Africa at the Internet Archive: Chinua Achebe

Today's book is by one of Africa's most famous authors, Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), the Nigerian novelist. Here is the book, based on a story by John Iroaganachi: How Leopard Got His Claws.

Achebe uses traditional African folktale characters to create a literary fable that is Achebe's commentary on the Nigerian-Biafran War of the late 1960s, and part of the story is a poem, "The Lament of the Deer," written by Achebe's close friend and colleague Christopher Okigbo who died in that war fighting for Biafran independence. You can learn more about the composition of the book and its original publication in 1972 here in a blog post from Ariel Winter (part of a fascinating blog about children's literature).

The edition at the Internet Archive is one that was published in Kenya in 1996 as part of the East African Educational Publishers Sparrow Readers series. This edition of the book is illustrated, but the name of the illustrator is not given:

There is one other book in that Sparrow Readers series at the Internet Archive: Why Dog Left the Forest by Barrack Muluka.

And if you want to find out more about Chinua Achebe, the Internet Archive has many of his books, including Things Fall Apart, as well as books about him: Chinua Achebe at the Internet Archive, and you can find out more about his life and career at Wikipedia. Here's a screenshot showing just a few of the many books by and about Achebe at the Archive:

I am glad that two of these Sparrow Readers have made their way to the Internet Archive, especially the one written by Achebe: both books are just a click away for you to read and enjoy!

How Leopard Got His Claws

by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi

Why Dog Left the Forest

by Barrack Muluka

Africa at the Internet Archive: Cowries and Kobos

Finishing up this week of stories from western Africa, I wanted to be sure to include this fascinating collection that brings together both traditional folktales and literary short stories: Cowries and Kobos: The West African Oral Tale and Short Story edited by Kirsten Holst and Anna Rutherford, just a click away at Internet Archive:

You will find traditional oral tales here about Tortoise, Spider, Dodo and other familiar folk figures, along with literary stories, including stories by Chinua Achebe and Cyprian Ekwenzi among others.

There is a very helpful introductory essay by Donald Consentino that makes some great observations about similarities but also differences between oral tales and written tales, and then each section of the book has its own introduction, with Nigerian folklorist Helen O. Chukwuma providing the introduction to the selection of oral tales. 

This book is very different from most of the other books I've written about (with a few exceptions, like the books by Harold Scheub for example) because the oral stories are credited to specific storytellers in specific performances, as you can see here:

The cover art is by Uche Okeke (1933–2016), a Nigerian artist; you can read more about his work here, which is also the source for this photograph:

The original of that particular etching is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York: Nza the Smart I.

There are profound similarities and also differences between oral and literary traditions, and this book is a great way to think about that specifically in the African context, and then you can take what you learn from these west African traditions and see how that can illuminate your understand of oral and literary traditions around the world!

Cowries and Kobos:

The West African Oral Tale and Short Story

by Kirsten Holst and Anna Rutherford