Culture and Language in African Literature: A Study of Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God

Abstract 

There  is  a  symbiotic  relationship  between  language,  culture  and  literature  as  each reinforces, projects and distills the other. The need for the projection of African culture had  informed the development of  modern African literature which serves to enlighten, educate and showcase African worldview, practices and problems. Against the Conradian misinformed notion of Africans as a people without culture, this paper discusses aspects of  African  cultural  values  highlighted  in  Chinua  Achebe’s  Arrow  of  God. The  artistic dexterity of Achebe as a leading African literary icon is examined as he weaves African culture  into  English  language  in  a  novel  that  has  re-constructed  and  corrected  in  a compelling story the subjective portrayal of Africa, the cradle of civilization, as a heart of darkness. The paper discusses the thematic, cultural and linguistic patterns of Arrow of God as a powerful literature from Africa by an African conscious of his immediate and remote environments.  

Keywords: Ibo culture, African literature, Achebe’s language, themes.