Anthills of the Savannah

Since nobody recommended me any readings by African authors I found one on my own. And Anthills of the Savannah by Nigerian Chinua Achebe appeared to be one of these books I couldn’t tear myself away from reading until the small hours. The story covers the events which took place in the West African state of Kangan and seems to be a parable on the development in other dictator ruled African states. The novel is “full of a savage irony, set in a country where power has corrupted ideals, terror has silenced all but the bravest, and only fools and flatterers survive” – as it is written on the cover. I couldn’t refrain myself from comparing the plot and the perspective of “Anthills of the Savannah” with a film about Ugandan dictator Idi Amin The last King of Scotland. And I have to say that I liked book much better. One striking contrast between them (and as far I see this distinction is quite relevant in many other cases as well) is a chosen perspective. While in The last King of Scotland the story is mostly seen through the eyes of the European(s), even though the actual main character is Idi Amin, the characters of Anthills of the Savannah are almost without exception African. The perspective affects both interpersonal relations between the characters and their attitudes towards love, death, and not least the country. As things go worse and worse for the characters of the book Kangan still remains their country, not only a place they happen to be for a certain period of time and which in case of danger can be evacuated.
The question of multiple perspectives of the narrative structure is also relevant in the historical research. It has to do with the way in which a particular theme is put into focus, and the kinds of questions which are investigated. So not surprisingly “[t]his has been argued for approaches to African history by Adu Boahen, who proposes that historians should be ‘asking questions and exploring themes of relevance to the African and not the European’…”