I've been reading his collected essays in Hopes and Impediments and absolutely love his unbudging writing/fighting against the most sophisticated, "even brilliant" and well-intentioned (as he recognizes) colonialists... and his very inspiring, emphatic call upon us all to speak, to challenge Europe's presence, position, intervention and all that "they dress up in fine robes which they call universality," and perhaps most importantly, to be "ready to guide the curious visitor to the gallery of (our) art, willing to listen with politeness even to his hasty opinions but careful, most careful, to concede nothing to him that might appear to undermine (our) own position within (our) heritage or compromise the integrity of (our) indigenous perception."
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(From the Conversation with Achebe 1/3)
About the proverb "Wherever something stands, something else will stand beside it" :
That is, there is no one way of anything... that is, there is no absolute, anything, even good things... If there is one god, fine, there are always the others as well. If there is one point of view, fine, there is always the second point of view...
I really like Achebe's writing too. Sorry I've been MIA for so long on this blog, water buffalo!! I keep meaning to post and comment, but have never gotten to it. I've been happy to read and think through all the stuff you've been writing, though, so thanks for that. I hope we'll catch up in person soon :)
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