African colonialism from Africans’ point of view came into focus Friday at a lecture titled “Achebe’s Anger: An African Critique of Colonial Representation” as a part of Eastern’s annual Literature Conference.

The lecture was given by Zohreh Sullivan, a professor of English at the University of Illinois.

The lecture was based on African author Chinua Achebe’s book “Things Fall Apart,” which is about the colonization of Africa from the African’s perspective.

Achebe is credited for writing the first post-colonial work and for giving a voice to Africans, Sullivan said.

Sullivan divided the lecture into three categories: “Achebe’s Anger,” “Colonial discourse” and “‘Things Fall Apart’ as resistance and as critique.”

Included in Sullivan’s lecture was a Power Point presentation on “Imperialism and its Afterwards.” The presentation showed cartoons depicting European men dominating the world, and portraits of men and their slaves.

“Notice who’s in the foreground and who’s in the background?” Sullivan said about the portraits.

David Raybin, professor of English, noted that this conference was different from those held in previous years.

“This conference is unique, because in the past the focus has been on American and European authors,” Raybin said.

Stephanie Ramuta, a senior English major, found the lecture “very informative.”

“I’m going to be a teacher, and I’ve had a class in post-colonial literature.” Ramuta said.

Erin Stapleton, a senior English major, enjoyed the lecture.

“I’m writing my undergraduate thesis on post colonial literature, and I’m going to teach,” Stapleton said.