Proverbs as Instruments of Resistance in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine the role of proverbs in maintaining Igbo cultural identity through Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Deep analysis illuminates how proverbs encode Igbo values, worldview, and resistance toward colonial erasure through Lakoff and Jhonson’s CMT (1995). Through proverbs, metaphors are perceived representing Igbo cognitive structures: community, nature, and spirituality. Thus, the application of such proverbs by Achebe combats forces of colonialism, which has the potential for conservation of cultural continuity and academic independence. The risk of cultural loss would be addressed and the role played by language in connection to preservation of identity in light of colonial threats. Findings seem to indicate that proverbs act as cognitive tools and give expression to Igbo philosophical beliefs while granting culture continuity. This research could be said to add to the nature of postcolonial theory and language's capacity in cultural preservation. Implications of the study are extended to the lines of language education and cultural preservation. This paper delves into the connection of language, culture, and cognition to paint a more nuanced view of Igbo cultural expression and the preservation of cultural identity through proverbs.