Postcolonialism and Political Discourse in Chinua Achebe's Tetralogy

The Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe, is an outstanding figure in modern

African literature whose works can be taken as an early literary attempt to

move toward de-colonization. What distinguishes Achebe's novels is the way

he relies on notions of 'Otherness' and 'hybridity' in constructing his

alternative non-Eurocentric discourse. Achebe provides an alternative

discourse which depicts not only an authentic picture of native African life in

all of its complexity, but also develops dynamic native characters. These real-life

black characters grapple with existential conflicts; they also contemplate

and reflect on what has been affecting their pre-colonial African identity.

Through a study of four novels, Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow

of God, and A Man of People, this work investigates how Achebe constructs

this alternative discourse; a discourse which successfully provides voices

through which the colonized can speak. This enables the reader to better

understand their world and what they have confronted because of

colonization. As each novel focuses on a different colonial or postcolonial

phase in Nigeria and as Achebe has made use of different discursive

strategies in each of them, characterizing them as a tetralogy and studying

them together provides a vivid and comprehensive analysis of Achebe's

discourse. This also reveals what his novels seek to mirror about the hybridity

of Nigerian identity and the struggles faced by the colonized in contending

with 'otherness' and difference.