramount importance, since it was the only way that writers had to express what they really wanted to say to humanity. For some people this can be seen even as a "betrayal" because they did not use their original language, but I think it was totally necessary to expand the message to the world. It was the only way.
ResponderEliminarMacarena, I concur with the statement that language has an important role in the novel. I must say that while doing some research I found that the use of a foreign language cannot fully describe a culture, in this case, the Igbo culture. Thus, this is the reason of the Igbo lexis inside the novel. The role of the Igbo language is, as you already mentioned, to give a voice to Africa in order to demonstrate that Africa has a voice and want to be listened.
ResponderEliminarMoreover, by using English Chinua Achebe makes sure of creating a greater impact because as English is the universal language it catches more readers' interest. Besides, when writing in a local language, such as Igbo, most of the time, the authors allow to translate their works in order to make them understood by outsiders or people that do not know that language.
To conclude, I really enjoyed reading your post because I think the usage of language in literature is of paramount importance.
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ResponderEliminarI could not agree more with you in terms of the importance of language in Things Fall Apart and the idea that Chenua wrote the book in English with the clear purpose to criticize. However, I believe that the English-Igbo language mixture goes beyond the criticism, it also has to do with Chenua's background. I remember having heard in a class that culture is a concept that always implies struggle in people since its opinions, thoughts and feelings to name a few, are going to be stained by this abstract concept of culture.
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