Frankfurt, Oct 13: One of Africa's most revered novelists collected the German book trade's prestigious Peace Prize today and launched a stinging attack on the way Africans are depicted in western literature. Nigerian author Chinua Achebe said he had attempted to counter the Dehumanising images of Africans in the works of authors such as Joseph Conrad and Ernest Hemingway by giving the African people a "home" in his writing.
"These impossible characters, ugly, hardly recognisable as people, were representatives of the people in my village, the people I knew? The answer was a clear no," he said in accpeting the award at the Frankfurt book fair.
"It seemed to be simply an issue of justice to try to give them a home in my stories."
Considered one of the founders of modern African literature and a pioneer of the African novel, the 71-year-old Achebe has lived in the United States for 11 years. He is a literature professor at Bard college in New York state.
Achebe -- whose works, including "Things fall apart" (1958) and "No longer at ease" (1960), have been translated into more than 50 languages -- was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations population fund in 1999.
The German publishers and booksellers association, which sponsors the 15,000 Euro award, said Achebe had contributed to "peace in regions that have been prey to cultural conflicts."
Director Dieter Schormann called Achebe "a great humanist and mediator between cultures."
Achebe is the 53rd recipient of the award, which in 2001 went to German philosopher Juergen Habermas. He is the third African to win the prize. Bureau Report