This is an interesting view. And I'm quite delighted to be tagged unto this conversation. I've read several views on the matter, but didn't bother to comment. Since I've been 'dragged' here, this is what I will say.
First, your territorial sense of authenticity is not new. In the study of African art (film and drama), several scholars have argued that only those who have truly 'experienced' Africa in Mazrui's conception of a triple heritage can lay claim to producing African art. In this sense, Achebe is one, Elba is not.
In adaptation studies, those who argue for cultural property and propriety would indicate that, again, cultural production must be authenticated by the 'owners' of the cultural product and its 'initiates'. Again, in this case, the Igbos (who you seem to represent by this post at, what Idegu would call the "first level") are, while Elba (whom you disqualify) isn't.
But here is the issue, for me. Things Fall Apart, is a creative work which is set in colonial Igboland where the cultural heritage of a people is being challenged by a colonial influence, thus the fissures of rigidity and superiority. Written by Chinua Achebe, an African, the novel has enjoyed incredible global translatory attention and treatment. Some have noted that the novel is a good representation of being Igbo, some think it is just one man's appreciation of his culture, or what he assumed it to be. However, and most importantly, it is just a novel to be read and interpreted like any work of art. If only Yoruba men could perform plays which depict or are set in Yoruba spaces (ideological and physical), then where is the art in the life of the Yoruba, for instance.
I have argued, during the 'crazy' argument on Afolayan’s Anikulapo regarding fealty in representation, I'll share link way below, that art ought to be appreciated on its inherent textual power and resources rather than by an illogical sense of entitlement and some mechanical desire for faithfulness to an outside reference.
Okonkwo, as much as he resonates with Africans, is a fictional character. Elba is an actor. He has played so many roles both biopic and fiction. And I've adjudged him as an amazing interpreter of roles. I'm sure that you have, too.
If we are disqualifying Elba even before he plays the role rather than based on a credible analysis of his interpretation and actual acting, then there is something fundamentally wrong with us that effuses an omen which has brought us to where we are, politically and economically, as Nigerians, today. Abinibi vs ability. Emilokan vs Iyalokan.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375232226_Mimesis_and_the_Paronomasia_of_Infidelity_in_Kunle_Afolayan's_Anikulapo_2022
Ola Ifatimehin Ph.D
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