Editing Things Fall Apart (section)

==Legacy==
===Influence===
Before the publication of ''Things Fall Apart'', most novels about Africa were written by [[Europeans]] and portray Africans as savages in need of Western enlightenment. ''Things Fall Apart'' paved the way for [[African culture]] and influenced other African writers to write efficiently about the expression of a particular social, historical, and cultural situation of [[modern Africa]].<ref name="Booker 2003, p 7">Booker (2003), p. 7.</ref>

Achebe portrays the Igbo society sympathetically, allowing his audience to examine the effects of [[colonialism]] from a different perspective.<ref name="Booker 2003, p 7"/> He asserted that the popularity of ''Things Fall Apart'' in Nigeria can be explained simply that "this was the first time we were seeing ourselves, as autonomous individuals, rather than half-people, or as [[Joseph Conrad|Conrad]] would say, 'rudimentary souls'".<ref name="Sickels, Amy 2011">Sickels, Amy. "The Critical Reception of Things Fall Apart", in Booker (2011).</ref> Nigerian Nobel laureate [[Wole Soyinka]] called the novel as "the first novel in English which spoke from the interior of the African character, rather than portraying the African as an exotic, as the white man would see him."{{sfn|''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education''|2001|pp=28–29}}

The language of the novel has not only intrigued critics but has also been a major factor in the emergence of the modern African novel. Because Achebe wrote in English, portrayed Igbo life from the point of view of an African man, and used the language of his people, he was able to greatly influence African novelists, who viewed him as a mentor.<ref name="Sickels, Amy 2011"/>
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?199928-1/things-fall-apart Discussion on the 50th anniversary on ''Things Fall Apart'' featuring Achebe, 24 March 2008], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Achebe's fiction and criticism continue to inspire and influence writers around the world. [[Hilary Mantel]], the Booker Prize-winning novelist in a 7 May 2012 article in ''[[Newsweek]]'', "Hilary Mantel's 5 Favorite Historical Fictions", lists ''Things Fall Apart'' as one of her five favourite novels in this genre. A whole new generation of African writers&nbsp;– [[Caine Prize]] winners [[Binyavanga Wainaina]] (current director of the Chinua Achebe Center at [[Bard College]]) and [[Helon Habila]] (''[[Waiting for an Angel]]'' [2004] and ''Measuring Time'' [2007]), as well as [[Uzodinma Iweala]] (''[[Beasts of No Nation]]'' [2005]), and Professor [[Okey Ndibe]] (''[[Arrows of Rain]]'' [2000]) count Chinua Achebe as a significant influence. [[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]], the author of the popular and critically acclaimed novels ''[[Purple Hibiscus]]'' (2003) and ''[[Half of a Yellow Sun]]'' (2006), commented in a 2006 interview: "Chinua Achebe will always be important to me because his work influenced not so much my style as my writing philosophy: reading him emboldened me, gave me permission to write about the things I knew well."<ref name="Sickels, Amy 2011"/>

''Things Fall Apart'' was listed by ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' as one of "12 Novels Considered the 'Greatest Book Ever Written{{'"}}.<ref>Hogeback, Jonathan, [https://www.britannica.com/list/12-novels-considered-the-greatest-book-ever-written "12 Novels Considered the 'Greatest Book Ever Written'"], ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref>

The 60th anniversary of the first publication of ''Things Fall Apart'' was celebrated at the [[South Bank Centre]] in London, UK, on 15 April 2018 with live readings from the book by [[Femi Elufowoju Jr]], [[Adesua Etomi]], Yomi Sode, [[Lucian Msamati]], [[Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi]], [[Chibundu Onuzo]], [[Ellah Wakatama Allfrey]], [[Ben Okri]], and [[Margaret Busby]].<ref>[[James Murua|Murua, James]], [https://www.writingafrica.com//chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart-at-60-celebrated/ "Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' at 60 celebrated"], ''Writing Africa'', 24 April 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2024.</ref><ref>[[Ainehi Edoro|Edoro, Ainehi]], [https://brittlepaper.com/2018/04/fall-60th-anniversary-reading-london-15th-april-2018/ "Bringing Achebe's Masterpiece to Life | Highlights from the 60th Anniversary Reading of Things Fall Apart | Eddie Hewitt"], ''[[Brittle Paper]]'', 24 April 2018.</ref>

On 5 November 2019 [[BBC News]] listed ''Things Fall Apart'' on its list of the [[BBC list of 100 'most inspiring' novels|100 most influential novels]].<ref name=Bbc2019-11-05/>

===Reception===
''Things Fall Apart'' is regarded as a milestone in [[English-speaking world|Anglophone]] [[African literature]], and for the perception of African literature in the West. It is studied widely in Africa, Europe,and North America, where it has been the subject of secondary and tertiary analytical works. It has been translated to over 50 languages.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jilani |first=Sarah |title=Things Fall Apart: Chinua Achebe and the languages of African literature |website=The Conversation |date=8 June 2023 |url=https://theconversation.com/things-fall-apart-chinua-achebe-and-the-languages-of-african-literature-106006 |access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' listed the novel in its ''TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Grossman |first=Lev |title=Is Full List one of the All-TIME 100 Best Novels? |website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=16 October 2005 |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/all/ |access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref>

Nigerian playwright [[Wole Soyinka]] described ''Things Fall Apart'' as "the first novel in English which spoke from the interior of the African character, rather than portraying the African as an exotic, as the white man would see him." During the 60th anniversary of the novel, it was read at the [[South Bank Centre]] in London on 15 April 2018 by [[Femi Elufowoju Jr]], [[Adesua Etomi]], [[Lucian Msamati]], [[Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi]], [[Chibundu Onuzo]], [[Ellah Wakatama Allfrey]], [[Ben Okri]], and [[Margaret Busby]].<ref>[[James Murua]], [https://www.writingafrica.com//chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart-at-60-celebrated/ "Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' at 60 celebrated"], ''Writing Africa'', 24 April 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2024.</ref><ref>[[Ainehi Edoro|Edoro, Ainehi]], [https://brittlepaper.com/2018/04/fall-60th-anniversary-reading-london-15th-april-2018/ "Bringing Achebe's Masterpiece to Life | Highlights from the 60th Anniversary Reading of Things Fall Apart | Eddie Hewitt"], ''[[Brittle Paper]]'', 24 April 2018.</ref>

On 5 November 2019 [[BBC News]] listed ''Things Fall Apart'' on its list of the [[BBC list of 100 'most inspiring' novels|100 most influential novels]].<ref name=Bbc2019-11-05>
{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788 |title=100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=5 November 2019 |access-date=10 November 2019}}
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