Achebe and Post-Colonialism in Anthills of the Savannah

Post-colonial writers generally are concerned with trying to define the individuality and uniqueness of their societies as against the general universality ascribed to them by the Imperials. In essence, “post-colonialism tends to question the assumptions of the ‘hegemonic’ cultures of English literature tend to portray” (Onogwu 9). It is also in this light that Chinweizu, Jemie and Madubuike quite firmly state “To Western critics […]: take your hemegonic hands off African literature! [...] they should show the proper respect for the autonomy of that literature” (303). Achebe does not stop at this warning but in his works ensures that the Western hegemony is undisputedly dealt with. From Things Fall Apart to Anthills of the Savannah, it has been a long struggle to help his society “regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement. And it is essentially a question of education in the best sense of that word1” (qtd in Aba 6)
Several analyses have been made of Achebe’s works using several differing theories. However, the most consistent of all these criticisms place him as a social realist or critic. This seems in line with Chinweizu’s stipulation of “our African critics that literary criticism is ultimately a branch of social criticism” (303). This seems very likely too; after all, did not Theo Vincent say that “Literature by its very nature tells us more about a people, a society, a situation, an experience…”? (xix) The tool for its evaluation would then be sociological.
In this line, Aba agrees that “Achebe is classified as a social realist” (11). This is not surprising, considering the fact the basic theory underlying post-colonialism is sociology and culture as testified to by Shija in his statement that post-colonialism “is […] concerned with the study of…the coming together of two or

Cited: Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds. Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2002. ---. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. London: Routledge, 1989. Chinweizu, Onwuchekwa Jemie, and Ihechukwu Madubuike, eds. Towards the Decolonization of African Literature, Vol 1: African Fiction and Poetry and Their Critics. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishing Company Ltd, 1980. Shija, Terhemba. Post-Coloniality and the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide. Makurdi: Aboki, 2006. Vincent, Theo, ed. Black and African Writing: A Festac Anthology. Lagos: The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization National Theatre, 1981. wa Thiong’o, Ngugi. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. Kenya: Heinemann, 1986. Unpublished Thesis: Aba, Andrew Ame-Odindi. ‘A Postcolonial Re-Reading of Chinua Achebe’s Novels.’(PhD). Makurdi: Benue State University, 2005. Onogwu, Elizabeth Odachi ‘A Post-Colonial Reading of Ben Okri’s The Famished Road and Dangerous Love.’ (MA). Makurdi: Benue State University, 2007.