Masculinity and cultural conflict in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart

The African people have varying behaviours, mannerisms, beliefs, thought patterns and way of interaction and all of these differences formed their culture and impacted their way of life. However, with the coming of the Europeans to Africa came cultural infiltration, pollution as well as alteration. This research analyses Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) from the angle of masculinity and culture clash (traditional vs. western) as brought about by westernisation. The method of investigation is analytical and descriptive, using the formalist approach: that is looking at the actions, events, sentences and interactions of the characters in order to identify and discuss how males are portrayed, paying attention to issues of cultural realism, behaviours, actions and statements of the characters. The findings of the research confirmed that African viewpoint of masculinity and culture tends to be opposed to that of the Europeans, as the actions and behaviours appropriate to a man in each society tend to differ. This led to different clashes from religious, cultural, ideological, to social beliefs. The research reached the conclusion that cultural clashes exist in the work and contributed to the final play-out of the story, where the traditional belief system had to make way for western ones; making things (cultural beliefs) fall apart. The research reveals that the male characters have both cultural and individual masculine idiosyncrasies and that the complexities of male roles confirm the pluralistic and slippery nature of masculinity. Key words: Masculinity, gender discourse, hegemony, sexuality, Nigerian novel