Abstract
Since the 1970s the dynamics of conversion have been a focal point of research with regard to the impact of Christianity on traditional African societies. Much of the scholarly debate about the matter has concentrated on West Africa. Such academic authorities as Elizabeth Isichei, Robin Horton, and Caroline Ifeka-Moller provided different theories about the relative importance of various factors. Within the genre of the novel, West African writers like the Ibgos Chinua Achebe, John Munonye, and T. Obinkaram added their voices to the debate through their fictional reconstructions of the confrontation of missionary Christianity and traditional cultures. That of Onuora Nzekwu is explored in this article.
Highlights
Since the 1970s the dynamics of conversion have been a focal point of research with regard to the impact of Christianity on traditional African societies
As one historian of Christianity in Igboland has pointed out, fewer than 1 000 Igbos may have converted during the latter half of the nineteenth century, but the census of 1931 indicated that in a total population of 3 172 789 Igbos no fewer than 347 427 identified themselves as Christians
The 94 049 Catholics constituted a plurality of 27 per cent.[2]
Summary
Since the 1970s the dynamics of conversion have been a focal point of research with regard to the impact of Christianity on traditional African societies. In general, those missions which had the largest number of and best equipped white missionaries had been the most effective in converting Igbos to the Christian faith.
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