A Survey of “New Englishes” in African Literature: A Revisit of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract:

The English language has been used by many African writers to achieve their desired goal of telling their stories to the global audience. One of the earliest African writers to experiment with the English Language in this area was Chinua Achebe, who without any shadow of doubt remains one of the most well-known names not only in African literature but in the entire global literary world. This paper examined Achebe’s use of English Language in Things Fall Apart. It aimed at identifying various language manipulations in the novel and their meanings which reflect the taste and flavour of the African indigenous (Igbo) culture. The evidence provided in the novel justifies Achebe’s position in the domestication of English. Contrary to the debate on whether African literature should be written in African languages or in the imperial languages, this paper concentrated itself on exploring the “Africanness” as manifested in the novel which underscored the rich culture of Africa and deeply portrayed the effective domestication of English in African soil.