Multiculturalism in Chinua Achebe's novels Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease

Abstract

Many novels display an intense interest in culture, traditions and the conflict between two different cultures. Multiculturalism is a topic which is also a major concern of contemporary literary criticism and cultural history at large. The present study is concerned with the issue of multiculturalism in Chinua Achebe's novels Things Fall Apart (1958) and No Longer at Ease (1960). Now a day societies are culturally diverse and people demand for the recognition of their own culture and identity. Therefore, the study explores the misrecognition of Nigerian culture by the dominant British power during the colonial period. Chinua Achebe's novels are important to the emergent principle of modern African literature. His novels provide an image of an African society, represented both as a living entity and in its historic circumstance. He also provides an image of a social structure modelling the institutional foundation of the re-establishing of African meanings and values. Since the paper examines the cultural clash between Nigerian and British cultures as a consequence of colonization because Nigerian became a colony in 1884. As Achebe in his fictional world shows the impact of colonialism on Nigerian culture and people that cause to misrecognize their traditional culture and identity by the white dominance culture. Besides, Achebe’s response considers as a reaction to western ideals that representing Africans as primitive and uncivilized.

Key Words: Multiculturalism, colonization, culture, clash, recognition, tradition.