Historical Context
Much of Chinua Achebe's literature was inspired by the events of the Biafran War and by the responses to a war that, for many Igbo writers, was a struggle for survival, a search for a new beginning for Africa, and a redefinition of Balck identity in the context of a complex world behavior. A leading novelist at the time, Chinua Achebe was a pioneer in post-war Igbo literary activities. Achebe maintained
“It is clear to me that an African creative writer who tries to avoid the big social and political issues of contemporary Africa will end up being completely irrelevant --- like the absurd man in the proverb who leaves his burning house to pursue a rat fleeing from the flames.”
Achebe does not hide the fact that the Biafran situation has affected his creativity in no small way.
Read more about this topic: Civil Peace
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or context:
“Whether considered as a doctrine, or as an historical fact, or as a movemement, socialism, if it really remains socialism, cannot be brought into harmony with the dogmas of the Catholic church.... Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are expressions implying a contradiction in terms.”
—Pius XI [Achille Ratti] (1857–1939)
“Among the most valuable but least appreciated experiences parenthood can provide are the opportunities it offers for exploring, reliving, and resolving one’s own childhood problems in the context of one’s relation to one’s child.”
—Bruno Bettelheim (20th century)