Walking down a shortcut to work, I heard some children giggling. After a closer look, I saw what I could only describe as a representation yet to be actualized and a statement about a people opaque to strangers, and an argument whose conclusion could remain a statement true to some and false to others. The children were running around without clothes and others were bathing outside like a bunch of savage creeps. And they were Africans like you and me. This sight reminded me of the unpublished image of Africa and why writers in Africa should be part of the force that helps in ameliorating the matter. Chinua Achebe, being a man skilled in words, thoughts and his culture unveils one of the duties of a writer as a teacher to his community. Minds in love with theories about experiential learning will eulogize his unique craftsmanship in presenting the internal monologue of his characters, the interpretations they have of the external world, the laws that rule their actions and the origin of their morality or conscience in novels like things fall apart , chike and the river and ants hills of the savannah. In things fall apart , Chinua Achebe does this concretely with humor,integrity,authenticity and completeness to a point that any reader new to African customs will inherit an african experience just from reading it. In things fall apart , the weakness of Okokoo was not spared or hidden in the name of representing Africans as a people of strength and wisdom but exposed to draw a line of authenticity through him , making Okokoo not just an icon admired in his village but a symbol of his humanity, a character that is relatable and a personified reflections of the collective consciousness of man. Achebe's use of proverbs in this first novel of his should not only inform writers to be true to themselves but should also erode the doubts many have about the logic behind the English language and their fear of losing meaning to english readers in attempting to manipulate the language creatively to suit their context. Like wealth, there is no need to share your meaning with everyone ; if it was so the gods will not keep secrets from man. Pardon me for injecting my nurtured proverbial instinct I have from reading too much of Chinua Achebe if you don't understand.
In Ghana we say " If you know , you know!" when a message should be obvious to someone but it isn't, meaning you are not the target recipient of the message if you don't understand. In other words, the language African writers must use in representing their culture should maintain all it's attributes even in translation if we as writer seek to educate the youth and preserve our culture as teachers disguised in print. Another taste of truth that elucidates the perils of choosing the denotational meaning of words over the connotation meaning in cultures when writing in English is the fact that people of different cultures never find humor in the same things. So what is the point of feeding a lion foofoo or giving a lamb pork? Questions like "Does he spoke English correctly?" by Jennifer from the Nigeria series Jennifer Diary better characterize archetypes that Africans will find interesting and can identify to since English is not our language rather than its translation "Is he fluent in English?" imposed on the same speaker in the name of communication. Examples of moments in things fall apart where the narrator presents an authentic African voice is when the narrator says " The child had been declared an ogbanje"Ogbanje is a word unfamiliar to people ignorant of Nigerian glossaries or vocabulary, yet it is able to function as a suspense device and positions the narrator as embedded with his native tongue. A writer who will describe an ogbanje as a child who dies at birth but shows up again in the same womb and keeps showing up until his or her iyi-uwa is destroyed, might have given a denotation that is synonymous to ogbange but has also repositioned his narrator as someone without an African voice, Specifically Igbo voice, or someone talking to a non-Nigerian audience. A popular proverb in things fall apart that illustrates the African voice of Chinua Achebe is "Men have learned to shoot without missing their mark and I have learned to fly without perching on a twig". Clearly, the ambiguity of this statement is resolved in the context. And there is no need for the writer to interpret when it's meaning can be deduced by the reader unconsciously. In anthills of the savannah, "I go cook you nice pepper soup." , '"I beg make you no flash light for my eye." are examples of expressions and voices whose humor might have been diluted had they been translated in the English language thoroughly. This brings me to a language we all use that demonstrates the value in miscommunicating while communicating to our target audience . A lot of people still struggle with some of its acronyms and abbreviations when they find themselves in new groups. I'm talking about social media. Social media didn't just shape how we communicate; it also shaped the roles of writers in the modern world. Imagine being on a platform full of different voices , circumscribed by a million strings of arguments, a thousand opinions without merit and lies colored as truth or truth hidden in the silence because of its unpopularity or the screams of rumors. It can be daunting piercing your writing pen through this but if the pen is mighter than the sword it's not because it's sharp. It's because it can control the minds of anyone if used skillfully. Writers are leaders whose opinions still guide us here whether they are alive or dead. The trouble with Nigeria according to Achebe is not the lack of resources but specifically how the country is governed. This statement he made was like a thought dropped in the minds of students by a teacher or a rebuttal to those who believe the resources in Nigeria were not enough per the population. Striking a cord like this to ignite minds of individuals with the intellect, talent or capability to impact the economy positively is a mark of great leadership that the modern writer must earn to command his community , be it on social media , in his country, wherever he or she finds himself. For influence is not just about being a true member of your community but also having something to say especially when dilemma paralyzis reason and action.
The stories writers tell ought to function as a pool full of ideas in the consciousness or memory of the reader, supplying him or her thoughts beyond their usual cognitive abilities, crystallized as bombs waiting for the right situation or problem to explode freely, saying " At last You've found something to do with me other than keeping me in your memory since you read me." Since the quality of actions depends on the mind that invented them , the researcher's hat of every writer ought to be on his or her head before thinking to avoid bad writing. Impersonating Chinua Achebe , he would have backed this by saying, "The world is like a mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you don't stand in one place." Put on your hat . Talk to somebody about Africa, talk to someone about your subject matter, travel, jump into a snake hole . Find out what's in it. Learn some dance moves you only see. Put your arrogance in your pocket and act ignorant like a true student of philosophy. You will be amazed at what you will find. Who knows ? Your look might be the new fashion trend . Everyone might just be wearing that hat of yours in search of your thoughts to help them . Your concern should then be how to keep your writing license after . Whether you are shaming your government or some people, or reminding the world of values forgotten , without a hat what do you know ? The writer as a guide instead of a dictator One of the challenges most journalist face as narrators is telling a story from the point of view of their subject in words that telepathize their mood or emotions, answer questions the audience might have about them and express their state of mind objectively without exaggerating their world view or sensationalizing their narratives. Interpreters or words that suggest subjectivity or speculations should be carefully stated as such in reminding the audience of the biases that might hinder the path they travel from their present state of consciousness to a past presented to them by the subject or the journalist. Obviously, writers might fail in executing this if they are unaware of how their own knowledge of the subject shapes their narratives or how the structure of a text suggests meaning. Hence showing how events unfold and enlisting the actions of characters in quotations and directness pops his head out as a way forward in striving to overcome this rather than engaging in arguments about misrepresentation and representations. Chinua's quote about Art being a constant effort of man in creating a reality from that which is given to him also shoots out from behind. But if we as African writers seek to validate ourselves as a people of greatness and children bestowed on earth by a deity that exist and partakes in our affairs, then there must be a reality that we envision as true and real to all of us , not some of us in the first place. No wonder Chinua portrays the beliefs of Okonkoo and his people as a reality shared collectively by all members of the village before the perspective introduced by the missionaries confused the hearts of some of them . The existence of these gods was not totally undermined by them even after. Thus, the reader can deduce from the text that the superstitious nature of the people was not as a result of foolishness but justified by past warnings from their gods.
Thus placing two pens in the hand of Achebe, one for writing arguments against Christianity and the other for writing arguments against worshipping other gods, establishing his narrative as one of an objective nature. In other words, it's not about who represents the culture of our people since some writers are skilled at the task yet lack the knowledge in doing it and there are those who know the culture yet lack that know-how in representing them. It's about how the narrative is presented . In Chinua Achebe Anthills of Savannah, the novel is dialogue driven and arguments on both sides of the truth had been given a fair hearing before the readers. The verdict is then up to the reader. This puts the interpreting lens in the hand of the reader and not the writer. With this in mind, you will agree with me when I say any writer with a good understanding of linguistics , logic and talented deserves the license to represent a people he knows nothing about provided he can use techniques like the one used by Chinua Achebe in structuring his narratives objectively. His only milestone in this sense will be contextualizing the events and actions with it's ambiguities without using interpreters or descriptors that function as interpreters and learning about the language of the people.
I would like to conclude by summarizing the roles of a modern writer as a man with five hands. One for teaching his past and projecting a possible future , the second for representing meaning and himself authentically, another for moderating arguments and planting good ideas while directing thinking, the last two for shaping narratives and representing knowledge or perserving them. The hope of Africa is in how we represent our selves and our knowledge. Not the man who knows of them . For he can only know that which you show him and never the meaning conceded in them. And if knowledge is recycled for the better so must some of our primitive customs if they are counter productive per our vision. Publish Africa today in what you do. The world is waiting to see if what they have heard of it is true.
