Surrounded by symbols, donning his signature cap and
spectacles, Chinua Achebe is
pictured in front of a green banner decorated with icons
of his most famous literary works in Thursday’s Google Doodle. The
illustration honors the legacy of the renowned Nigerian writer on
what would be his 87th birthday.
Widely regarded as the father of modern African literature,
Achebe was an illustrious author whose work sought to reclaim
Africa’s literary voice from Western control. Achebe rose to
international prominence when he published Things Fall
Apart at 28 years-old. Based on his own family heritage
and upbringing, the story recounts the demise of an Ibo man in
southeastern Nigeria under the oppression of 19th century British
colonial rule. The book is now a classic and required reading for
students, selling more than 20 million copies and translated into
57 different languages.
“In the end, I began to understand,” Achebe once wrote. “There
is such a thing as absolute power over narrative. Those who secure
this privilege for themselves can arrange stories about others
pretty much where, and as, they like.”
Achebe went on to publish several more works — ultimately
winning the Man Booker Prize in 2007 — and then later became a
professor at Bard College and Brown University. In 1990, a car
accident in Nigeria paralyzed Achebe from the waist down. The
writer passed away from illness nearly five years ago.
Surrounded by symbols, donning his signature cap and
spectacles, Chinua Achebe is
pictured in front of a green banner decorated with icons
of his most famous literary works in Thursday’s Google Doodle. The
illustration honors the legacy of the renowned Nigerian writer on
what would be his 87th birthday.
Widely regarded as the father of modern African literature,
Achebe was an illustrious author whose work sought to reclaim
Africa’s literary voice from Western control. Achebe rose to
international prominence when he published Things Fall
Apart at 28 years-old. Based on his own family heritage
and upbringing, the story recounts the demise of an Ibo man in
southeastern Nigeria under the oppression of 19th century British
colonial rule. The book is now a classic and required reading for
students, selling more than 20 million copies and translated into
57 different languages.
“In the end, I began to understand,” Achebe once wrote. “There
is such a thing as absolute power over narrative. Those who secure
this privilege for themselves can arrange stories about others
pretty much where, and as, they like.”
Achebe went on to publish several more works — ultimately
winning the Man Booker Prize in 2007 — and then later became a
professor at Bard College and Brown University. In 1990, a car
accident in Nigeria paralyzed Achebe from the waist down. The
writer passed away from illness nearly five years ago.