Call It an Obi, Not a Hut: Linguistic Resistance in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God

Abstract

An italicized, non-English word in an otherwise all-English novel demands a certain kind of recognition on the part of the reader. It stands out, it overtakes. It kills any and all assumptions favouring the complete domination of English literature from the moment it appears on the page, and it forces a Western reader to acknowledge a global context of literary works.