Hegemony and Resistance in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Post-Colonial Study

Abstract

The present study analyses,from a post-colonial perspective, the decolonising power of culture in Chinua Achebe’s most prominent novel Things Fall Apart (1958) (abbreviated as TFA). The study examines the colonised Igbo community as one of the main ethnic groups of Nigeria that possess their own identity, indigenous religion, distinct traditions, etc. and how that community comes under threat due to the strenuous efforts of the British colonialists as soon as they arrive in Nigeria. Moreover, it portrays the clash between the two cultures resulted from the arrival of colonialism. It focuses on the different attempts of the native people of Nigeria to decolonise their culture. However, their struggles are met in most cases with failure and in few cases with success. The research also presents the self-consciousness and the resistance of the colonised people against the drastic changes that colonialism has made to their culture and identity and it portrays their readiness to resist the oppressive hegemonic power. The study ends with a conclusion that sums up the main findings of the study, and it is followed by a list of references and bibliography.