Towards an African-Focused Ecocriticism: the Case of Nigeria

University of Nevada, Reno Towards an African-Focused Ecocriticism: The Case of Nigeria A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English by Chengyi Coral Wu Dr. Jen Hill/Dissertation Advisor May, 2016 Copyright by Chengyi Coral Wu 2016 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by CHENGYI CORAL WU Entitled Towards An African-Focused Ecocriticism: The Case Of Nigeria be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Jen Hill, Advisor Scott Slovic, Committee Member Daniel Morse, Committee Member Charles Tshimanaga, Committee Member Hugh Shapiro, Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2016 i Abstract My dissertation explores early African environmental literary criticism, which I argue, can be traced back to the 1960s. Looking closely at early African environmental literary criticism enables us to recognize the genesis of an Africa-focused ecocriticism, a perspective that emerged in order to critique the impact of colonialism, neocolonialism, and more recent globalization on various African environments. My dissertation also compares the genesis of an Africa-focused ecocriticism to that of early Anglo-American ecocriticism, an environment-oriented approach developed originally from Anglo- American literary criticism in the 1990s in response to “the global Environmental Crisis.” Comparing the genesis of these ecocriticisms enables us to recognize a “rhizomatic,” rather than “derivative,” development of ecocriticism that occurred and prospered in different regions of the world. To understand and approach environmental issues in African literatures, I suggest that we should not explore the extent to which African literatures might respond to global environmental issues using an international ecocriticism defined and practiced in Anglo- American literary studies, but rather, following Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s concept of “poor theory,” to look to African literary texts themselves. My dissertation demonstrates how African environmental literature can provide a “theory” for an Africa-focused ecocriticism. How do African authors represent African environments and address African environmental issues through literature? Focusing on the “literary aesthetics” of African environmental literature enables us to see culturally, historically, and geographically particular representations of African environments. In turn, we might ii question how standard histories of and approaches to environmental writing in Anglo- American literature rely on a definition of nature as pristine and untouched, while in the African context we encounter an idea of nature as interdependent with human culture. My dissertation thus explores how alternative methodologies may be applied to African literature with the larger project of imagining a global ecocriticism that does not universalize but finds its local echoes in a series of complex, lateral relations across the world. In the same vein, I locate environmental tropes and concepts that are unique to the African context. My dissertation focuses on Nigerian novels specifically in an effort to demonstrate how that problematized nation-state might both require very local, historicized approaches while enabling us to come up with new methods for reading more broadly in African literature. These novels include Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), Ben Okri’s The Famished Road (1991), Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass (1962), Gabriel Okara’s The Voice (1964), Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Sozaboy (1985), and Helon Habila’s Oil on Water (2010). I pair these novels with a specific environmental trope in each of my body chapters—tropes including the forest, the country and the city, and oil. My dissertation carefully examines these environmental tropes recurrent in these Nigerian novels in order to show the promise, uniqueness, and complexity of an African- focused ecocriticism. While early Anglo-American ecocriticism tends to treat the first two tropes as reflections of universal human conditions, I aim to show how ecocriticism in an African context would question such universalism. As for the third trope, I argue that African writers’ portrayals of the resource wars in the Niger Delta critique Western iii forms of state-run environmentalism—a colonial legacy in the postcolonial world that includes much of Africa. The conclusion of my dissertation indicates potential challenges an Africa- focused ecocriticism may encounter in contemporary crises related to “Chinese”-driven resource exploitation of the continent perpetrated in the name of global, neoliberal capitalism. Introducing Chinese presence in Africa and its attendant impact on African environments to an Africa-focused ecocriticism reminds us of the limit of postcolonial ecocriticism in approaching environmental crises caused by non-Western sources. iv Acknowledgements Working on Toward an Africa-Focused Ecocriticism: The Case of Nigeria afforded me the opportunity to demonstrate a model for an Africa-focused ecocriticism— “theory,” as I argue in my dissertation, has to develop from African literary texts per se. Now that this long journey of dissertating has come to a close, I see many new doors begin to open. It is with this in mind that I must express my sincere appreciation to my dissertation chair, Dr. Jen Hill for her encouragement, inspiration, and full support during this process. Not only has Dr. Hill offered intellectual inspiration and academic advice, but she guided me through the rigor and depth of critical writing. Her guidance improved my writing significantly, enabling me to realize my vision. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Scott Slovic, Dr. Daniel Morse, Dr. Huge Shapiro, and Dr. Charles Tshimanga, all of whom examined my dissertation closely and provided constructive comments and suggestions. Dr. Slovic’s rich knowledge of ecocriticism particularly helped me re-examine the relationship between globalized ecocriticism and an Africa-focused ecocriticism my dissertation aims at developing. Dr. Morse’s comments on my dissertation prompted me to think through my dissertation's arguments in relation to contemporary postcolonial studies. My dissertation would not have come into being without the help of several other professors I had studied with during my years as a doctoral student at the University of Nevada, Reno. I would like to thanks Dr. Erin James, Dr. Anupama Mohan, and Dr. Gautam Premnath. Dr. James guided me through the writing process of my dissertation prospectus—an important document that laid out the fundamental structure and argument v of my dissertation. Dr. Mohan and Dr. Premnath both read my prospectus closely and provided constructive comments. I would also like to thank Dr. Fiona Moolla, the editor of Natures of Africa (2016), an edited volume in which my essay “Towards Ecocriticism in Africa: Literary Aesthetics in African Environmental Literature” appears. The readers’ reports of Dr. Moolla and others strengthened and deepened the argument of my essay—and helped me think through and draft what is now the introduction to my dissertation. Finally, I would like to dedicate my dissertation to my family and friends, all of whom have provided invaluable support during the process of my dissertating. My husband, Brian Krueger, is usually the first reader of my drafts. His unconditional support of my work enabled me to concentrate on my writing. My mother, Yu-Rong Xu, who spoke with me on the weekly basis, provided spiritual guidance throughout my journey. My sister, Cheng-Hsien Wu, a Doctor of Educational Psychology, is my best friend who always listens to me. I would also like to express my appreciation for the support I have received from my friends all over the world who witnessed my efforts throughout this process—Ariel Hung, Kelly Tse, Estibalitz Ezkerra, Heidi Lizbeth, Kyle Bladow, and Siobhain McGuinness. My family and friends provided a strong support system that energized me when I needed it the most. vi Table of Contents Introduction: Towards an Africa-Focused Ecocriticism: Literary Aesthetics in African Environmental Literature………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter One: Towards Globaletics of African Forests: Representations of the Forests in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Ben Okri’s The Famished Road ……………...32 Chapter Two: The Country and the City in Early Nigerian Novels: (Anti-) and (Post-) Pastoral Narratives in Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass and Gabriel Okara’s The Voice……………………………………………………………………………………..96 Chapter Three: De/Constructing Nationalism: Oil, Ethnic Minorities, and the (Anti-) Bildungsroman in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Sozaboy and Helon Habila’s Oil on Water……...166 Conclusion: Neo/Colonialism from the East? Problems of Applying Postcolonial Ecocriticism to Chinese Impacts on African Environments……………………………247 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………...266 1 Introduction Towards an Africa-Focused Ecocriticism: Literary Aesthetics in African Environmental Literature What is African Environmental Literature? What is African environmental literature? What environmental issues are revealed in African literature? How do African authors represent African environments? Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), a classic of African literature, for example, has been read and studied as an African postcolonial novel that aims to reconstruct pre- colonial African cultural identity in general and traditional

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