FIRST BOOK: “Things fall apart” BY CHINUA ACHEBE
“Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political and religious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.” credit Penguin Random House.
“With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.” credit Penguin Random House.
Photo credit: Don Hamerman
“Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. His first novel, Things Falls Apart, became a classic of international literature and required reading for students worldwide. He also authored four subsequent novels, two short-story collections, and numerous other books. He was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and, for more than 15 years, was the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College. In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement. He died in 2013.” credit Penguin Random House.
MARCH TƐDOXƐ SUMMARY for ƐƲƐ BOOK CLUB:
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Our mission is to encourage and promote the goodness of the Ewe language and culture.
One way we are doing this is encouraging our people to have intellectual discussions in our mother tongue and coming together to discuss books.
Each month we select a book to read and read a portion of the book each week.
Then we meet each week to discuss that portion of the book.
Our discussions are solely in Ewe but we do offer help if you need help with a word or phrase.
We have completed our first month of the book club with attendees from across the world.
Our attendees included native and fluent ewe speakers who brought their thoughtful perspectives each week, and our attendees also included those interested in improving their fluency in ewe who came to just listen and share what they could. We hope you will join us and invite your family and friends to join us too.
Our book for month 1 was Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
Some of the topics we discussed included:
how the traditions of the Igbo relate to us the Ewes
the strengths and weaknesses of the characters
how some of the issues related in the book relate to our lives today
the role of men and women
the interaction between parents and children
how the colonizers were able to come into the community and turn the people against each other and take the spirit out of the community
what does modern colonization look like today and how do we educate each other to make sure we are not divided and continue to educate our people that we are worthy
Mie kpɔ dzidzɔ le numedrodro nyuie si wo ke míekpɔa gome le, le kwasida ʋee siwo va yi tso Chinua Achebe ƒe Nuwo Gblẽna (Things Fall Apart) ƒe agbalẽa me.
We enjoyed the thoughtful discussion we shared these past few weeks on Chinua Achebe's book Things Fall Apart.
Yevugbe me nya aɖewo siwo do le míaƒe numedzodzroa me si amewo meka ɖe Ɛʋɛ nya si wotsɔ nɛ dzi o la ƒe kpui aɖe le ete.
Below is a summary of the some of the English words that came up during our discussion where people were not sure of the Ɛʋɛ word for it.
Tradition/Culture = dekɔnuwo
context will tell whether the person means tradition or culture
English dictionary definition of tradition: an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (such as a religious practice or a social custom); cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions
English dictionary definition of culture: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or social group
Business = dᴐwᴐna
To control = yeaɖu amedzi -alo- amedziɖuɖu
Front room to welcome guest/Lobby/space or room to welcome guest = akpatame
Vice = nuvɔ
Weakness = gbɔdzɔgbɔdzɔ
Kind = nyo dɔme -alo- dɔmenyonyo
Kind person = ame dɔmenyotɔ -alo- dɔmenyotɔ
Comfort = akɔfafa
Essentially/ultimately/At the end of the day = mlɔeba
The message is (as in ‘the message of the story is’ or ‘the message of the preacher was’ or ‘the message from the speech was’) = gbedeasia nye
Colonizers = anyigbaxorlawo/yevuwo
Outcasts/those who society has exiled= Amesiwo wo ɖe aboyoe (alo) le amewo dome (alo) amesiwo wo ɖe le amewo dome. "outcasts" translates "ame siwo woɖe le eme", "exile" translates "aboyomenɔnɔ", "exiled" is "woɖe aboyoe"; adding "tso amewo gbɔ" or "le amewo dome", insuates that you are being outcast from among the people. "aboyoe" seems to me to be old Ewe and most people today may not understand that word.
Challenge = kplamatsedonu/kuxi (kplamatsedonu is obstacle, while kuxi is trouble, so it depends on which one we see as more fitting)
Simple = ɖagbuie
Ease(y) = bɔbɔe
Proverbs = lododowo
Nuŋlɔɖiwo
Notes: the below are notes about the characters and places
Okonkwo = the main character - ame vevietɔ
Unoka = Okonkwo’s father - Okonkwo fofo
Okoye = Unoka’s neighbor - Unoka ƒe aƒelike
Ikemefuna = the young man brought from Mbaino that is living with Okonkwo - dekakpui si wo kplɔ tso Mbaino vaɖa de Okonkwo gbɔ
Umuofia = the village they live in - kɔƒe si me wole
Mbaino = the neighboring village - kɔƒe si te de wo nu
Ogbuefi Udo = husband of the woman who died in Mbaino - ŋutsu si esrɔ̃a ku le Mbaino
Ogbuefi Ezeugo = the orator of Umuofia - Gatigo fola/Nufola
Nwoye = Okonkwo’s first son - Okonkwo ƒe ŋutsuvi gbãtɔ
Ifejioku = the god of yams - Ete trɔ
Ani = goddess of the earth and of all the lands - Xexeame ƒe trɔ
Ogbuefi Ezeudu = one of the eldest men in Umuofia who warned Okonkwo to never be part of the death of Ikemefuna who had now started treating Okonkwo as his father. Umuofia ƒe amegaxoxowo dometɔ deka si gblɔ na Okonkwo be ye ƒe asi me ga nɔ Ikemefuna, si koe abe efofo ene la wuwu me o.
Ekwefi = Okonkwo’s second wife - Okonkwo srɔ̃a velia
Ezinma = one of Okonkwo’s daughters and the only child of Ekwefi. - Okonkwo ƒe vi nyɔnuviwo dometɔ deka, si nye Ekwefi ƒe videke
Obierika = Okonkwo’s friend introduced in chapter 8 - Okonkwo xɔla siwo de fia le ta enyi lia
Maduka = Obierika’s son - Obierika ƒe (de)vi ŋutsu
Chielo = priestess of Agbala - Agbala trɔ (Agbala Nunɔlanyɔnu)
Ojiugo = Okonkwo’s third wife = Okonkwo srɔ̃a etɔ̃lia
Uchendu = Okonkwo’s uncle (his mother’s brother) = Okonkwo nyrui
Mbanta = the village of Okonkwo’s mother = kɔƒe si me Okonkwo dada tso -alo-Okonkwo Dada'ode