Achebe interview

The interview with Chinue Achebe was a very interesting and insightful one to read as it enabled me to acknowledge Achebe's aim to give the unheard African stories a voice. Achebe reveals a range of perspectives regarding several critical questions on foreign literature. He talks about the influences American and European cultures have in modern day literature; they publish stories regarding their social status while presenting other cultures negatively. As for today, many African countries still face adversities within their reputation. This has been caused due to the stories published by both Europe and America that continue to talk about the impacts of colonization as a way to justify their actions. Within this interview, Achebe made me think about the importance of recognising the value of different perspectives, and to view a group of individuals or even people in general in their full context including cultural beliefs. In my opinion the following quote is best to represent and summarise my most important take away as well as Achebe's objective to achieve a universal civilization: "This is really what I personally wish this century to see ... a balance of stories where every people will be able to contribute to a definition of themselves, where we are not victims."