ENG140Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Simone De Beauvoir, Postcolonial Literature, Chinua Achebe
Document Summary
Novel takes place in a place that is foreign to us. Otherness is a fundamental category of human thought , no group ever sets itself up as the one without at once setting up the other over against itself . Written around same time as waiting for godot. Written in english, first published in london. Got better reviews in england than nigeria. Narrator is outside of people he is describing. Later said wrote in english because country had been misrepresented in english, wanted to correct it in english. For writers: getting it right is not just about describing it right, but also making sure readers will interpret it right. Achebe gives igbo context so readers can judge okonkwo by igbo standards. Opens in more traditional way than to the lighthouse, follows traditional model of plot and time. Uses well-known method to launch unknown story. To british readers, locusts are bad so foreshadow arrival of british.
