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Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Research in African Literatures

RALOmslag

Research in African Literatures, the premier journal of African literary studies worldwide, serves as a stimulating vehicle in English for research on the oral and written literatures of Africa. Reviews of current scholarly books are included in every number, and a forum offers readers the opportunity to respond to issues raised in articles and book reviews

Published by: Indiana University Press

Current Issue: Volume 45, Number 2, Summer 2014

 

 

An abstract of one of the essays:

AchebeCovers

Things Fall Apart—Achebe’s Legacy, from Book to Screen

Françoise Ugochukwu

Abstract:

Literature has always inspired filmic adaptations and African literature has its films too, mainly sourced from francophone novels, some of which have been examined by Techeuyap in De l’écrit à l’écran, Anyinefa, and Mestaoui, among others. Nigerian literature, on the other hand, has inspired few adaptations, with the notable exception of Achebe’s first novel, published in 1958 and which has, over the years, inspired several adaptations—films and plays. This article will compare Achebe’s first novel with its main screen counterpart and will seek to highlight the reasons for the huge success of this televised program, revealing some of the ingredients behind the success of Nollywood films and helping to get a better understanding of their content and message.