Cultural Identity in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Practical Study

Abstract

With the emergence of cultural diversity as a new concept following the widespread of new Communication technologies, the question of cultural identity increasingly becomes in the focus. The effect of colonization dominates almost every aspect of the conquered populations. In an attempt to have a close view of the effect of colonial power on African cultural identity and social life, this paper aims through Achebe’s first postcolonial novel Things Fall Apart, to reveal how African societies undergo the transformation in terms of culture and identity as a consequence of the British colonization. It investigates what cultural values Africans had before the arrival of the white man. The present work also exposes Achebe’s perception and views on cultural identity reflected throughout the selected novel, in the aftermath of political independence. This study takes as a corpus written sentences and expressions collected from the cited novel, as an approach of analysis. One of the research findings confirms that identity issues are a central topic in literature which can be an expose about who the African is.