An Epistemic Survey of African (Igbo) Notions of Knowledge in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This study undertakes an epistemic survey of the notions of knowledge among Igbos of Nigeria as couched in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. In this work, Achebe relives the vibrant world of Igbo people before the advent of colonialists in Nigeria. The study therefore unveils the roles and significances of knowledge among the Igbos, the beauty and depth of the people’s values system as enshrined in their culture and traditions. It also exposes the place of elders and oral tradition as both purveyors and repository of knowledge hence, their relevance in Igbo knowledge acquisition process. The work showcases that life among the Igbos was chiefly communal. Knowledge in this society, was acquired through collective experience and wisdom by individual persons’ participation in the community’s rituals, myths and folklores. However, the researcher adopted the hermeneutical and textual analysis methods of inquiry which enabled us to interpret and analyse the Novel, Things Fall Apart. In line with our hermeneutical method, we clarified the meaning of Omenani (traditions) of the people and its’ influence on the epistemology of the people. Our study found that any strongly held beliefs or cultural values which bring only crises when people of different cultures interact necessitates the need for the cultivation of proper epistemological modesty instead of a tenacious attachment to customs and traditions. Lastly, our study recommends a relevant epistemic change as panacea to cultural and social rifts. This more balanced knowledge system being recommended has the capacity of engendering inter-cultural interactions and ensuring social harmony even in the face of the challenges of cultural globalization. This novel problem-solving system is located in our idea of epistemic inter-culturalism.