Essay on Cultural Formations (Things Fall Apart Unit)

Introduction: In an essay on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Chinua Achebe writes about a student who read Things Fall Apart and responded by writing to say that he enjoyed learning about such an exotic culture. Achebe’s reaction was that Americans don’t need to go to Nigeria to find the exotic. As you think back on the cultural traditions or beliefs of the Ibo as depicted in Things Fall Apart, think about our own culture and the things that might seem exotic or strange to an outsider. We, for example, also have many customs and proverbs, we have our fetishes, and we have our miraculations, too. For more on these "cultural formations," see below.

Cultural Formations

*  Customs or traditional behaviors.

*  Proverbs.

*  Fetishes. A fetish is “an object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence.” Here, “unreasonable” does not mean a fetish is a bad thing so much as an object whose symbolic importance goes far beyond its use value. In Things Fall Apart, the yam qualifies as a fetish of sorts: it is a crop, a form of money, and an object that is celebrated in annual festivals.

*  “Miraculation.”[1] The appearance of the egwugwu in Things Fall Apart appears at first very strange: the people simultaneously believe that the egwugwu are spirits and living men. We might call this a “willing suspension of disbelief,” but the psychological investment that the Ibo make is more earnest than the kind we make when we merely go to a movie and temporarily pretend that the characters are real. In some sense, the egwugwu really are spirits.

Purpose: Write an essay in which you assume the persona of an Ibo anthropologist and explain a custom, proverb, a fetish, or a miraculation of American culture to your community. Begin by describing the American cultural formation in detail—what it is, who participates in it, when, how, and where—and then explain its significance. Clarify the exotic American belief or practice you examine by drawing a parallel to something in your own Ibo culture. Assume that your community uses English and follows the same conventions of explanation and writing that we do.

Audience: Your Ibo clansmen (as the Ibo are depicted in Things Fall Apart).

Length: Two to three pages.

Conventions: Double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, no skipped

lines. Include a list of Works Cited (even if it only has one item in it).

Due Dates:

*  Monday, Nov 9: Outline

o  The American custom, proverb, fetish or miraculation you intend to explain

o  A cultural formation of the Ibo culture that can be compared to the American formation you examine

o  A list of differences between the American and Ibo formations

o  A list of similarities between the American and Ibo formations

*  Thursday, Nov 12: Rough Draft (preferably typed, double spaced)

*  Friday, Nov 13: Final Draft.

[1] “Miraculation” is a neologism, a word Dr,. Busonik made up to describe a very special kind of psychological investment in an idea or phenomenon. Do not expect people outside of RCHS to recognize it.