Chinua Achebe - Bibliography Dehumanization

Chinua Achebe - Bibliography

Dehumanization is an oft repeated theme in literature, political science, and historiography. Unfortunately, it is a pattern of human behavior that regularly appears in historical documents as a process in which one group asserts their superiority over another group. This assertion may be done in covert or overt acts, may be directed towards a group of people (e.g. religious or ethnic minority) or against behaviors or individual diversity (the disabled, homeless, etc.). The process of dehumanization is often seen during times of war -- the enemy must be dehumanized in order for the standard cultural mores to allow killing. Colonialism (and resultant fascism) often uses dehumanization to prevent opposition and play on preexisting racist or other bias (Keen, 1991). States often use the process to identify individuals as inferior, incapable of higher thought, and barbaric, and as an excuse for colonialism. In the genre of post-colonial literature, or the reaction to colonialism, one finds numerous themes that emerge through the process of what critics have called, "writing back," "re-writing" or "re-reading" situations from the point-of-view of the indigenous culture as opposed to the elite of the time (Poddar & Johnson, eds. intro). One author who delves into this paradigm while also accentuating the cultural heritage of his native land, in this case Nigeria, is Chinua Achebe.

Achebe (b. 1930), is an African born novelist, poet, and professor at Brown University. He was raised by Christian parents but became disenchanted with the way Christianity was used as an excuse to colonialize poorer countries and became a radical supporter of African nationalism. This too, he found rather hypocritical and in frustration over corruption and elitism returned to the United States in 1990. His literary works focus on the traditions of historical Nigerian society, the Igbo, of the influences of Christianity and other cultures, and what effect colonialism had on the native people (Ezenwa-Ohaeto, 1997).

Achebe's prose is smooth as silk, and one can imagine the stories woven around a native campsite. But their interconnectivity and complexity are a layer inside. Achebe points out a number of important historical and cultural constructs and asks the reader to move from a comfort zone and reflect on a number of issues: What is it about the human condition that so patterns itself in the need to subject and dehumanize other individuals in order to assert power or authority? Why is it that throughout history we can glean example after example of populations being sold into slavery, but first "dehumanized" as animals, beasts, inhuman to the conquering populations? Philosophers seem to think that in the modern world, the upper classes have a sense of liberalism in that they pretend that all people have the same rights, but only some have special rights. It is this process of dehumanization of the colonial populations that justifies their own imperialistic behavior. In a similar manner, the human psyche may really be incapable of the kinds of structures and deeds necessary to subjugate a population. In order to do so, then, the colonial population slips into a sense of unreality and justification, accelerating dehumanization in order to allow for colonial subjugation (Fanon, 108, 171-4).

Bibliography:

Achebe, C. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.

Achebe's first novel, is a story centered in an African village of the late 1880s. At this time, European missionaries and other outsiders have not arrived and the Tho clan lives much as it has for hundreds of years. Leadership and status are based on a man's personal worth and what he contributes to the tribe. The main character in the book, Ohonkwo, is well-respected and has just the qualities of leadership that the tribe values. However, Ohonkwo accidently shot a young tribesman and is banned from the village for seven years. When he returns he finds the way of life he knew completely different. The tribal unity is broken, divided by traditionalists and outsiders (the English and Missionaries). It is through Ohonkwo's leadership, however, that the tribe returns to its tradition, which is its greatness.