The impact of modernization on Africa traditional culture trough Achebe’s “things fall apart”

Bushabu Bope 

p. 49-62

Vol. XX, n°4, sept 2023 

Summary

As shown throughout themes in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, the modern civilization has had a great influence on the African traditional culture. This was noticed in different aspects or domains of Africans everyday life when two colonization’s were put together.

During colonialism in Africa, Europeans possessed attitudes of superiority and imposed their viewpoints of matters upon Africans. Although modernism brought both positive and negative aspects, most cultural values were no longer considered as before. Virginity for example lost its consideration. It is no longer considered as value among people.

That is the reason why Achebe has called the modernism as a knife on Africans. In this sense, the coming of white men made Umuofia, one of the Nigerian villages fall apart. The colonizers imposed their way of marrying, of worshipping, of doing everything as superior to the Africans’. As for as religion is concerned, the new monotheist and more peaceful religion brought huge changes in some of Africans’ most important traditions.

The white men subjected the villagers to their own judicial system and rules, imposing an extremely different and harsh government over them. Since they did not respect nor understand the clan’s customs, many men were punished for following their uncivilized traditions.

Faced to all these situations, Africans were divided into two groups: some who accept the white civilization and others who rejected this new system of life. Before such a situation Achebe Chinua concluded that things had fallen apart.

Introduction

From his first appearance as novelist, Chinua Achebe is said to be the father of modern African literature who inspired generations of writers across the continent.

Throughout this article, we have concentrated on the analysis of the themes found in the novel “Things fall Apart”, Thus it deals with several themes among which we have selected some. Hence through these pages, we want to show how, throughout the themes in the novel, the modernization has impacted on the African traditional culture.

1. African traditional culture

The culture of Africa is varied and manifold, consisting of a mixture of countries with tribes that each has its own unique characteristics from the continent of Africa. It is a product of diverse populations that today inhabit the continent of Africa and the African Diaspora.

African culture is expressed in its arts and crafts folklore and religions clothing, cuisine music and languages expressions of culture are abundant within Africa, with large amounts of cultural diversity being found not across different countries but also within single countries.

Even though African cultures are widely diverse, it is also, when closely studied, seem to have many similarities. For example, the moral they uphold, their love and respect for their culture as well as the strong respect they hold for the aged and the important, i.e kings and chiefs.

Africa has influenced and been influenced by other continents. This can be portrayed in the willingness to adapt rooted to their statistic culture. The westernized few, persuaded by European culture and Christianity, first denied African traditional culture, but with the increase of African nationalism, a cultural recovery occurred.  The governments of most African nations encourage national dance and music groups, museums, and to a lower degree, artist, and writers.

Africa is divided into a great number of ethnic cultures. The continents cultural aspect of post-independence nation building on the continent, with recognition of the needs to harness the cultural resources of Africa to enrich the process of education, requiring the creation of an enabling environment in several ways. In recent times, the call for a much greater emphasis on the cultural dimension in all aspects of development has become increasingly vocal.

During the roman colonization of West Africa, (parts of Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and the whole of Tunisia) provinces such as Tripolitania became major producers of food for the republic and the empire; this generated much wealth in these places for 400 years of occupation.

During colonialism in Africa, Europeans possessed attitudes of superiority and a sense of mission. The French were able to accept an African as French if that person gave up their African culture and adopted French ways. Knowledge of the Portuguese language and culture and abandonment of traditional African ways defined one as civilized.

The culture of people is what marks then out distinctively from others human societies in the family of humanity. The full study of culture in all its vastness and dimensions belongs to the discipline known as anthropology, which studies human being and takes time to examine their characteristics and their relationship to the extent that it marks them out from other people’s language dressing, music, work, arts, religion, dancing and so on. It also goes on to include a people’s social norms, taboos, and values here are to be understood as beliefs that are held about what is right and wrong and what is important in life.

A fuller study of values rightly belongs to the discipline of philosophy. Axiology as a branch of philosophy deals with values embracing both ethics and aesthetics. Therefore, philosophical appraisal of African culture and values is not only apt and timely, but also appropriate.

Moreover, the centrality of the places of values in African culture as heritage that is passed down from one generation to another will be heighted. We shall try to illustrate that African culture and values which can be appraised from many dimensions in addition to examining the method of change and the problem of adjustment in culture. Here, we hope to show that while positive dimension of our culture ought to be practiced and passed on to succeeding generation, negative dimensions to promote a more progressive and dynamic society: Gabriel e. Idang department of philosophy; University of Uyo, akwa Ibo, state, Nigeria Gabriel Idang yahoo.com.

In this article, we shall be dealing with African culture and drawing examples from Nigerian culture. It is true that it is based on the consideration of culture as that which makes a people out from others, group’s one can rightly say that there are many cultures in Africa. Africa is inhabited by various ethnic nationalities with their different languages, modes of dressing, dancing and even greeting habits. But despite various cultures, Africans share some dominant traits in their belief systems and have similar values that mark then out from other peoples of the world. A Nigerian culture for instance, would be to the oriental culture of Europe. It is true that culture is universal and that each local or regional manifestation of it is unique.

This element of uniqueness in every culture is often described as cultural variation. The cultures of traditional African societies, together with their value systems and beliefs are close, even though they are very slightly from another.

These slight variations only exist when we compare an African culture with others.

Certainly, African cultures differ vastly from the cultures of other regions or continents.  And we believe there is no need to over labor this point since there are sufficient similarities.

2. Modernism

The African novel and the modernist tradition challenges from a literary perspective the general thinking that European and African is uniquely different from what is Africa. The book examines key African novels side by side with British and American modernist novels.

Meanwhile modernism brought both positive and negative aspects in Nigeria and generally in Africa. Virginity for example is no longer considered as a value among Ibos whereas it was an interesting and a stand-up condition before marriage. Both boys and girls, parents no longer impose a suitor and a bride to their children because of modernism, so marriage is not seen as a family affair it gives birth to a strong individualism which is a negative aspect since it crazes on important African value which is solidarity considered as African socialism. There is of course a validity of African tradition in modernism, and this later should meet with African traditionalism to have a mixture of the two different cultures which give birth to modernism.

Modernism is briefly the fact of giving a new criterion and a new characteristic to something or to someone.

3. White Men imposition

Chinua Achebe discusses how the coming of the white men makes Umuofia “fall apart”. This can be clearly seen when Achebe writes “They have come, they have put knife on us, we have collapsed, and we have fallen apart (P.685); making reference to the religious, economic, political and social impact of the British culture on the traditions of the clan. As the novel opens, we get to know Umuofia one of Igbo’s nine villages, as on organized, but somehow different civilization Chinua Achebe portrays life in this village as rough and harsh, conveying to the readers that only brave men would succeed in it. As said before, even though, these civilizations are stereotyped and seen as primitive, we can clearly see that their lives are completely balanced between faith and order.

It is astonishing to see how such a different way of life, to what we think and see as the normal life, may be as much or even more organized than ours. Even though these two civilizations are completely organized and function perfectly well, they could never live together in harmony. One would end up consuming the other as they were not meant to coexist only mixture of some positive points as possible. We may think we are educating and helping “uncivilized men” but we are actually disintegrating their beliefs, their organization, their politics and their language. We are not aiding them but destroying their religion and their society. We are in other words, banishing their culture, a culture that will be lost forever.

Hence, we may say, that in many ways the coming of white men made Umuofia “fall apart”. To begin with the coming of white men made Umuofia fell apart as their religion was greatly affected. The village of Umuofia was sustained by their beliefs and their gods, who were not worthy of worshipping them. Therefore, the coming of a new monotheist and more peaceful religion brought huge changes in some of Umuofia’s most important traditions.

These white men questioned most of Umuofia’s beliefs such as the dangers that inhabited the evil forest by setting their livings there. This first action brought great controversy in their forest for a certain period would painfully die. The resistance these white men showed to that “Evil force” led many people to get interested to the new religion. People suddenly began questioning their own beliefs and traditions, questioning why they should venerate gods who were bound to punish, and not one god who was merciful towards humanity.

The village divided into those who remained steadfast to their traditions, and those who began to adopt the new ones. So, the village has fallen apart strongly.

Society completely turned over after these events. Those who turned into Christianity were seen as the elite of the society. The clan was getting weaker and weaker every day as more and more people turned into Christianity conversion.

The rime soon come that the clans nine had not enough forces to control the missionaries they should have reacted before, but only the exiled Okonkwo was brave enough to face the white men.

Hence, we may conclude that the imposition of a new religion severely damages the village by, splitting it in two, reducing their forces and their false. Summarizing this, it massively weakened the most powerful and feared clan of the nine villages. Economically, Umuofia was also affected by the arrival of white men.

Hilherto, Umuofia had presented us hierarchical society, were men who sowed to be brave, hard workers and strong enough, occupied the highest places in society, while lazy and unmanly men were found at the button of the pyramid.

Since the missionaries arrived, things turned around, the lazy and humble men who decided to accept and worship the new God began to get richer and richer, while the hard worker farmers were left behind. Money began circulating in the tribe but only those who turned into Christianity had it.

Hence, no one interested in trading, and so farmers were getting poorer every day. We may say that Umuofia was not destroyed economically but it was greatly affected, some suffered a lot of it, but some others were benefited by these changes. The arrival of the white men also led to massive changes in village’s politics.

They subjected the villagers to their own judicial system and rules, imposing an extremely different and harsh government over them. As white men did not respect nor understand the clan’s customs, many men were punished for following their “uncivilized” traditions.

In chapter twenty-one Okonkwo discusses with Obierika about ancto, who was recently hanged by the government after he killed a man with whom he had a dispute. Clearly the new ruling system did not consider old customs. It is completely correct, to punish a murderer, or any kind of criminal, but by doing so we are destroying their customs and their traditions. However, when two civilizations come across or in contact, the stronger dominates the weaker.

When Enoch unmasked an Egwugwu, considered to the highest possible crime in Umuofia, the church did nothing, once more; they did not respect their customs. Unmasking an Egwugwu in Umuofia is much or even harsher than killing a man is for the white men, it can only be compared with killing a god. Once again, the new government does not punish this event. This is a great example of know, Umuofia was left weak and subjected to the white men ruling we can see now, that they are not strong to make Umuofia a more civilized village, but a more British one.

Hence, we may conclude that by imposing a new government that ignores their customs, the coming of the white men made Umuofia fall apart. Finally, Umuofia also fell apart because of the arrival of the white men.

The newcomers introduced their school, which taught their own rules, their beliefs, and their cultures. They educated younger villages a way that they could later control them more easily.

They were kind of brain washed to believe and trust whatever they do. Education is not bad, of course, but they were not educating them to be better and more intelligent villagers, however they were educating them to be other persons, persons able to read and count but not to create, to invent in industries or manufactures.

They changed their minds; young boys were dragged act of farming into the school. In other words, they were dragged out of their lives, from whom they really are. Another cultural change imposed by the white men was hospitals. We cannot say that is something bad, but that is not how Umuofia is. When we say that it “fell apart”, we are not actually saying very thing went wrong for them, or all changes were bad. Some, like the introduction of hospitals in the tribe were a massive improvement. Indeed, some of the politics imposed tried to make Umuofia a “safer” place, where killing was punished and leaving twins in the forest to die is seen as an abomination.

That is perfectly fine, they may be improving in some ways their lives, but their culture the old traditions, their beliefs, and everything was lost. Everything Umuofia was suddenly banished. Everything is represented; their gods, their traditions, and their culture were destroyed. Nobody left to respect them. Only memories were left of Okonkwo, Umuofia, and their old lives. Everything Umuofia was… fallen apart.

4. Education

Not all members of the Igbo clan in Umuofia dislike the changes taking place. The Europeans are bringing wealth to the village as they begin to export palm-oil and palm nut kernels.

The white missionary Mr Brown takes time to learn about the Igbo form of the elders of the clan.  The two men debate the forms, actions, and attitudes of their respective gods. Mr Brown restrains overeager members of his church from provoking villagers who cling to the old Mays. Through his gentle patience, Mr Brown becomes friends with some of the clan leaders, who begin to listen and understand his message.

He urges the people of the clan to send their children to his school. He tells them that education is the key to maintaining control of their land. Eventually, people of all ages begin to listen to his message and attend his school. Mr Brown’s crusade gains power for the Whites and for the church, but his diligence takes its toll on his health. He is forced to leave his congregation and return home.

Before Mr Brown returns home, he visits Okonkwo to tell him that Nyoye now called Isaac has been sent to a teaching college in a distant town. Okonkwo drives the missionary out and orders him never return.

Everything about the changed community of Umuofia displaces Okonkwo. His homecoming was not what he had hoped. No one really took much of his arrival. He cannot even proceed with the ceremonies for his sons because the rights are held only once every three years, and this year is not one of them. The dissolution of the old way of life saddens him as he sees the once fierce Umuofia’s becoming more and more “soft like women”. He mourns for the clan, which he sows breaking up and falling apart, a phrase that again recalls the book’s title.

In this, a third institution is established by the British in Umuofia trade with the outside world. The European buy palm oil and palm kernel from the Igbo at a high price, and many Umuofia’s welcome the new trading opportunities, tough these activities are effectively mining the clan and its self-sufficiency. Through narrative that gradually introduces these keys outside influences-religion, government, and commerce. Achebe shows to welcome them despite their disruption of daily life and customs.

Indeed, the British seem to provide advantages lacking in Umuofian culture. The established members of the village welcome new opportunities for wealth. At the other ends of the social scale, the disenfranchised members of Igbo society fiend acceptance in Christianity that they did not experience in the-called old ways. Mr Brown builds a school and a much-needed small hospital in Umuofia; both institutions produce immediate and impressive results.

5. Religion

The dominant theme of “Things Fall Apart” centers on the conflict involving customary Igbo culture and the traditions and beliefs of the settlers. Achebe wrote the work of fiction in English integrated into the text a rhythm that suggested the logic of African verbal narration.

He further employed customary African imagery like palm-oil, Igbo traditional axioms and the harmattan (an African dust-leaded breeze). To demonstrate the variance between the two societies, Chinua illustrated habitual Christian signs and then explained the tribe divergent responses to them. For example, Christian’s view locusts as a sign of ruin and devastation, whereas the Umuofians celebrate their arrival, since they are a basis of provisions. The onset of the locusts comes immediately prior to the appearance of the missionaries in the narrative.

The theme of religion causes social degermation in the novel. Near the conclusion of the book, we observe the occasions when Igbo culture starts to disintegrate. Religion is endangered as Umuofia mislay its independence. Religion is endangered as Umuofia mislays its independence, and the more excruciating for the reader since a lot of time has been used up in a compassionate account of Igbo people; the reader understands that he has been study a lifestyle that is so more existent.

Mostly, given that one of the intimidations to Igbo culture is the arrival of the new faith. Ethnic belief is a subject of some significance. Igbo spiritual values elucidate and give significance to humanity. The religion is as well inextricable from community and political organizations. Moreover, Achebe explains that Igbo sacred powers, like the oracle appear to hold mysterious meaning. He digs into the issue of Igbo religion with speculative intelligence (Diana 65).

Achebe, furthermore, expresses a favor of customary African society in the 1800’s. However, regardless of this, it looks like the disaster of Okonkwo symbolizes the theme of the story. Most of Achebe’s assertions are not restricted to the proceedings in his narrative, but recount the circumstances, in which conventional ideals are questioned and natives from diverse societies meet, the most insightful influence being linked to the subject of religion and integrity.

Like any superior religion, the Igbo belief comes with various fallacies. The person they call chi might be an individual section of the Supreme Being, exceptional for every person. It verifies a great deal of individual’s achievements and personality: “when a man says yes his chi says yes also” (Achebe 19). Nevertheless, all together, a person does not defy his chi; the Igbo people believe that the wickless committed by a person can destroy the entire tribe. The earth deity whom the person insults might decline to give them harvests, and they will eventually perish (Achebe 22).

This is specifically what EZEANI tells Okonkwo in reaction to his dispute in opposition to his chi, by whipping in the wok tranquility. This Okonkwo turns out to be an example of a man defying his chi. His hopeless aspiration to challenge his chi does not allow him to go past disappointment, devastation, and demise. Chi is, all together, a fate and an inner dedication that cannot be rejected and harmless god called “CHUKW”, a supreme being.

6. Impact of modernization on African traditional culture

In the novel “Things Fall Apart”, the effects of colonialism were extremely evident in the Igbo society. As the white Englanders moved into the native’s land, their cultural values changed. Examples of these changes were evident in all aspects of the Igbo people’s lives, in their religion, family life, children, and the dead. Many of the Iberians were upset by the colonialism of their society, but in the end, they were completely incapable of doing anything to reverse the changes that had already taken place in their society.

As the English began to colonize the Igbo society, there were few natives who opposed it, the others just felt that the English would come and go, but they were wrong. Soon, the English began to introduce “white man’s religion”. This new religion was completely the opposite from what the natives were accustomed to. Christianity was rather intriguing to many of the native s and many of them turned away from their families and everything they were to become a member of this new religion.

Before this, their natives had been very superstitions, but as the new flooded over the peoples, their Superstitions City began to lessen and their belief in the many gods they had previously believed in. Also, as many of the natives ran to the new Christian faith, many family bonds were broken. Before colonialism took place, family was an important thing in the Igbo society.

It was often that a man would give his son away for any reason, but because of the English coming in and teaching a new faith, many families were forced to give up their sons, daughters and even some men were forced to give up their waves. The new religion also affected the way certain customs took place in the Igbo society. An example would be when once of the newly converted Christians killed the highly honored snake. In my opinion, the biggest affect that colonialism on dead and infants were treated.

In the traditional society, those who killed themselves were thrown into the evil forest, as were twins and children who died at young ages.

Chinua Achebe’s widely acclaimed novel, “Things Fall Apart”, takes a post-colonial look at the social and cultural consequences of arriving European missionaries to Africa and specifically Nigeria in the novel.

His novel is widely considered to be a response to Joseph Conrad’s heart of darkness, which takes a European or imperialist perspective on the same issue. In this book Achebe explores the tragedy that takes place, contradicts the stereotypes set forth by Conrad’s heart of darkness, and takes back Africa from Conrad. The novel takes place a pre-colonial Nigeria where the protagonist, Okonkwo, is the head the Umuofia clan, a Nigerian tribe. Okonkwo is described as a strong, hard-working, and courageous warrior who is obsessed with his masculinity. While his father, also a chief, is described as a cowardly and loan unpaid and died in disgrace. To escape his father’s reputation as a coward and weak leader, Okonkwa often makes tragic mistakes to prove his lack of masculinity.

As the novel progresses, European missionaries come his Nigerian village to convert his villages to Christianity. Tensions develop and through a missionary misguide effort to talk to a village woman; he kills an ancestral spirit by unmasking here Gwugwu. The villager retaliates by burning the missionary’s hut. The district commissioner then responds by arresting he elders of the Umuofia clan.

Finally, once they are released, the elders and Okonkwo hold a meeting to discuss their course action until suddenly court messengers come and tell the elders to desist from meeting. Okonkwo impulsively kills one of the messengers in his anger. He realizes that he has made a tragic mistake because his clan is not willing to go to war with the Europeans missionaries. Okonkwo decides the only solution to the quandary he has put himself in is to commit suicide. (Okonkwo commits suicide because he loses his place as a man in his culture).

Throughout the novel, a Marxist approach can be taken to observe the social and cultural consequences of colonialism by examining the pre- and post-colonial Igbo tribe.

Conclusion

In fact, African traditional life was more and more influenced by the cross culture since the so-said strongest, i.e western imposed itself on the weakest i.e African traditional culture creating mutatis-mutandis changes some are negatives and other positives bringing a new horizon seen as modernization, creating a break to its counterpart the traditional culture on the bases of education, religion, and the like.

We are brought to confirm that Chinua Achebe has not turned his back on his culture on one hand, and that he has faced up to the problem of daily life and sought solutions for them in any form he could, on the other hand.

Although Achebe has largely spoke about Ibos and other people in Nigeria, in reading the novel, we were interested by the facts that the themes treated in are of course the nowadays problems encountered in Africa, and which need comments since they are some in other African countries.

Modernism is one of the most attractive movements and ideologies which influenced and are still influencing the back people of Africa faced to traditionalism. There is then a mixture of both modernism and traditionalism today. Traditionalism and modernism need a kind of unity to be prosperous. One must keep in mind that westernization is not the synonym of modernism.

This is what Chinua wanted to tell us in “Things Fall Apart”; because during colonization white men did all their best to dominate black Africans. That fact originated the loss of African values, so for Achebe’s things have fallen apart. By itself, modernism is not bad if it is seen as entire mixture of both African and western positive values. Unfortunately, modernism taken can be bad when it destroys even good African values.

Last bund least, our analysis of this impact through the article in your hands is not exhaustive, since it is a human being work, but we think it to be a guideline that gives hurts to the eventual researchers. 

References

1. Achebe Chinua (1962). Things Fall Apart, London.

2. Achebe Chinua (1988). Anthills of the Savannah, London cavage place, Heinemann.

3. Jess Stein (1978). The Random House Dictionary, New York.