Are Cultural Dimensions Indicators of Corrupt Practices? Insights from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Anthills of the Savannah

Abstract

The abuse of power and corruption as the bane of the African continent, are major themes in many postcolonial novels. In Nigeria, Achebe’s first, second and last novels, Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, and Anthills of the Savannah respectively, reflect the pre and post-colonial life in Igboland and the fictional Kangan nation. In these novels, Achebe explores how social disintegration has caused and fuelled the abuse of power and corruption. Based on an analysis of the three novels and against the background of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, this article argues that leadership and the struggle for and abuse of power before and after colonialisation, while a consequence of culture, has changed over time.

Opsomming

Talle postkoloniale romans oor Afrika neem as hooftema die magsvergrype en korrupsie wat klaarblyklik hierdie vasteland kwel. Achebe se eerste, tweede en laaste romans (onderskeidelik Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease en Anthills of the Savannah), beeld die lewenswyse van die fiktiewe Kangan-volk in die pre- en postkoloniale Igboland in Nigerië uit. In hierdie romans stel Achebe ondersoek in na maatskaplike verval, en hoe dit magsvergrype en korrupsie veroorsaak en aanstook. Hierdie artikel verskaf derhalwe ’n ontleding van die drie Achebe-romans aan die hand van Hofstede se Kulturele Dimensies, en illustreer hoedat die magspel en wedywering om leierskap vóór en ná kolonisering, weliswaar ’n uitvloeisel van kultuur, met verloop van tyd verander het.