Commonwealth Lecture 2012

“To Instruct and Delight: A Case For Realist Literature”

Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaking about the importance of realist literature at the 15th annual Commonwealth Lecture, insisting that “the role of literature is to instruct and delight” and that realist literature becomes a ”search for humanity.”

“The world of realist literature is not the same as the real world, but it is close enough, aligned enough, to the real world to be able to illuminate it. And it is books of that sort that I would like to make a case for today.”