Chinua Achebe Interview (1964)

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  • Опубликовано: 5 май 2020
  • Author Chinua Achebe is interviewed by Lewis Nkosi and Wole Soyinka on his two novels "Things Fall Apart " and "No Longer At Ease".
    #blackwitersmatter

Комментарии • 709

  • @AfroMarxist
    @AfroMarxist  4 года назад +91

    Hey everyone, my favourite youtube channel @booksbyleynes did an excellent book review for the "The African Trilogy" by Chinua Achebe you can check it out here: ruclips.net/video/7v8Br8Xqah4/видео.html

    • @randomserb761
      @randomserb761 4 года назад +8

      I wholeheartedly recommend these books to everyone! With regard to length and style, they are very digestible and pleasant, even deceptively so; you will be surprised at the scope of their historical and literary content.

    • @DIZZLEBOI44
      @DIZZLEBOI44 4 года назад +4

      Glad I found this. My dad sent this to me and I am flawed with great virtuosity and awe with this giant

    • @baruasafi5880
      @baruasafi5880 3 года назад

      Thank you very much.

    • @vuyanisamela7882
      @vuyanisamela7882 3 года назад

      I hmm andnn
      J
      in. u
      Most
      The ..nu
      M.

    • @vuyanisamela7882
      @vuyanisamela7882 3 года назад

      I hmm andnn
      J
      in. u
      Most
      The ..nu
      Mu
      M.

  • @juba9575
    @juba9575 4 года назад +232

    Really love this, no rivalry, no bravado, no fake accent. Just 3 intellectually sound African legends.

    • @jobokeno8490
      @jobokeno8490 4 года назад +5

      I thought the three legends: Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Nkosi hailed from Nigeria?

    • @Chigo-nr8jg
      @Chigo-nr8jg 4 года назад +6

      Job Okeno Nkosi is South African

    • @eddieokojie5425
      @eddieokojie5425 3 года назад

      Yes. Intelligent observation. And, absolutely no need for such pettiness!

    • @bayekofsiwa365
      @bayekofsiwa365 3 года назад +9

      There's absolutely no need to be judgemental about people's accents. Chimamanda is an igbo woman and a modern day writer. She doesn't speak English like the average igbo person with very strong accents who doesn't have a similar literary and educational background. It is not uncommon for a German international who lives and works for decades in an English speaking nation to speak the language indistinguishably from a native speaker. Even Americans polish their southern accent depending on their profession. British people who live in America eventually "lose" their accent. The way a person speaks, just like dress, is often an indicator of one's socioeconomic status. You don't see supreme court judges with tattoos on their necks, piercings on their bodies and baggy shorts.
      Of course I'm not talking about Igwe Tupac's "naaaamean? naamsaying?" accent.

    • @zippy3253
      @zippy3253 3 года назад +2

      @@bayekofsiwa365 nobody is condemning anybody for having an accent. The problem is forcing a fake accent to fit in. An accent like you said can tell a lot about a person and there is no need to hide it.

  • @prodigyandpenstv980
    @prodigyandpenstv980 4 года назад +264

    Achebe, Nkosi, Soyinka. Three legends in one go

    • @ntatemohlomi2884
      @ntatemohlomi2884 4 года назад +1

      Oh the indulgence is a bit overwhelming.

    • @MacSharps
      @MacSharps 4 года назад +9

      Mr. Nkosi Lewis, He is a South African writer too.... The three of them are Writers, Literature Executives....

  • @alfredphillips08
    @alfredphillips08 4 года назад +212

    Two Nigerian legends, and a south African legend. I am blessed today to see this interview.

  • @batosamlam2321
    @batosamlam2321 4 года назад +122

    Things fall Apart is arguably the greatest African literature work ever. Achebe was a man way ahead of his time.
    I keep asking myself how could God have blessed this country with the likes of Achebe and Soyinka as far back as 1960's and yet in 2020 we are coping with a leader who can hardly read one sentence without a mistake, Nigerian's clock is running backward.

    • @omobanedonaija6966
      @omobanedonaija6966 4 года назад +9

      My brother, I am feeling the way you feel. Now, we have the most dumbbell as head of Nigerian government, hausa-fulani nama, nama as head of great Nigeria! No wonder the country is so corrupt.

    • @yakubusuleiman1385
      @yakubusuleiman1385 4 года назад +3

      What a great models of literature.

    • @stephenmwale252
      @stephenmwale252 4 года назад +3

      African legends whose contributions to the enrichment of the English language was beyond that of an average White man.

    • @victoronuko8226
      @victoronuko8226 4 года назад +12

      @@stephenmwale252 am a Kenyan citizen, this men were beyond special. Just brilliant. A Man of The People was my set book way back in 2005. Africa we are so blessed.

    • @abimbolatevi8533
      @abimbolatevi8533 4 года назад +1

      Awake Nigeria!!!!

  • @adumichael2324
    @adumichael2324 2 года назад +50

    Even from a young age, these people were great intellectuals

    • @lillianodhiambo2575
      @lillianodhiambo2575 Год назад

      True! at the time of the interview these gentlemen were hardly 25

    • @davidnfila1316
      @davidnfila1316 Год назад +1

      Listening to them I wonder how much more Africa has lost!!

  • @olivermashaguri6679
    @olivermashaguri6679 4 года назад +221

    Read his books in literature classes in 1980's secondary education. In fact I have a copy of "Things Fall Apart" I read it again and again! Cheers from Tanzania.

    • @respjames590
      @respjames590 4 года назад +9

      Oliver Mashaguri, I think Chinua's Things Fall Apart has had a profound influence on me! The plot is fascinating with life-like characters. Achebe was an extremely talented novelist. Unfortunately he didn't win a Nobel Prize!

    • @DARELASISI
      @DARELASISI 3 года назад +3

      @@respjames590 Chinua AcheBEST, Foremost African Storyteller!

    • @ibnmohammedali2416
      @ibnmohammedali2416 3 года назад

      @@respjames590
      But was Already recognize

    • @francisnwadike9505
      @francisnwadike9505 3 года назад +3

      @@respjames590 he didn't won it because he is telling African to tell there story and white are not buying it and not what the want to hear

    • @miguelsvisuals-q9s
      @miguelsvisuals-q9s Год назад

      The book is my Forte

  • @bestude1298
    @bestude1298 4 года назад +112

    What we lack now in our today African societies are patriots. People who understand that the image of their society has to be protected at all time and at all cost. People that are willing and able to make the required sacrifice. Listening to Mr. Achebe narrating why he decided to turn down his studies in Medicine to pursue literature says it all. He understood that no one can tell our stories better than us who live it. The fact that Mr. Johnson wrote a book about the Nigerian society in which he did not have first-hand experience in, was enough to make Mr. Achebe mad, and to him, that needed to be challenged. That's pure patriotism. Until the African child understands that we as individuals are Africa, and we need to strive in anyway possible to lift our individual image, others will keep telling our stories without living in our skins.

    • @kjohn5224
      @kjohn5224 4 года назад +2

      Well yeah that's what you get after being suppressed for so long, no one remembers the things in the past that most cultures look to for pride and reassurance.

    • @louisotieno4712
      @louisotieno4712 4 года назад +3

      60-70% of Africans are Europeans in Black skin... Colonial mentality still messing us up.

    • @emmanueloluga9770
      @emmanueloluga9770 3 года назад +1

      Best comment on here. Sacrifice and responsibility is so Paramount

    • @opaciisaacbata5379
      @opaciisaacbata5379 3 года назад +1

      What will annoy most is that moment when an African child is asked about his/her idea of colonization, and he or she would prefer to be Recolonized!!!
      The current generation has a hard task to Tame Tomorrow, otherwise all will end in tears again.
      The good thing is, we are fortunate that some people started it Long Time ago! All we need to do, is to better it and make it more active and more Practice, and it starts with Me!
      Hail Africa Hail Motherland
      🇺🇬🇺🇬🇺🇬

    • @davidchiazor
      @davidchiazor 2 года назад

      Well said

  • @KG-ms3ji
    @KG-ms3ji 4 года назад +223

    The first novel I read of Achebe was 'The man of the people'. Even as a Nepali, a world apart from Nigeria, it was astonishing how much I could relate to the characters. One of my favourite writers.

    • @victoronuko8226
      @victoronuko8226 4 года назад +15

      Exactly, that was my set book in secondary school back in 2005. Hopefully you remember Chief Nanga and the great Odili.

    • @KG-ms3ji
      @KG-ms3ji 4 года назад +21

      @@victoronuko8226 i read it when I was 14. I am 28 now. I am a bit hazy on the details but I distinctly remember how it made me feel. And how it made me feel so connected to a country and its people who I would never meet or visit. Sign of a great writer.
      P.S. i made a few Nigerian friends when I lived in Europe. Wonderful people and wonderful mates.

    • @victoronuko8226
      @victoronuko8226 4 года назад +3

      @@KG-ms3ji that is powerful.

    • @andyevangel7138
      @andyevangel7138 4 года назад +6

      @@KG-ms3ji great works of art have that effect.It is able to make the intangible tangible.Achebe lives on!

    • @paulosamo1209
      @paulosamo1209 4 года назад +1

      @@victoronuko8226 my dear we in the same boat. I also sat for my fourth form in 2005

  • @johnmgbor6631
    @johnmgbor6631 4 года назад +380

    These guys are having a conversation. Notice the absence of notes and pappers to reference. Pure intelligence.

    • @taofeekajibade
      @taofeekajibade 4 года назад +17

      Very good observation...👍

    • @truthseeker906
      @truthseeker906 4 года назад +4

      Interesting how they said, "Negro." That was years before the adoption of the term, "African American."

    • @Meso504
      @Meso504 4 года назад +10

      @@truthseeker906 the name for Black people in America has changed throughout the centuries. Although I think African American is the most accurate refinement of our ethnic description.

    • @catinamiller1934
      @catinamiller1934 4 года назад +2

      Please research these and then research some more then decide. I'm a person of color and former lifetime Democrat. The democrats and the so called Elite has sold out HUMANITY to protect their masters. Covid19 didn't go as planned so now they're trying to start a RACE WAR. ruclips.net/video/KAb-zae5yS8/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/T61Kkf0GiIE/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/YRqEscW7IPw/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/dDE0cf0f7f8/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/14Z5i701kCs/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/5w-SUMXvOCQ/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/XbTv-POOKGQ/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/BBQzceo3u3w/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/quChsTxHO6M/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/E_Mj7rqeMzI/видео.html

    • @Chigo-nr8jg
      @Chigo-nr8jg 4 года назад +2

      Truth Seeker they don’t say African American because they weren’t African Americans

  • @iteachphysics8765
    @iteachphysics8765 3 года назад +122

    We read that novel "Things Fall Apart" in the Caribbean secondary school system.

    • @uzoejekwumadu7731
      @uzoejekwumadu7731 3 года назад +7

      Always a reference book. The Bible of African literature and pristine culture.

    • @ongeri
      @ongeri 3 года назад +5

      It was also a setbook in Kenya at some point.

    • @bwanawemujungle2947
      @bwanawemujungle2947 Год назад

      Many African countries on the General Certificate of Education aka 'O' Level Literature.

  • @hyginusanyaoha3553
    @hyginusanyaoha3553 3 года назад +32

    Achebe, a soft spoken being with powerful writing spirit. You won't believe that this guy speaking so light, depicted a lion in his book "Things Fall Apart" and represent African prophet through books. Kudos legend. I dream to writing like you.

  • @elizabethodoi8024
    @elizabethodoi8024 4 года назад +112

    African social thought should be taught at all levels of education in Africa, we are in Africa yet we keep relying on western stuff

    • @catinamiller1934
      @catinamiller1934 4 года назад +4

      Yeah it should if taught correctly. People we have been PLAYED. I'm person of color a former Democrat until now. The democrats and the so called Elite has sold humanity OUT to protect their masters. Covid19 didn't go as planned so now they're trying to start a RACE WAR. Please research these and do more research then decide. ruclips.net/video/KAb-zae5yS8/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/T61Kkf0GiIE/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/E_Mj7rqeMzI/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/quChsTxHO6M/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/BBQzceo3u3w/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/YRqEscW7IPw/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/dDE0cf0f7f8/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/14Z5i701kCs/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/5w-SUMXvOCQ/видео.html. And. ruclips.net/video/XbTv-POOKGQ/видео.html

    • @catinamiller1934
      @catinamiller1934 4 года назад

      @@vg1024 ok and your point is?

    • @catinamiller1934
      @catinamiller1934 4 года назад

      @@vg1024 this is world wide these people are trying to depopulate .

    • @laurenswanya9780
      @laurenswanya9780 4 года назад +1

      Speak for yourself, in my country the set books we read in high school are all African literature,here in kenya.in my day we read a man of the people and things fall apart

    • @mildredmugisha7158
      @mildredmugisha7158 3 года назад

      It's mind boggling!🤔

  • @Longest26
    @Longest26 3 года назад +41

    "Okonkwo! do not participate in the killing of that boy(Ikemefuna). That boy calls you father".

  • @worried9755
    @worried9755 4 года назад +82

    Pure gold. This was age of innocence, pure heart. These were great men even at such a young age. What a shame that their ideas didn't shape our journey as a nature.

    • @andyevangel7138
      @andyevangel7138 4 года назад +1

      True this

    • @halidsheriff8002
      @halidsheriff8002 3 года назад +5

      The idea was really set but the journey was truncated by inimical foes that conglomerated as Boko Haram in Nigeria.

  • @trommelbiel
    @trommelbiel 3 года назад +22

    This man understands Igbo culture a lot. He used to be the chancellor of my university and there were no smartphones in those days.

  • @chemekateddy2082
    @chemekateddy2082 4 года назад +58

    The enlightenment, the awareness of their art and craft. Soyinka's way of speaking has stayed with him till today.

  • @ifeanyiokechukwu212
    @ifeanyiokechukwu212 3 года назад +35

    Achebe was 34 here and Soyinka 30.....ICONS and Legends.

    • @Mfundo324
      @Mfundo324 3 года назад +5

      Nkosi was 28. Legends indeed

    • @chineduokigbo5010
      @chineduokigbo5010 3 года назад +3

      @@Mfundo324 is Nkosi by any means a relative of yours? You must be really proud...

    • @Mfundo324
      @Mfundo324 3 года назад +3

      @@chineduokigbo5010 No, it's same surname but I feel like he's my older uncle. I've followed his work. I'm impressed by how they rose to the occasion despite the challenges.
      Thanks brother 👋

    • @godsonuruakpa4238
      @godsonuruakpa4238 Год назад +1

      Great men but the system they found themselves didn't allow them to explore in all ramifications.

  • @adeolapeter4031
    @adeolapeter4031 3 года назад +15

    i am so speechless..I NEVER NEW HE WAS SO YOUNG WHEN HE WROTE THAT EVERGREEN BOOK....NIGERIAN YOUTHS WHERE HAS NIGERIA PUSHED US TODAY?

  • @adedejiadewale4662
    @adedejiadewale4662 4 года назад +111

    "He whose palm kernel was cracked by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble" Chinua Achebe
    Wole Soyinka's vocabulary is top notch.

    • @obinnaokoro6619
      @obinnaokoro6619 4 года назад +8

      His diction is excellent, too. A most intelligent man.

    • @wilsonforex3290
      @wilsonforex3290 3 года назад +1

      Truly

    • @eddieokojie5425
      @eddieokojie5425 3 года назад +6

      These are literary gurus virtually in their prime. If you think back, you’ll be astounded about the physical and mental energy bubbling in youth between the ages of 18 to 40.
      It’s unbelievable the energy and confidence exuded at that period. And that’s why it’s painful to see our youth wast in Africa, especially Nigeria.

    • @speaktruth3612
      @speaktruth3612 11 месяцев назад +1

      ​@obinnaokoro6619 good diction or vocabulary in English language does not Qualify a human being as intelligent, maybe intellectual, English like any other language is a language. pronunciation of the English words is not a measure of human intelligence because language is a conspiracy between people, and literacy in any language is not a qualification for intelligence, A person might not be good in their vocabulary or diction in spoken English language but very intelligent as a human being in their own native tongue.

    • @ikgodwin7492
      @ikgodwin7492 8 месяцев назад

      I am very humble and meek.

  • @zweliisantsunguzi1807
    @zweliisantsunguzi1807 4 года назад +76

    I read the book in Matric, final class in high school here in South Africa. I loved the book, the sad part about "Inkemefuna", I was sad! Yet I enjoyed the book. This ancestor is my hero. Rest in peace, son of the soil. You made us proud.

  • @keneorakwute2521
    @keneorakwute2521 4 года назад +154

    When there was no Google, when there was no social media; you had to read vastly, you had to go around, physically, to get materials for whatever your target is. Intelligence!

    • @destinyovbiebo8988
      @destinyovbiebo8988 4 года назад +6

      Pure knowledge

    • @bolanl211
      @bolanl211 4 года назад +4

      We were wishing for this kind of world regarding to the fact we can all watch , whence we can

    • @adoustephen8509
      @adoustephen8509 4 года назад +1

      This made life beautiful and natural at the villa disrupted by the urban setting

    • @holdthatlforluigi
      @holdthatlforluigi 3 года назад +7

      How horrible it is that information is more accessible

    • @christ00746
      @christ00746 3 года назад +3

      @@holdthatlforluigi sarcasm at its finest!!!!!

  • @BKaneNp8
    @BKaneNp8 3 года назад +49

    I first learned of Mr Achebe from the rapper Black Thought. He and his band “The Roots” named one of thier LP’s “Things Fall Apart”. Black Thought also mentions Mr Achebe in a verse. Curiosity lead to me doing research and ultimately coming across his literature. I’m thankful to have come across his work.

    • @RAJULAMIC
      @RAJULAMIC 3 года назад +5

      Deep, as a hip-hop fan, this gives me a new admiration and profound respect of Black Thought

    • @frankbernard2702
      @frankbernard2702 2 года назад +1

      Love this ❤️

    • @afroaesthete3701
      @afroaesthete3701 Год назад

      I love that ❤

  • @izunnacornelius4450
    @izunnacornelius4450 4 года назад +35

    There are no many people like you' Chinua Achebe'
    May your soul continue resting in God's blossom..Amen!!

  • @briansiele2970
    @briansiele2970 2 года назад +14

    “To Achebe, who depicted so beautifully the culture that might have been mine..”

  • @Stephanieani
    @Stephanieani 3 года назад +31

    Honestly enjoyed listening to these these men. Three intellectuals expressing themselves through literature.

  • @bitsofsteve
    @bitsofsteve 3 года назад +20

    This is where I cower, at the face of ultimate intelligence. Thank you all for making my childhood, for conferring on me literary reasoning and the gift of imagery. Thank you so much.
    #Legends

  • @nnaemekaeze7457
    @nnaemekaeze7457 4 года назад +50

    You hear 3 of them speak & you know educated men are reasoning together.

  • @YRTEverything
    @YRTEverything 4 года назад +73

    And this was how many Greek Philosophers brought into reasoning and realism, the ideologises of human socialism; by interviewing themselves, and eating of each other's wisdom.

    • @randomserb761
      @randomserb761 4 года назад +1

      Wonderful

    • @andreyking2062
      @andreyking2062 3 года назад

      Very true

    • @bigman7185
      @bigman7185 3 года назад +4

      Yes that type of interview is called the Socratic dialogue.

    • @mosestekper7659
      @mosestekper7659 2 года назад

      You are absolutely right

    • @BlackIndians-dv1iy
      @BlackIndians-dv1iy 2 месяца назад

      The Ancient Greeks followed the wisdom of the Ancient Africans! Yet they still got SICK on the delusions of white male supremacy, falling in obsession with their own beauty, youth, knowledge and masculinity...a sickness that developed a vicious misogyny and sadistic narcissism with a putrid sexual incestuous deviant compulsion used as WARFARE and as a lawless pleasure for the ELITE that still permeates the dominate insanity of euro-colonization and the evil of anti-blackness and anti-goodness, infusing human socialism with a level of terrorism and ETERNAL SUFFERING within a punitive racist cowardly male-dominated society in the cyclical quest to dominate the world in a maniacal self-centeredness that keeps re-creating atrocious and cruel caste systems, with so little understanding of inter-connectedness and EQUITY...As an Igbo-TsaLaGi Indigenous American, and a 2Spirit Elder, which places me in the company of contemporary Indigenous American Philosophers, I have personally suffered much based on systems built from the foundation of Greek myths as a corruption of Ancient African teachings here in my euro-colonized country. The Indigenous Tribal leaders of Turtle Island ( euro-colonized America/Canada/Mexico) were able to evolve out of such a trap of the male ego and the extreme VIOLENCE and constant WARmongering that comes from male supremacy ideation. The concept of our Indigenous American Democracy practiced by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy established August 31, 1142 was able to confront the tendency of sadistic misogynistic narcissism that develops from male supremacy ideation that has plagued human societies throughout our history on this Planet, especially among the Ancient Greek males who eventually were subjugated under the Ancient Roman males possessed by the same violent cycle of insanity and violent sadistic male dominant imbalances. The Great Peacemaker of our Nation achieved the highest level of results from male Philosophers bringing in reasoning, realism, and ideologies of human socialism...the Indigenous Haudenosaunee Nation Leaders did also indeed interview themselves and ate of each other's wisdoms, but the Peacemaker was WISE enough to KNOW that they needed FEMININE wisdom in order to balance the male ideology! This created a "Golden Era" of the POWER of PEACE and the success of a United Nations with the seeds planted by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and their 6 Nations that informed our Declaration of Independence and our United States Constitution. When contemporary male Philosophers understand the NEED for female/2Spirit Philosophers to BALANCE what is fed into human societies, we will be able to finally BUILD on the miraculous event of this Country that happened during what is regarded by the euro-centric Julian calendar as the 12th century, under an agreement among Nations to form an EQUITABLE self-governed human society based on the POWER of PEACE, a society that STILL STANDS in EVIDENCE of it's success...in GREAT contrast to the Ancient Greek concept of democracy developed as a failed male caste system of privilege and domination that America is STILL trying to maintain...a system that FAILS over and over and over again in history...with each VIOLENT male supremacy empire subjugating the NEXT violent male supremacy empire... it's TIME to include BLACK FEMINISM into the discourse of contemporary Philosophy! Black feminists are able to KEEP what is GREAT about African Philosophy, Greek Philosophy etc, while UPLIFTING the DIVINE Feminine aspects to BALANCE and bring EQUITY forward for ALL to enjoy since we have the capacity for REPARATIONS, RESTITUTION, and JUSTICE for ALL...avoiding the entrapment of the single-mindedness of male FORCE and the male EGO that gets STUCK in self aggrandizement once their is a taste of what feels like POWER and MIGHT. To the FUTURE of humanity! Ase! A'ho!

  • @edentaede2385
    @edentaede2385 4 года назад +16

    Chinua Achebe is my hero, any time any day. May God continue to grant his heroic soul eternal rest in Heaven. I will always be his fan. His generation were outstanding. They are a generation with mission and matching passion. They knew their mission and they set about it with passion and dedication; with great faithfulness, fruitfulness and great simplicity.

  • @bolasalak7360
    @bolasalak7360 Год назад +5

    Thank God for you tube for preserving this kind of inestimable historic record. Seeing three great Africans interacting together at intellectual level was inspiring. What we have today is unnecessary rivalry of mediocres. Achebe even look like a typical rural boy from the Northern Nigeria

  • @aime838
    @aime838 4 года назад +14

    He is the only author i have come across who was honest to his writing.I believe he’s gifted.all of his books are masterpiece.i wish he could have written more books.

  • @greyphil5323
    @greyphil5323 3 года назад +27

    Amazing, I like the way way Wole Soyinka's flexibility with his English and the vocabularies, dhis is like digging ancient gold and treasures

    • @ikgodwin7492
      @ikgodwin7492 8 месяцев назад

      There were not much vocabs but well-worded expressions. Greetings

  • @nukustudio6882
    @nukustudio6882 3 года назад +12

    Chinua Achebe is an absolute Legend. It is with great insight that he uses to portray his characters, he brings them so near that you feel you were actually present in the narratives. 🇬🇭

  • @TosinAnimashaun
    @TosinAnimashaun 4 года назад +25

    15:22: "The reason why my third book goes back, again, to the past -- not as remote as the first -- is that, I have come to think that my first book is no longer adequate; I've learnt a lot more about these particular people -- my ancestors." -- Chinua Achebe

  • @generalnwankwo8689
    @generalnwankwo8689 4 года назад +58

    When the Regions were working and harmony was in Nigeria, Great Achebe, Great Soyinka.

    • @olaadeyeye6697
      @olaadeyeye6697 4 года назад

      True federalism

    • @milascave2
      @milascave2 4 года назад

      general: I had trouble getting into Soyinka. He doesn't write in the style of a traditional novel. I think perhaps I was missing something.

    • @ettyobz
      @ettyobz 4 года назад +1

      the regions weren't peaceful sir

    • @generalnwankwo8689
      @generalnwankwo8689 4 года назад +2

      @@ettyobz l didn't say peaceful, working and harmony sir.

    • @francisnwadike9505
      @francisnwadike9505 3 года назад

      @@generalnwankwo8689 harmony can also be called peace like when u said we live in peace and harmony

  • @aksamhuda7
    @aksamhuda7 4 года назад +20

    We have such intelligent people on the continent so why can’t we use our intelligence and do the right thing which is unite as a single country? Respect from Uganda 🇺🇬

    • @evansquarteyhammond4048
      @evansquarteyhammond4048 4 года назад +2

      Until we liberate ourselves from neocolonialism, this can not be achieved.

    • @abdul-kabiralegbe5660
      @abdul-kabiralegbe5660 2 месяца назад

      ​@@evansquarteyhammond4048 I think that's just a cop out. There are aspects of African culture that prevent us from ascending. Look at the industrialised nations today and you see common elements of character and manner which are not inherent in some African societies. Attention to detail, impartial justice (or as close to it as humanly possible), drive for efficiency, willingness to sacrifice the past ways of doing things if a better way is found today, respect but not worship of the past, focus on merit, etc.
      We always want to blame colonialism for everything and fail to look inwards. Do you think the Renaissance could have taken place in Africa (especially Black Africa), where children are taught to be silent since their opinions can't be better than their elders?

  • @shulestuff
    @shulestuff 3 года назад +25

    Started reading him while in primary school in Kenya, "Things Fall Apart" still my favorite followed by "Arrow of God"

  • @jetlee7661
    @jetlee7661 4 года назад +37

    Literature students are here 🤟

  • @nyekay615
    @nyekay615 3 года назад +8

    I feel sad that we can hardly find 3 young men who can carry out such degree of intelligent conversation with no scripts whatsoever nowadays. Social media stole our ability to imagine.

    • @George__042
      @George__042 Год назад

      Social media damaged a lot of great minds 😢

  • @eng.moseso.ongudipe2844
    @eng.moseso.ongudipe2844 Год назад +5

    Okonkwo was known throughout the 9 villages and beyond. As a young man he had brought fame to his village by throwing Amalinze the CAT. Amalinze was a great wrestler whose back could never touch the ground.......
    RIP Chinua Achebe.

  • @andyevangel7138
    @andyevangel7138 4 года назад +29

    This right here is the stuff of legend.See how the 3 of them sat, speaking without knowing they were charting a course for Africa, without knowing that conversation would bekm ageless, historic!That Achebe created TFA, his 1ST novel & masterpiece as a 1ST 'draft' is astounding.Absolute genius!

  • @chikamnenye
    @chikamnenye 3 года назад +19

    I'm in awe of Chinua every time, currently reading arrow of God. He's every kind of writer I want to be 🙏🏾

    • @uzoejekwumadu7731
      @uzoejekwumadu7731 3 года назад +1

      Let's make sure we pass it to the younger generation

  • @jah-rulglobal6603
    @jah-rulglobal6603 4 года назад +7

    There were many fathers of literature in Igbo land. But Achebe was more creative. A man who literally had an idea what was to come even though there wasn't many research tools unlike nowadays. He stood firm in the faces of political critics and economic challenges. He said it "in Biafra Africa died". He saw what many couldn't see. Biafra freedom would have had a very positive impact on the way white People see Africa . Sadly Nigeria is a country that hate to see progress. They tried their best to bury history so our people will remain in captive. Indeed "in Biafra Africa died". Continue RIP Achebe

    • @vitalisanekwe203
      @vitalisanekwe203 Год назад

      I think “In Biafra Africa Died” was written by Emefiena Ezeani.

  • @gathechamutua9690
    @gathechamutua9690 3 года назад +12

    I still doesn't understand why Achebe was never a Nobel laureate for literature.I believe he should have won it ahead of any other African writer.

    • @BlackIndians-dv1iy
      @BlackIndians-dv1iy 2 месяца назад +4

      YES!!! Just to hear him speak here as a young man, he shines brighter than his 2 brilliant colleagues! He has a SPIRIT that resists the corruption of euro-colonization and an intelligence that has a capacity to RISE ABOVE nonsense, ignorance, and self-aggrandizement. Chinua Achebe is CLEARLY a beacon for humanity using literature as his tool. His investigation of Ancient and contemporary practices among male characters is FULL of enlightenment and self inquiry that brings about EVOLUTION for all of humanity within a single story well told. This is perhaps too far ahead for even the Nobel Laureate Committee members who do the selections. We are dependent on Swedish learned societies and, in the case of the peace prize, by the Norwegian Parliament for such!

    • @user-jw2gf3qs3j
      @user-jw2gf3qs3j Месяц назад

      @@BlackIndians-dv1iyNo he doesn’t sound brighter than them(even his rather rugged accent aside). They were reviewing chinua’s own works so it would seem like they deferred to him a bit.

    • @user-no4qp2fv5w
      @user-no4qp2fv5w Месяц назад +1

      Very simple: because of his Igbo descent.

    • @junk4dimeji
      @junk4dimeji Месяц назад +1

      Imagine pitting such great African writers for the glitz of on an European prize. Crab mentality at its finest. Achebe was a great writer because of his work, Nobel prize or not.

    • @thetormentor07
      @thetormentor07 Месяц назад

      ​@user-no4qp2fv5w rubbish talk. Inferiority complex. Everything is always about your tribe .
      Achebe may be an interesting writer but he does not meet the criteria to be nominated. To be a Laurette in Literature, you must be all round in literature not just aboit writing story books .
      So you can go to hell with your tribal mentality

  • @lilic.2577
    @lilic.2577 4 года назад +8

    Things Fall Apart...the greatest novel ever written! One of our literature books in secondary school. Loved it then, love it even more now. RIP Mr. Achebe.

  • @geraldsanzala8119
    @geraldsanzala8119 4 года назад +5

    I love this Man chinua Achebe. I don't find any critical writers today as we talk. Chinua warned us indeed on how we became colonized mentally and physically. Right now our young man don't even know whether we are still colonized or free because they think being on internet and talk whatever they think it's right it's is freedom.
    Chinua is an intelligent and wise.
    Don't forget Soyinka and every writer of their time

  • @hichambouihouline793
    @hichambouihouline793 3 года назад +7

    I have read the "Things Fall Apart" novel, and it was a wonderful journey all along. I did discover many things that we share in culture with our neighbors of the south (I'm Moroccan). No human being should be treated as second class, it is the duty of African intellectuals to promote a counter-ideology and expose the baised logica and moral rationale of colonialism

  • @jobinhovic
    @jobinhovic 4 года назад +16

    How I loved this. Lovely conversation between great minds who would become legends of the art. I had no idea we had this kind of treasure housed somewhere.

  • @10gallons
    @10gallons 2 года назад +3

    Credence, competence, confidence. These are the kind of men who can go toe to toe with anyone and not back down. They put in the work and know their worth. For those who have come after them, listen and learn.
    Thank you Chinua. Thank you Lewis. Thank you Wole.

  • @theonethelordloves9769
    @theonethelordloves9769 3 года назад +6

    Wow wow! I am African and I read His novel ‘Things fall apart’ and I totally loved his way of writing. I can read it again and again. Then my other favorite was ‘The River Between’ by Ngogi wa Thiongo from Kenya. I didn’t do literature but loved these men’s way of writing.

  • @chizobaani4037
    @chizobaani4037 4 года назад +23

    Soyinka had a very strong command of language

  • @lunalea1250
    @lunalea1250 4 года назад +10

    This book is never far from me , I gift it all the time and Mr. Achebe opened me to explore more African writers!💜🗿

  • @destinyschild.9103
    @destinyschild.9103 4 года назад +27

    I was born 21st October, 1964 in Benin City, Edo State.

    • @justinamusyoka4986
      @justinamusyoka4986 4 года назад +10

      The time of this interview.I noted because i was born in nov 1963 in Kenya ,by then almost learning to walk touching the wall.
      My dad was an educator and talked alot about African intellectuals in Makerere univ Uganda to those in Ibadan.
      I loved reading Chinua's work especially for the language reasons which i can now understand from the horses mouth.Be encouraged.

  • @edmund6392
    @edmund6392 4 года назад +10

    This is gold. Our history told by us. As an African my heart swells with pride watching this interview.

  • @leko762
    @leko762 4 года назад +47

    This is like drinking from the fountain of knowledge.

    • @thegrey53
      @thegrey53 4 года назад

      This is a pretentious lie

    • @mosestekper7659
      @mosestekper7659 2 года назад

      Very true

    • @abdul-kabiralegbe5660
      @abdul-kabiralegbe5660 2 месяца назад

      Opinions are like arseholes; everyone has one. It's easy to make a claim; substantiating it is where the work is.

  • @iyiolawilliams6330
    @iyiolawilliams6330 3 года назад +8

    Who is here with me in 2021?

  • @BlackIndians-dv1iy
    @BlackIndians-dv1iy 2 месяца назад +1

    Bless you for posting this rare footage of such an event! I get to listen to a young Chinua Achebe interviewed among Classic Art from the Ancient Tribes of what is now called Nigeria as he is interviewed by a young Wole Soyinka and Lewis Nkosi!! He was enabled by the questions to not only speak on his novels, but also to connect with and speak of his African American contemporary writers (he met with Langston Hughes in America before he passed in 1967!) as well as his European contemporary writers. What a TREASURE! I am STUNNED by Chinua Achebe's brilliance. His intelligence reminds me of James Baldwin in his ability to resist the blindness and stockholm syndrome of euro-colonization despite being a scholar from high western education with an incredible command of the English language. Chinua Achebe's replies to questions filled with the ignorance of the white male gaze is so fascinating to observe. He is able to answer logically without falling into the trap of lowering his truth, process, intent and talent to the criticism and boxes of euro-colonized separatist demeaning, black emasculating and competitive mind set. His inquiries are revolutionary. Chinua Achebe is able to question the male mind and male role from Ancient traditions to contemporary, with such confidence, thus UPLIFTING us all with the COURAGE to employ critical thinking skills while embracing our own brilliant culture and heritage. What LOVE he has for his Igbo People, yet he is fearless in his investigation of failure and weakness among our People from his own experience and expertise. BRILLIANT! He IS a human REVOLUTIONARY with such Grace and Respect. Ase! A'ho!

  • @jafaripaje5366
    @jafaripaje5366 4 года назад +10

    The best novel writer in Africa. I read three of his books in secondary school Things fall apart, The Great Pond and A man of the people. It reminds me of characters such as Ikemefuna, Okonkwo, Uchendu, Obierika, Nwoye, Chief Nanga, Edina etc.

    • @charleskinyua381
      @charleskinyua381 4 года назад

      Point of correction. The river between was works of a Kenyan author professor Ngugi Wa Thiongo.

    • @jafaripaje5366
      @jafaripaje5366 4 года назад

      @@charleskinyua381 Thanks brother it was "The Great Pond",

  • @othukeumukoro
    @othukeumukoro Месяц назад +2

    I know the obvious big names are Achebe and Soyinka but man Lewis Nkosi is such a magnificent and talented person.❤

  • @inspiration360degreeviewpa5
    @inspiration360degreeviewpa5 2 года назад +2

    who else noticed that this interview was conducted without any script whatsoever and yet the most constructive questions was asked in a logical and well framed manner ever.

  • @bisib1789
    @bisib1789 4 года назад +16

    THANK YOU FOR PRESERVING OUR HISTORY CULTURE.

  • @ZeroneSolutions
    @ZeroneSolutions 4 года назад +9

    Am an Igbo man with 2 young teenagers "Things Fall Apart" will be my summer gift to them. I read it when I was in high school and watched the TV series by NTA in Nigeria. Pete Edochie played Okonkwo.

  • @alexezeugwa1833
    @alexezeugwa1833 4 года назад +33

    Meeting of great minds! I love the way they articulate their views with decorum, much to be learnt by our generation.

    • @Ifyshalom1
      @Ifyshalom1 4 года назад

      I completely agree with you view.

  • @odiliujubuonu5439
    @odiliujubuonu5439 4 года назад +55

    This is gold! Thanks for publishing this.

    • @jobokeno8490
      @jobokeno8490 4 года назад

      Odili Ujubuonu, Indeed. Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka in the same interview many eons ago, is truly remarkable!
      How I wish the current generation could have an opportunity to watch such a video!

    • @kileleafricahummingbirdvib3899
      @kileleafricahummingbirdvib3899 3 года назад

      Agreed!

    • @halidsheriff8002
      @halidsheriff8002 3 года назад

      Current generation is out for luxury Life. Do you see any luxury things in these trio. Luxury and knowledge are different ball games.

  • @olukayodeayangbile3392
    @olukayodeayangbile3392 3 года назад +4

    Members of the Nigerian golden age. Young men in their twenties . They were not yet professors but the knowledge oozing out of them was mesmerising.
    Respect !!!

  • @ENKONdemuweda
    @ENKONdemuweda 4 года назад +7

    This is a very rich interview, with iconic African intellectual minds at one table. 🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦

  • @n25african40
    @n25african40 4 года назад +11

    you have always made us proud blessed African

  • @naturesmusic1171
    @naturesmusic1171 4 года назад +59

    "The sun shines on those standing before those kneeling" Things fall apart

  • @universalcoverage1681
    @universalcoverage1681 3 года назад +4

    I'm so lucky to come across this interview by the intellectuals. This are the elites in our society not the corrupted politicians

  • @chikaochonma5223
    @chikaochonma5223 4 года назад +6

    Absolutely beautiful how it was in their days. The conversation was intimate and clear, no bias or hidden agenda, no tribal bigotry, no nepotism. Continue to rest in peace, nwafor

    • @georgetochukwu7956
      @georgetochukwu7956 4 года назад +3

      Not totally true. Notice how Wole subtly warded off Lewis’ call for him to add some eulogies to Achebe and his previous works... man just jumped straight into critique mode.

    • @owopojukhaleedadedamola1816
      @owopojukhaleedadedamola1816 4 года назад +2

      @@georgetochukwu7956, you just confirmed your hatred for the man - even though your hatred adds nothing or takes anything away from the sage!

    • @georgetochukwu7956
      @georgetochukwu7956 4 года назад +3

      owopoju Khaleed Adedamola No this has nothing to do with Hate, I respect both Icons . Both were cold rivals; but it bordered solely on the Literature Terrain where they both dominated. My comment isn’t intended to convey any malicious message but to draw the other man’s attention to the fact that they both sought for supremacy on a scholarly level and that’s why Wole didn’t eulogize Achebe like Lewis did.

  • @oziengbeaigheyisi4420
    @oziengbeaigheyisi4420 3 года назад +7

    Three great young men. Lewis was about 28, Wole was about 30, and Chinua was about 34 when this interview was done.

  • @Vetsolo
    @Vetsolo 4 года назад +21

    This interview can't go wrong!!

  • @itzenormous
    @itzenormous 4 года назад +10

    I was unaware that this channel exists. Now that I've found it - subscribed.
    Power To The People!

  • @issamohamed9757
    @issamohamed9757 4 года назад +34

    Thanks for uploads. Things fall apart changed my life. It's first set book I had read over a span of 48hrs.

    • @ZeroneSolutions
      @ZeroneSolutions 4 года назад +2

      It revealed to me how and what we were before colonization. Why we fall to colonization. We had lots of things we deemed evil that the church unveiled to us that made the poor woman that had lost several twin children and the outcasts of the society to become the first converts.
      We are still buried in those woes.

  • @WorkFromHomeAfrica
    @WorkFromHomeAfrica 4 года назад +7

    Thank you so much for this. Watching from South Africa

  • @brendamajune1841
    @brendamajune1841 4 года назад +23

    Woke Soyinka once had black hair 😂,.. damn they were young and brilliant ❤️

  • @kwesilantei
    @kwesilantei 3 года назад +2

    Always coming back to listen to this discussion, pure knowledge at work with no pettiness
    ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

  • @okolopatrick159
    @okolopatrick159 4 года назад +5

    May God almighty be praised glorified honoured and adored forever and ever for given Africa such interigent people.

  • @hawkeye6293
    @hawkeye6293 4 года назад +11

    These people inculcated in me the love of literature in English.

  • @bossgbini
    @bossgbini 4 года назад +6

    This is amazing!! Thanks. You really did it. You earned yourself a TRUE sub!

  • @kabajawne3969
    @kabajawne3969 4 года назад +8

    I love Chenua Achebe and his great Literature books. My Favorite book of Chenua Achebe was "Things Fall Apart" this man is a man of Wisdom and I will never forget the great stories I have read in his books.. Thank you Sir

  • @davidihechukwu4794
    @davidihechukwu4794 4 года назад +4

    So educating. I'm opposed to people people preaching from a position of ignorance. - Chinua Achebe

  • @ecotricity4470
    @ecotricity4470 4 года назад +10

    Africans are the most blessed people on this planet. How we have still failed to make the best of these blessings to lift livelihoods of our people like other continents is still a big shame! It is a shame that her children are still dying crossing seas trying to look for greener pasture!

    • @adelinelyaruu3036
      @adelinelyaruu3036 4 года назад +1

      It's leadership... it's leadership. Despite being very rich in natural resources.... the leadership has not made any impact to what the people of Africa desire and expects. Now that Africa is rising, let it be and let's see the fruits of the expected changes 🙏🙏🙏

    • @ZeroneSolutions
      @ZeroneSolutions 4 года назад

      Lots of whites die coming to seek greener pastures before and during colonial era.

  • @uchechukwu7904
    @uchechukwu7904 3 года назад +7

    The first time I read things fall apart, I wept like a baby at the end of the book

  • @BroadwayBully1
    @BroadwayBully1 4 года назад +11

    This is gold. Thanks for sharing.

  • @sana9752
    @sana9752 4 года назад +18

    Loved every bit of it 😊

  • @justinamusyoka4986
    @justinamusyoka4986 4 года назад +12

    My home library got most of his books because they stirred my mind growing up,wondering how a black African man could compose such literature.

    • @blazeash2951
      @blazeash2951 4 года назад +4

      I am pondering your wonders!
      Omg.
      Can't be serious.

    • @justinamusyoka4986
      @justinamusyoka4986 4 года назад +3

      @@blazeash2951 No bias cos am an African and do remember 55 years ago very few Africans could read and write but Chinua Achebe had it all.
      I was born in 1963 and my father was a teacher ,the only educated man by those days standards.

    • @blazeash2951
      @blazeash2951 4 года назад +2

      @@justinamusyoka4986
      Ah okay. Thanks for your clarification.
      I figured you were African as well from the last name.

    • @justinamusyoka4986
      @justinamusyoka4986 4 года назад +2

      @@blazeash2951 thank you .I also think this generation doesnt match the likes of Chinua Achebe in developing literature to a higher level,they can hardly grasp the life we live now and conceptualize in books.

    • @blazeash2951
      @blazeash2951 4 года назад +1

      @@justinamusyoka4986
      My pleasure.
      By the way, this generation won't understand what you just reiterated in your last comment.
      Hahahahaha

  • @chike_speaks
    @chike_speaks 3 года назад +4

    Watching this and seeing them at such a young age makes me so happy

  • @factboyztv
    @factboyztv 4 года назад +41

    Just listen to how men spoke good Englsih in the 1960s, purity of language and great minds rubbing brains together

    • @JC_inc
      @JC_inc 4 года назад +7

      Yeah, too bad the European never took the time to learn about any African language.

    • @paakwesi4395
      @paakwesi4395 4 года назад +12

      Yeah very much like parrots mimicking their master. It signifies how much the African was purged of his own culture during colonialism. Their accents are so western(British) it's almost shameful.

    • @JC_inc
      @JC_inc 4 года назад +9

      Paa Kwesi
      I was born in America & raised in Haiti where my parents were from. In Haiti, two languages are spoken there, french, & creole which is the langua franca. I remember growing, some Haitians would be prouder speaking french than creole, which is the language that our forebears invented during slavery. Many of our people suffer from inferiority complex, it must be that.

    • @paakwesi4395
      @paakwesi4395 4 года назад +4

      @@JC_inc That in fact is the hard truth. You will always lose when you play to the strengths of your opponent.

    • @kwamezulushabazz
      @kwamezulushabazz 4 года назад +6

      We should pay less attention to "good English" (aping whites) and more attention to good ideas for African people.

  • @vaas4403
    @vaas4403 3 года назад +4

    I'm reading things fall apart in my last year of college... that novel is so good ❤

  • @stevenkobea7609
    @stevenkobea7609 3 года назад +4

    I learnt things fall apart and the gods are not to blame in secondary school, . The man chinua achebe is a literature itself. He is beyond imagination

  • @somuchdollah
    @somuchdollah 4 года назад +6

    Thanks for this 😘

  • @bsmfreeschool7776
    @bsmfreeschool7776 3 года назад +2

    Because of technology we are given the opportunity to listen to original speakers, thanks

  • @momoa2993
    @momoa2993 4 года назад +8

    Pure Gold. Thanks for uploading & thanks Victor Ehikhamenor for posting the link¡!👌🏾😊

  • @solomonosemeke2761
    @solomonosemeke2761 3 года назад +5

    I'm currently reading he's book "Arrow of God" for the 4th time now...on the 17th chapter. Epic!

  • @T_DAP
    @T_DAP 4 года назад +4

    Wow!! This video is a gemstone. Three African legends!!❤️

  • @stepheniwundi9159
    @stepheniwundi9159 4 года назад +36

    Something is missing in my life as a 62 year old Igboman.The IKENGA.

    • @kileleafricahummingbirdvib3899
      @kileleafricahummingbirdvib3899 3 года назад

      Interesting. And is it too late to acquire one?

    • @flexcadraw1951
      @flexcadraw1951 3 года назад +2

      You don't buy it, its a spirutual gift from the ancesstors and this is what African American call black power

    • @mustafamohamed3627
      @mustafamohamed3627 3 года назад

      Read Quran and come to Islam that will give you answers and peace

  • @jaiyeadeleke6846
    @jaiyeadeleke6846 4 года назад +3

    I will watch and watch again........... Great interview...... Many Thanks to the publisher

  • @Birbal65
    @Birbal65 4 года назад +6

    Thank you for uploading this interview.