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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Hawk and eagle: cultural encounters and the philosophy of 'understanding' in Achebe's narratives
Author:Chanda, IpshitaISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora
Volume:9
Issue:2
Pages:101-116
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:images
novels
culture contact
About person:Albert Chinualumogu Achebe (1930-2013)ISNI
Abstract:Chinua Achebe's (Nigeria) work comprises the intertwined stories both of sets of actors and of civilizations enmeshed in the fragile worlds of their own culture, brought to crisis when forced to confront other equally fragile worlds. What does the 'self' do to preserve its integrity when faced with planned violence? How does it engage in a conflict that it has not begun and cannot see the necessity of? With such questions the present author explores the philosophical frames that inform the actions of the people who engage in this conflict, using her own experience as an English-knowing female academic located in a former colony, in order to understand the responses. While problematizing the universality of 'Philosophical' categories received through Western colonial channels, this experience, elucidated by and resonating with texts from Achebe's 'Things fall apart' (New Delhi, 1987) and 'Arrow of God' (London, 1988), opens up the possibility of universality in the 'philosophies' underlying the life practices of people engaged in negotiating cultural encounters. The author argues that the understanding of the other in cultural encounters can be made possible by literature. Ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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