Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart:

Background on Nigeria:
1. Go to www.embassy.org
2. Scroll down to Countrywatch
3. Choose Africa
4. Choose Nigeria and review content
5. Next, scroll up/down to Political History; review content

Background on Chinua Achebe:
Review content on www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/achebe/achebeov.html

Study Questions on Things Fall Apart:

1. Background on Nigeria: What are the four main ethnic divisions in Nigeria? What are the languages? What is Nigeria's official language? What is the Biafran War? When did it take place and what was its result? When was Nigeria formally a British Colony? When did it gain independence from the British? Who are the Ogoni people? Who was their leader and why was he executed? Who is the current leader of Nigeria?
   
2. Background on Achebe: When was Achebe born? At what age did he write his first novel? When was the novel published? In what language did Achebe write his novel? Why/why wasn't the novel written in his native tongue? What is Achebe's mother tongue? How does he incorporate Igbo words, phrases, and thinking into his English? List and define four Igbo words in the novel.
   
3. Religion: What is the religion practiced by the Igbo people in Achebe's novel? What are some of the practices of this religion? Why do these practices seem so foreign to Western readers? When Christianity enters the Igbo culture, how do the Africans respond to it? What is the appeal of Christianity to some residents of Umuofia? Name and describe the four groups of people who first convert to Christianity. Do you detect any differences between the two missionaries Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith?
   
4. Treatment of women: What can you say about the treatment of women in this culture? What are some of the ways in which women wield power in this male-dominated society? What is Achebe's own representation of women? Could this book be called a "male" text? Why or why not?
   
5. The character of Okonkwo: Describe the character of Okonkwo. What are his strengths and weaknesses? In what ways may he be termed a tragic hero (i.e., one destined for greatness but suffering from a fatal flaw)? How is he similar to or different from the classical heroes you are familiar with in your own culture? Do you think the novel is speaking from his point of view? If not, what is the narrator’s perspective on Okonkwo? Describe Okonkwo's relationship with his children. Why does he participate in the killing of Ikemefuna? Was he warned not to? Did his friend Obierika participate in this killing? Why or why not?

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Mariama Bâ, So Long a Letter:

Background on Senegal:
1. Go to www.embassy.org
2. Scroll down to Countrywatch
3. Choose Africa
4. Choose Senegal and review content
5. Next, scroll up/down to Political History; review content

Background on Mariama Bâ:
Review content on http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/AFLIT/BaMariamaEng.html

Study Questions on Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter:

1. Background on Senegal: Which European countries vied for possession over Senegal? Which country won? Why is Leopold Senghor an important historical and cultural figure for Senegal? When did Senegal gain independence? Who was its first president? Who is Abdoulaye Wade and why was he a threat to the Senegalese government? Who is Senegal's current leader and what is his party's name?
   
2. Background on Mariama Bâ: When was Bâ born and when did she die? What were her early influences? When was So Long a Letter published in English? What are at least two dominating themes in her writing? How might her writing be said to differ from Achebe's?
   
3. Ramatoulaye and Aissatou: What are some of the book's preoccupations? In what style is the book written? Describe the kind of friendship that Ramatoulaye and Aissatou share. Why is their education seen by them as a momentous event? What is their view on modern Senegalese society? What do you think is most responsible for the key differences between the two women? How do their lives take on diverging paths? Which character do you think is more fulfilled in their lives?
   
4. Polygamy: Why is polygamy in the novel described so differently from Achebe's book? What sorts of conflicts does polygamy cause in the joint family? Why does polygamy occur? How does it rearrange women's interrelationships?
   
5. Representation of men: Why do men appear so different from the men in Achebe's book? How are men viewed in Bâ's book? Give three examples of men in the book. Given that both the main characters gained financial independence due to their higher education, why do men still feature so largely in their lives?

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Ousmane Sembene, Xala:

Background on Ousmane Sembene:
Review content on http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/S/Sembene.asp

Study Questions on Xala (New Yorker Films, 1974):

Cast of Characters
El Hadji: businessman, member of the Chamber
Adja: El Hadji's first wife
Rama: Adja and El Hadji's daughter
Oumi: His second wife
Astou: His third wife

1. The film depicts El Hadji taking on a third wife. Why does he do this? What are his first two wives' response to his third marriage? What is his daughter Rama's reaction?
   

2.  What is "Xala"? Why do you think El Hadji suffers from Xala? What is his wives' and (third) mother-in-law's response to his condition? Do you think the Xala and the eventual failure of his business are connected in any way? Explain your answer.
   

3.  This film was banned in Senegal when it first came out. Why do you think this happened? In what way is Ousmane's film a political statement about the Senegalese government? about polygamy?
   

4.  At the end of the film, a ritual degradation of El Hadji takes place. How do you make sense of this ritual? Why was it performed? By whom? Why?
   

5.  The link between the film's subplot (the homeless, maimed, and poor) and its main plot (El Hadji's story) involves, among other things, the drought and 100 tons of rice. How are these two linked by Ousmane? To what end?

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Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions:

Background on Zimbabwe:
1. Go to www.embassy.org
2. Scroll down to Countrywatch
3. Choose Africa
4. Choose Zimbabwe and review content
5. Next, scroll up/down to Political History; review content

Background on Tsitsi Dangarembga:
Review content on http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/dangarembga.htm

Study Questions on Tsitsi Dangrembga's Nervous Conditions:

1. Background on Zimbabwe: What was Zimbabwe's prior name? Whom was it named after? What are Zimbabwe's ethnic groups? What are its official and dominant languages? When was the British South Africa Company chartered? When did Zimbabwe become a British colony? What are the Land Apportionment Acts? When were they passed? What is the UDI? What did Prime Minister declare about white dominance? When did Zimbabwe gain its independence? Who is its current prime minister and what is his party called? Why are land rights in Zimbabwe such a complex issue? What has Zimbabwe's prime minister done about land rights?

2. Background on Tsitsi Dangarembga: When was Dangarembga born? What is her educational background? What effect did travel and study abroad have on her life? On the themes of her novel Nervous Conditions?

3. Tambudzai: What are Tambudzai's early childhood influences? Why did she not mourn her brother's death? What is her family's attitude towards her education? Describe her relationships with her mother, her father, her uncle Babamukuru, and his wife Maiguru. In what ways is Nyasha Tambudzai's role model? What does Nyasha teach her about life, about history, about literature, and about education? How are the two girls' attitudes towards education radically different? When do the two girls part ways? 

4. "Nervous Conditions": The book's title comes from Jean Paul Sartre's introduction to Frantz Fanon's book, The Wretched of the Earth: "The condition of the native is a nervous condition." How does the book portray women's "nervous conditions"? How might the term "nervous conditions" apply to all post-colonial characters?

5. In the book, Tambudzai honors the formative roles of four women in her life. Who are these women? What do they teach her about life? About women's experience and women's power?

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Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Devil on the Cross:

Background on Kenya:
1. Go to www.embassy.org
2. Scroll down to Countrywatch
3. Choose Africa
4. Choose Kenya and review content
5. Next, scroll up/down to Political History; review content

Background on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o::
Review content on http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/cm/africana/thiongo.htm and http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Ngugi.html

Study Questions on Devil on the Cross:

1. Background on Kenya: What is understood by the "migratory period"? When did it occur? What are the six major ethnic groups in Kenya? When did Britain declare Kenya a protectorate? What was the Kenya African Union? Who were the Mau Mau? What did they achieve? When did Kenya gain independence? Who was Kenya's first president? Who is Kenya's current leader?

2. Background on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: When was Ngũgĩ born? Why was his novel Petals of Blood a turning point in his life? In what language does Ngũgĩ choose to write? Why? Why was Ngũgĩ imprisoned? What were some of the consequences of his imprisonment? How would you describe Ngũgĩ's political standpoint?

3. Character of Warĩĩnga: Describe Warĩĩnga's childhood and early views of education. How do these views change over time and why? Her dream is narrated on 184-194. Why is it significant? Does Warĩĩnga re-revise her views on education? Why does she learn martial arts? How would you describe her feminist politics at the novel's end? Why does her marriage to Gatuĩria not take place?

4. Characters Gatuĩria, Wangarĩ, and Muturi: Describe the background of each of these characters. How are they integral to the plot? What becomes of Wangarĩ and Mũturi? In what ways does the novel complicate Gatuĩria's character?

5. Novel Title: What is conveyed by Ngũgĩ's title? Where does the title appear in the novel? Who, according to Ngũgĩ, is the devil and why is he on a cross? How does the title link up with the theme of neo-colonialism? How might this novel be read as an indictment of Kenyan neo-colonialism?

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