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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays (2009)di Chinua Achebe
Black Authors (167) Sto caricando le informazioni...
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I found it to be quite insightful. Some of the essays are autobiographical in nature. Others focus on African literature and the politics thereof. I personally found the latter category to be most engaging and educational. While I found it interesting to read about his relationships with his father and his daughters, I'm not sure these essays were too memorable. By contrast, I will always remember his contribution in "Politics of Language in African Literature" to the debate of people writing novels in native languages versus English. This is primarily a collection of speeches given at various events in the late 20th century, and includes a number of small repetitions and goes only so far into the complex details of history and very little if any into personality. There is a certain warm patience which seems to be fighting anger and cynicism. It absolutely confronts the white, western reader with the manufactured aspect of established assumptions about Africa, Africans, and the descendants of Africans.
“The Education of a British-Protected Child” succeeds in presenting an eclectic and thorough view of Achebe in his longtime roles as writer, father and teacher. With the same generosity and humility that have always distinguished his work, Achebe once again shares his thoughtful perspective on a world about which, despite his privileged placement in the “luxurious” space of the middle, he remains more than a little wary. A few are slack and talky (many began as lectures), and Mr. Achebe is not wrong to describe several as rambling. But at its best, this collection will put you in mind of lines spoken by the poet Ikem in Mr. Achebe’s 1987 novel, “Anthills of the Savannah”: “Writers don’t give prescriptions. They give headaches!” If “The Education of a British-Protected Child” doesn’t tell us much that is new about Achebe’s life, it does tell us a lot about his views on other matters. In it, among other things, he returns to the topics of two of his most controversial older essays: “An Image of Africa,” on the racism of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” and “The African Writer and the English Language,” on the use of English by African writers. Premi e riconoscimenti
A volume of seventeen essays explores various aspects of the author's life, including his childhood in colonial Nigeria, encounters with the African-American diaspora, his family life, and the symbolism of Barack Obama's election. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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I was struck by this phrase, which he quotes from the late Milan Kundera:
"Those who seek power passionately do so not to change the present or the future, but the past---to re-write history." ( )