The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel: the Intersection of Science Fiction and African Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’S Lagoon

The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel: The Intersection of Science Fiction and African Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon

Andrea Serrano Serrano © Andrea Serrano Serrano, 2020

Abstract: Lagoon (2014) by Nnedi Okorafor is an Afrofuturistic science fiction novel which fuses cyberculture, race issues, ecologism, and alien invasions. When Ayodele, an extra-terrestrial being, lands on planet Earth, Anthony, Agu and Adaora will be forced to cooperate towards the goal of building a postpetroleum, more democratic and egalitarian Nigeria. Science fiction works as a vehicle for environmental critique. Lagoon engages in an ecocritical debate, as it denounces anthropocentric attitudes that permeate cultural representations, animal exploitation and the petro- state of Nigeria. Afrofuturism and postcolonial ecocriticism interact in Lagoon, an example of anticolonial environmentalism exposing the dangers of pollution in the Niger Delta region. Okora- for’s work also decentres the human subject, as it includes animal and spiritual narrators as well as humanoid beings.

Keywords: Lagoon, Nnedi Okorafor, ecocriticism, postcolonial literature, Afrofuturism, science fiction by black authors

Lagoon (2014) written by Nnedi Okorafor from outer space in order to build a utopi- (a Nigerian-American author born in an, post-petroleum Nigeria. 1974 who currently lives in New York) is The aim of this article is to explore an Afrofuturistic novel and a rich and why non-mimetic postcolonial literature complex text where science fiction meets is still quite unknown and marginalized African folklore and horror intertwines in literary studies and by readers. African with environmental concerns. The three or Afro-diasporic writers are only now be- protagonists—Adaora, Agu and Antho- ginning to gain popularity and success ny—embark on an adventure that will re- amongst the general public. However, sci- quire them to save the polluted coast of ence fiction is still a predominantly white Lagos and cooperate with the visitors Western genre and non-Western people

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may be often othered and reduced to a studies and ecocriticism is essential to stereotype in these works. It is imperative read it. to decolonize fantasy literature and this is The following analysis is divided into why black writers are beginning to trans- three main sections. Firstly, I focus on the form the rigid parameters of speculative main controversies regarding black sci- fiction by creating literary works that are ence fiction and postcolonial ecocriticism. more inclusive and diverse. Afrofuturism Secondly, I show how Lagoon elaborates a is the flourishing movement that recon- critique of petro-culture in Nigeria and siders the way African peoples have been the country’s reliance on oil, considering depicted in mainstream science fiction the alternatives and the solutions for the works, while promoting content created future that this text presents. Finally, the by black artists. last sections deal with the deconstruction Another objective of this article is to of anthropocentrism, as this novel cele- analyse how environmental concerns are brates non-human forms of life—and this tackled from a non-Western perspective includes animals, the air, the soil and in this novel. Ecological devastation, pol- even aliens. lution and droughts are often the conse- quence of centuries of colonialism in the Global South. I study here how Lagoon 1. The Emergence of Black Science portrays a powerful image of the damage Fiction inflicted on the communities and the marine ecosystems of the Niger Delta, while 1.1. Afrofuturism at the same time paying attention to how it articulates a critique of the neo-colonial Lagoon is an Afrofuturistic novel that re- dynamics that are still perpetuated in the volves around the idea of an alien invasion current capitalist world order. Ecocriti- in Nigeria. Mark Derry coined the word cism but also Braidotti’s post-humanism “AfroFuturism” in an essay written in 1993 constitute the theoretical framework of (Nelson, 2018: 2635) and this refers to a this article, which also addresses how an- cultural movement that explores the inter- thropocentric values and human excep- sections between race, speculative fiction, tionalism are revisited and interrogated blackness, technology and the future. in the novel. Ytasha Womack states that it is more than The hypothesis I defend here is that just a literary current: Afrofuturism is a science fiction can be used as a valid vehi- political movement, a cultural revolution cle for an environmental critique, as that impregnates all sorts of artistic mani- Okorafor does. The tropes of speculative festations and it aims to “redefine culture fiction serve to articulate a counterhege- and notions of blackness for today and the monic discourse that questions anthropo- future” (2013: 9). Moreover, Womack em- centric values, the commodification of an- phasises the heterogeneous nature of the imal life, and Nigeria’s utter dependence movement, since it “combines elements of on oil (arguably, one of the consequences science fiction, historical fiction, specula- of neo-colonialism). Lagoon seeks to re- tive fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and valorise the human-nature relationship magic realism with non-Western beliefs” within the context of a technological soci- (2013: 9). Hence, it is “a total reenvisioning ety which is why bearing in mind the in- of the past and speculation of the future tersection of science fiction, postcolonial rife with cultural critiques” (9).

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Another aspect Womack highlights is sues of race, such as Richard Morgan in the stereotyped presence of black people his novel Black Man (2008). in mainstream works of speculative fic- Burnett discusses how the colonial tion. This is probably due to the miscon- gaze is present in science fiction as well. ception that Africans or African Ameri- This scholar claims that these narratives cans dislike science fiction, that it is only “often engage in the othering of indige- successful in North America, Europe and nous people to the point where the latter Australia, and that there is no such thing become nonhuman” (2015: 134). Thus, na- as an African geek culture. Bryce provides tives are presented as exotic, opposed, an illustrative example: when author remote and alien (quite literally). Moreo- Nick Wood tried to publish his novel The ver, it is not unusual to find that even Stone Chameleons in South Africa, the when such novels attempt to critique co- publisher replied that “black people don’t lonialism, they promote in fact “the prob- read science fiction” (“South African SF”, lematic assumptions underlying the colo- 2012, cited in Bryce, 2019: 3). According- nial project” (Burnett, 2015: 134). Burnett ly, there are few examples of black pro- mentions The War of the Worlds (1897) as tagonists in canonical science fiction films an example of this (2015: 134), as H. G. or novels and, whenever they appear, Wells supported the eugenics movement their depiction tends to be simplistic and and some readings of the text suggest he full of clichés. Womack mentions “the si- might be in fact defending these beliefs. lent, mystical type” (2013: 7) or the “scary These issues are only a few of the con- witch doctor” (2013: 7); these fictional fig- troversies the genre of science fiction pre- ures are closely related to African and pa- sents: it often was a predominantly white, gan mythology, the unknown, witchcraft, middle-class, male, straight narrative occultism and magic (some of these fig- genre rather than a platform for counter- ures certainly resemble shamans). It is hegemonic discourse (Burnett, 2015: 137). deeply problematic that even in fantasy However, Afrofuturist writers are chang- literature—a genre in which everything is ing these preconceived notions and they possible, where “cuddly space animals, are exploring the new realities of a post- talking apes, and time machines” (Wom- colonial—or neo-colonial—situation in the ack, 2013: 7) are acceptable—the reader- African countries in their works. They are ship cannot bear the idea of “a person of reversing preconceptions about Africa and non-Euro descent a hundred years into its peoples: they want to reintegrate black the future” (7). These examples show that people into the discussion of modern sci- non-realist fiction can also be embedded ence, technological advances and cyber- in colonial patterns of thought and that it culture (Womack, 2013: 17). Therefore, can reproduce the same racial stereotypes writers such as Okorafor are contributing as any other narrative genre. However, it to the diversification of this literary genre needs to be acknowledged that modern by including varied characters (social out- science fiction is more diverse and there casts, women, members of the LGBT+ are white authors, such as Ursula K. Le community) and engaging in debates Guin, who have introduced fully devel- about the role of black people when it oped black characters that are not mere comes to scientific advances and the fu- archetypes—Genli Ai in The Left Hand of ture. For instance, the protagonist of La- Darkness (1969) is a good example. Other goon, Adaora, is a marine biologist with white writers have shown interest in is- an impressive career as an academic and

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a scientist. Hence, Afrofuturist artists are lenged dominant narratives, in other trying to deconstruct the idea of Africa— words, to write back. This was no doubt a and its people—as a backward and primi- necessary effort for it was—and still is— tive continent, not related to progress, important to analyse and examine the co- technoculture or the future. As Burnett lonial (and neo-colonial) violence that is says; “our imagined futures cannot be ex- perpetuated in today’s world. clusively white and Western, with people Some African artists still think today of color absent or peripheral, either way that science fiction has not come to Africa written out of humanity’s future and yet because it fails to fulfil the require- past” (2015: 135). ments of the readers or spectators. The following quotation is the opinion of the Nigerian film director Tchidi Chikere: 1.2. The Postcolonial Novel and Sci- ence Fiction Science fiction will come here when it is relevant to the people of Africa. Right now, Much of Anglophone African literature Africans are bothered about issues of bad leadership, the food crisis in East Africa, has been mainly social realist; the publi- refugees in the Congo, militants here in cation in 1958 of Things Fall Apart Nigeria. Africans are bothered about roads, shaped the postcolonial literary landscape electricity, water wars, famine, etc, not (Bryce, 2019: 2). Hence, it could be argued spacecrafts and spaceships. Only stories that black science fiction has also been that explore these everyday realities are overlooked by postcolonial scholars, even considered relevant to us for now. (in those specializing in African literature. Okorafor, 2014b: online) Novels dealing with the traumatic history of African countries, the violence exe- This statement is perfectly reasonable, cuted by colonizers, religious issues, iden- but it has some limitations that must be tity, wars and so on have received much acknowledged. In the first place, the film scholarly attention. As Bryce puts it, “the director is defending that there are genres paradigms of postcolonial theory—writing which are praiseworthy because they deal back, hybridity, mimicry, center and pe- with serious issues, like political crises or riphery, etc.—have tended to privilege wars in the continent, and do not pay at- explicitly national narratives and con- tention to banalities like “spacecrafts and cepts of identity-construction” (2019: 2). spaceships.” This assumption is shared by Another academic, Alondra Nelson, em- many authors, who believe they cannot phasises that a tradition of social realism write science fiction if they want to be has been encouraged and fostered by Af- taken seriously: Okorafor herself notes rodiasporic artists and scholars in order that “many African writers still dismiss to be taken seriously (2018: 2637). She genre fiction like science fiction and fan- further argues that they “feared that to tasy as ‘childish’ or ‘amateur’” (2014b: stop keeping things real was to lose the online). In fact, science fiction can be ethi- ability to recognize and protest the very cally committed as well. Speculative fic- inequities in the social world” (2637). Af- tion has the power to build sophisticated rican or Afrodiasporic authors believed it and complex metaphors of current socio- was their duty to tell their truth, to un- political crises; it is a genre rich in sym- mask the crimes perpetuated by the colo- bolism. An apparent simple story of an al- nisers, to articulate a discourse that chal- ien invasion or intergalactic wars could be

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questioning gender constructs, it could be tems are intrinsic to African modes of articulating an anticolonial critique or it speculative storytelling” (Bryce, 2019: 3). could be challenging the essence of hu- Traditional African mythologies contain manness. The allegories can be more supernatural elements and this could cer- complex in speculative fiction narratives tainly be the seed for non-realist litera- and thus the underlying critique could be tures. Henceforth, Bryce implies that “fu- more opaque to the reader. Nnedi Okora- turism has been a strain in African for shares this line of thinking: “Aside writing from its inception” (2019: 1). from generating innovative ideas, science Bryce’s theory is plausible and it would fiction also triggers both a distancing and contradict the preconception that fantasy associating effect. This makes it an excel- literature is a Western invention. In fact, lent vehicle for approaching taboo and so- the insertion of elements of African my- cially-relevant yet overdone topics in new thology is a device which Okorafor uses in ways. Oh, and these narratives are a lot of Lagoon: Ijele’s apparition in a café near fun, too” (Okorafor, 2014b: online, empha- Bar Beach or the presence of the Haitian sis added). Finally, Okorafor highlights spirit Legba (the god of crossroads) both the recreational purpose of science fiction, constitute horror episodes in the novel. making a literary genre which aims at Furthermore, Adaora’s husband makes providing entertainment is also laudable. constant allusions to witchcraft and he Because of the insistence on consider- accuses his wife of being a marine witch. ing the colonial past, any futuristic think- The intersection between elements of Af- ing has been erased from mainstream rican folklore and science fiction is hence postcolonial literature. Nelson mentions made explicit in Lagoon but from an Afri- that this “cultural environment” was “of- can point of view. ten hostile to speculation, experimenta- tion, and abstraction” (2018: 2637). Henceforth, it could be said that science 1.3. Postcolonial Ecocriticism and fiction and fantasy literature have been Science Fiction neglected both by authors and by postcolonial scholars. Nelson also points out Lagoon is a complex, multi-layered novel the need to speculate about the future: that combines different narrative genres “futurism is a necessary complement to and critical perspectives. I focus next on realism” because otherwise “the reality the ecological disasters portrayed in the of oppression without utopianism will novel and the relationships between hu- surely lead to nihilism” (2018: 2637). mans and nature, therefore a brief review Thus, it is important to acknowledge the of the evolution of environmental thought extremely violent situations the coun- and ecocriticism is fundamental. tries of the Global South have experi- Scholars have introduced the notions enced for centuries as a product of their of first-wave and second-wave ecocriti- colonial past, but imagining what a fu- cism, which differ considerably. On the ture, more advanced society might look one hand, first-wave ecocritics embrace like is also much needed. mimetic representations of nature and fo- It has now been suggested that traces cus on achieving “a clear, unmediated re- of non-realist literature could be found in flection of the natural world and to give indigenous cosmologies and beliefs: voice to nature” (Caminero-Santangelo, “myth, orality, and indigenous belief sys- 2014a: 10). First-wave ecocriticism con-

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siders the relationship between humans literature can “unwittingly justify the vio- and the non-human, the connection with lence done to indigenous peoples, cul- the natural world and the depiction of tures, forms of knowledge, and places wilderness within a particular text. This through an imperialism working in the theoretical approach is very much apoliti- name of objective science” (Caminero- cal, as it leaves the social aspects aside. Santangelo, 2014a: 10). Consequently, some scholars have shown Therefore, any ‘objective’ writing on how problematic this is, as it “can lead to the environment in the African continent an uncritical approach to Western science would be overlooking the ecological disas- and its claims of scientific objectivity” ters caused by the West: poverty, health (Caminero-Santangelo, 2014a: 10). In risks and social injustice. African narra- fact, Caminero-Santangelo reminds us tives are ideological and political; they do that behind the colonization of Africa not aim at impartiality and neutrality be- there was a scientific justification (2014a: cause this aesthetic position would simply 10).1 Postcolonial ecocritics highlight the be negationist. These writers want to flaws and limitations of this perspective, unmask the power dynamics working in while sharing the main postulates— the exploitation of African resources, the revalorization of the non-human, concern unequal distribution of wealth and the for pollution and global warming. consequences this has on the population; On the other hand, second-wave eco- they are politically committed and they critics focus on decentring ecocriticism in- articulate counterhegemonic discourses. stead. The role of imperialism in trans- In this sense, postcolonial ecocriticism is forming traditional economies, similar to eco-Marxism and social ecology, ecosystems, livelihoods and the nature of since these theoretical approaches under- the African continent cannot be denied. stand that ecological disasters are not The imperial project did not only cause caused by anthropocentric attitudes ex- the destruction of the socio-cultural struc- clusively; they are attributed to capital- tures, but it also altered the physical en- istic forms of exploitation and domination vironment and the natural landscapes (Garrad, 2004: 28). (and these consequences are still very Nevertheless, this taxonomy has represent). Hence, a theoretical position ceived serious criticism. Some scholars ob- that favours objective environmentalist ject to this distinction as it implies the ex- ————— istence of a hierarchy; it suggests that postcolonial ecocriticism is a secondary 1 Environmentalist discourses sometimes run parallel to colonial history. Environmental phenomenon, thus rather marginal and historians argue that dominant Western nar- peripheral. First-wave ecocriticism ap- ratives have tended to portray Africans as in- pears unmarked and universal if this cat- capable of understanding and taking care of egorization is taken into account. Post- their biodiversity and thus “suggesting that colonial ecocritics argue that, on the environmentalist efforts in Africa need to be contrary, African writers have actively conceived and led by non-Africans” (Caminero- created an imaginary of nature and that Santangelo, 2014a: 10). This has caused the their contributions are not derived from removal of entire communities in order to create spaces of wilderness; these measures were American and European representations executed by those from the West—who had a (Caminero-Santangelo, 2014a: 12). Nige- supposedly proper environmental sensibility rian writers such as Niyi Osundari, Ta- (13). nure Ojaide, Helon Habila are conscious

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of “the ecological implications of man’s publication of Anglophone 20th century exploitative tendencies on earth’s re- science-fiction proper began in the USA sources” (Edebor, 2017: 43), thus proving through pulp magazines, which were in- that this is not only a Western concern expensive periodicals aimed at the masses and that they are actively involved in this (Attebery, 2003: 32). However, Lagoon global social movement. These examples proves that a science fiction novel can ar- show that the distinction between “first- ticulate a subversive, sophisticated dis- wave” and “second-wave” criticism seems course which is critical with the legacies to rely on the centre-periphery opposition; of colonialism and deeply concerned with therefore proving that it is essential to ecological issues. Environmental science decentre ecocriticism. Chengyi Coral Wu fiction thus engages in discussions about (2016: 6) prefers to use the word “rhi- sustainability, pollution, or climate zomatic” to refer to environmental criti- change always paying attention to the cism, as it was an extended phenomenon role of imperial exploitation in defining which took root in several parts of the the current socio-economic landscape of world. African ecocriticism, she insists, Africa. This makes it as relevant or more was not a “derivative development” of than mimetic fiction. Anglo-American scholarship (7) but an Mackey (2018) makes an interesting independent creation. contribution, as the scholar says science Lagoon is a hybrid text where science fiction can serve as an antidote to passivi- fiction, environmental critique and post- ty; it can offer new perspectives on the colonialism are intermingled. Mackey us- consequences of environmental devasta- es the term “environmental science fiction in a few years’ time. It serves as a tion” (2018: 530) to refer to stories in pedagogical tool: “Providing readers and which all those elements come together, viewers with a glimpse of possible fu- acknowledging the contribution of “Af- tures, the extrapolative nature of the gen- rodiasporic, African, and Indigenous and re lends itself to critical ecological peda- Aboriginal futurisms […] in widespread gogy” (531). Thus, it is “a catalyst for cultural debates about humanity’s re- environmental change” (530). Okorafor sponsibility toward the environment” also believes in the intrinsic value of (530). These narratives explore the ways speculative fiction for, as she writes, by which humans can reconnect with the “[s]cience fiction carries the potential to non-human elements of the universe al- change the world” (Okorafor, 2014b: ways through a postcolonial lens. “Locat- online). ed in the interstices of environmental and postcolonial science fictions,” Mackey writes, “these narratives can, at the very 2. “Oceanic Futurism:” Lagoon and least, serve as antidotes to complacency the Coalescence of Petro-Fiction and in light of the uneven planetary distribu- Science Fiction tion of resources or despair in the face of environmental devastation” (530). In the Lagoon’s target for its environmental cri- past, science fiction was regarded as a tique are the ecological disasters and the light, non-serious genre, fitted only for social inequalities in the Niger Delta re- the lower classes and those who consume gion that have been exposed and analysed popular culture. In fact, despite the Brit- by Rob Nixon. He explains that Nigeria ish scientific romances by H.G. Wells the depends largely on oil for its economic

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survival and that the corporation Shell is sequences and irreversible dangers on the the most important foreign stakeholder environment, the communities and other (Nixon, 2013: 106). Nixon adds that the living beings, namely animals and sea distribution of oil revenue is extremely creatures. unequal since “85 percent of oil wealth Unlike Oil on Water, Lagoon is a non- goes to a mere 1 percent of the popula- mimetic narrative, but that does not tion” (2013: 106). Moreover, the ecological mean it ignores the social injustices and devastation affects the minorities who environmental degradation in Lagos. In live in the Delta, as they lack political fact, there is in the novel a clear ethical representation and thus Government pro- positioning and it expresses a deep anxie- tection and proper rights. The extremely ty about the future of Nigeria, the hu- polluted landscape in the regions inhabit- mans that live in the most polluted re- ed by the Ogoni people are described as gions and the marine species. Lagoon follows: “Ogoni air had been fouled by the contains many episodes in which a cri- ﬂaring of natural gas, their croplands tique of the environmental situation in scarred by oil spills, their drinking and Nigeria is made explicit. Okorafor de- ﬁshing waters poisoned” (Nixon, 2013: nounces the pollution of the water in the 108). The traditional subsistence econo- Niger Delta region from the very first mies have been destabilised and de- chapter. The novel focuses on the marine stroyed systematically; the delta commu- animals, who are even more fragile and nities lack the most basic human needs vulnerable to this situation because they and their survival depends entirely on do not have a voice. The character them; it is a life-or-death struggle. through which the action is focalized is in Edebor (2017: 43) mentions the grow- fact an angry swordfish that aims to de- ing consciousness and interest of African stroy one of the oil pipelines: “She knows authors such as Sophia Obi-Apoko and where she is going. She is aiming for the Ogochukwu Promise or the poets Niyi thing that looks like a giant dead snake” Osundare and Tanure Ojaide regarding (Okorafor, 2014a: 3).2 The motive behind environmental degradation. These writers this action is revenge, the swordfish has thus show their concern for the prospects experienced the harmful effects of water for the future if no effective change is pollution and she has decided to fight made and the exploitation of the natural back: “They brought the stench of dry- resources goes on in a region that is one of ness, […] and made the world bleed black the most polluted on earth and “would ooze that left poison rainbows on the wa- take thirty years and one billion dollars to ter’s surface. […] Inhaling them stings clean up” (Caminero-Santagnelo, 2014b: and burns her gills” (3, emphasis added). 137). This scholar analyses Helon The descriptions are enigmatic and the Habila’s Oil on Water (2010), a novel author is successful in creating a lethar- which provides a perceptive insight into gic, oceanic-like atmosphere; however, the severely damaged Niger Delta region this excerpt is not simply a fantastic in- and the violence-ridden country of Nige- terlude, it contains a powerful social ria. The problems that plague the African commentary. A striking example of this is nation seem endless: “mass deaths, dislo- the insistence on the word they to signal cation, sicknesses, avoidable accidents, ————— serious violence” (Edebor, 2017: 45). Oil 2 Henceforth all quotations from the novel on Water also draws attention to the con- will be indicated by the page number only.

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the difference between the sea animals are willing to help humans; Ayodele tells (we) and the humans, especially those the Nigerian president they “do not want who own oil companies and are responsi- to rule, colonize, conquer or take” (220). ble for the ecological catastrophe. By the They settle in the ocean and they cleanse end of the novel, Adaora manages to it: “the ocean water just outside Lagos, speak to the swordfish: “I heard its voice Nigeria, is now so clean that a cup of its in my head” (261). Then she adds that it salty-sweet goodness will heal the worst “spoke like a member of that group human illnesses […]. It is more alive than Greenpeace” (262), with a fully articulate it has been in centuries and it is teeming discourse. with aliens and monsters” (6, original em- There are more passages in the novel phasis). Melody Jue comments that the which focus on petro-culture and the aliens are an antidote to dependence on damages caused by it. When Kola, the fossil fuels (2017: 173). The key to renew- daughter of Adaora, speaks to Ayodele al lies in mutual cooperation; Lagoon cel- she emphasises the destruction of the ebrates interspecies connection—from the natural environment: “My mother says smallest animals to aliens, the ocean and the waters are dirty and dead because of even breathing air—in order to regener- oil companies” (68). Edebor also notes the ate the natural landscape. Ayodele failure of the Governments to “ensure acknowledges that “It is a matter of con- regulation and prosecution of environ- necting and communicating” (220). mental polluters” (2017: 42). According to The aliens are willing to help the hu- Nixon, Shell and other companies argue mans (in exchange for a home) and, that these are Nigerian internal affairs thanks to their lessons, Nigeria is finally and they cannot intervene; then, “under marching “towards a maturing democra- cover of deference for national sovereign- cy” (277). The president feels his country ty, they continue to act as ethical absen- will be mighty and he says so when he tees” (2013: 107). addresses the nation: “For the first time Ayodele, the alien from beyond the since we cast off the shackles of colonial- stars, is able to understand the ocean an- ism, over a half-century ago, since we imals and communicate with them. The rolled through decades of corruption and extra-terrestrial being carries their mes- internal struggle, we have reached the sage to humans: “It’s the people of the tipping point. And here in Lagos, we have waters […]. They are tired of boats and passed it […]” (277). The prospects for the human beings” (240). The marine species future are positive, Okorafor imagines a revolt and they threaten to destroy the oil utopian society which finds peace after companies’ technology: “All the offshore decades of conflict. This is accomplished drilling facilities would be destroyed by by a total integration of the diverse the people of the water. […] Oil could no groups of people and races who conform longer be Nigeria’s top commodity” (273). this futuristic Nigeria. The president en- Jue mentions that a process of renewal is courages a solidarity that transcends spe- necessary, though nobody is really acting: cies: “People of Lagos […], look at your “Lagoon recognizes that the key to La- neighbour. See his race, tribe, or his alien gos’s survival is a clean ocean, purged of blood. And call him brother” (278). The leaky oil-drilling operations” (2017: 173). general outlook of the novel is a positive The interesting twist this science- one; ecological reparation is possible fiction narrative presents is that aliens thanks to the technology of the aliens:

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“the land would be pure and […] crops and diasporic imaginations after the Mid- would grow as they never had before. Ex- dle Passage come together (2017: 176- tinct creatures would return” (279). Jue 177). In fact, the enslavement of millions mentions that “Okorafor’s oceanic Afrofu- of Africans finds its echo in the current turism leads to a utopian politics of the situation; Western countries still exert possible”, thus this “petrofiction” consti- their influence on the former colonies. tutes a portrait of what a post-petroleum The paradigms have changed (the Atlan- Nigeria could look like (2017: 175) if only tic slave trade is a past abomination), but the Government were willing to diversify the Nigerian economy still depends on the economy and rely on other natural re- North American, Western European and sources other than oil. The ending is not East Asian multinational corporations. fatalistic or grim; fantasy literature has The ocean thus offers enormous creative the power to imagine better futures, even possibilities and it becomes highly sym- if this is not close to reality. Afrofuturism bolic for these authors as a model for re- has the power to envision a different fu- generation. ture and Lagoon conceives an idealistic The oceanic imagery Okorafor creates future where the destruction of the envi- in Lagoon is very powerful; the novel is a ronment, species, habitats and livelihoods celebration of the diversity of sea life. For in the Niger Delta is no longer a painful example, Adaora is taken into the depths reality.3 of the sea and afterwards she recalls the The danger inflicted upon the natural magical, almost surreal atmosphere: environment, and especially upon the ocean, can only be understood if we see In the surrounding glowing water had been the notion of respect for the sea as an in- a riot of bright yellow butterfly fish, clown tegral part of Nigerian culture in this dis- fish, sea bass, eels, shrimps, urchins, star- cussion. The significance of the sea in La- fish, sharks, stingrays, swordfish, barracu- goon is in line with broader and da, a bit of everything local; some from the increasing interest for the ocean as a deep, some from the shallows. She’d never space for rethinking environmental imag- seen such a thriving coral community in inaries—mainly focused on terrestrial any of her drives off the coast of Lagos. (53) spaces—, epistemologies and theoretical frameworks (Buell, 1998; Cohen 2012, This is a mesmerising and vivid ma- cited in Jue: 2017, 176). Alaimo (2019) rine scene; colours, shapes and creatures uses the term blue humanities to refer to come together in a vertiginous spiral of the environmental orientation of oceanic ocean life. This scene suggests the sublim- scholarship. Jue also notes that the ocean ity of the sea; it is enigmatic in its huge- is a recurrent element in Afrofuturism; it ness. is a space where traditional cosmologies Lagoon praises the ocean: its water, fluidity, floods, dynamism. Melody Jue ————— (2017) uses the word “Oceanic Futurism” 3 Eutopias convey momentary relief from to describe this particular genre in which the calamities that surround us. In our coro- the water becomes a fundamental ele- navirus times, it is surprising to observe the increasing consumption of dystopian movies ment. The love, awe, admiration for water and series in successful online platforms. The and the belief in the purifying powers of fact that some audiences crave for this sort of the sea impregnate this novel. The sea is fiction is perplexing. presented as a magical space, an unfath-

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omable place: “The sea always takes more The city exerts its fascination upon than it gives. / Right now, as I weave, the Adaora: “Lagos was riddled with corrup- sea roils and boils with life” (228, empha- tion but she couldn’t imagine living any- sis in original). It also has healing powers where else. And its ocean life was fasci- and it is the source of life: “The cure for nating. And problematic. It needed her” anything is salt water—sweat, tears, or (64, emphasis added). Adaora feels the the sea” (epigraph). The paratext is thus moral need to remain in the main city of important because it gives clues to the Nigeria because she wants to contribute reader; in this case emphasising the rele- to the reparation and further improve- vance of the ocean in this literary work. ment of the severely damaged marine Furthermore, Adaora repeats the phrase ecosystem. Thus Lagos, its waters and its “aman iman” on several occasions, a say- ocean life captivates its inhabitants, and ing in the Tuareg language Tamashek even the visitor from outer space. that means “water is life” (12). Another example of the centrality of water in Lagoon is the initial name 3. Deconstructing Anthropocentrism Adaora thinks of for the extraterrestrial being the first time they encounter her: The following sections will examine how immediately, she thinks of the name the notion of anthropocentrism is chal- “Miri”, but then the biologist dismisses it lenged and revisited in the novel. Okora- because “[t]he name needed to be more for’s work disputes the hierarchical model subtle than the Igbo word for ‘water’” (18). that places (white) man at the centre of This clarification makes us think that the the universe. Lagoon’s purpose is to ques- novel is written for an American reader- tion the anthropocentric vision that dom- ship rather than a Nigerian one, as they inates Western epistemologies and cul- would have known this information. tural representations. Rosi Braidotti Okorafor was born in the United States (2013a: 13) confronts the model of the from Nigerian parents and she currently classical and universal Man, “the meas- lives in New York, so her readers are ure of all things” and the Vitruvian man mainly American, a point that must be (who has become the emblem of European noted even though the author is here em- humanist thinking). She argues that this phasizing her Nigerian heritage. fixed paradigm has determined Western The title of the novel itself is very re- philosophy. Braidotti further adds that vealing. The author tells us in a note at this cultural logic excludes alternative the beginning of the narrative that the subjectivities; non-human entities (ani- story takes place in the capital of Nigeria, mals, plants, the physical environment), Lagos, a “city [that] takes its name from as well as racialized and sexualized bod- the Portuguese word for ‘lagoon’” in plural ies categorized as the “other” (2013a: 15). (epigraph). The author notes that the Por- Braidotti expresses this idea as follows: tuguese landed in Lagos in the 15th centu- “the women’s rights movement; the anti- ry and “[a]pparently, they could not come racism and de-colonization movements; up with a more creative name” (epigraph). the anti-nuclear and pro-environment The irony contained in the remark pre- movements are the voices of the structur- sents an anticolonial positioning. Fur- al Others of modernity. They inevitably thermore, there is an inherent energy to mark the crisis of the former humanist Lagos, a chaotic yet unescapable force. ‘centre’ or dominant subject-position […]”

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(2013a: 37). Braidotti’s post-humanism is, Nigerian-American author has recently thus, a theory that displaces Europe, the published: unmarked category of Man, from the centre of Humanism, and which advocates a plural, more ethical philosophy which di- rectly confronts human exceptionalism. Ayodele summarises perfectly the dif- ficulties of decentring the human subject by stating that “human beings have a hard time relating to that which does not resemble them” (67). However, one of the main postulates of ecocriticism is precise- ly this one: the need to acknowledge and revalorize the literary depictions of other terrestrial beings, the earth, the wilderness, that is to say, the non-human. La- goon constitutes a celebration of all living beings; human and non-human creatures connect in it, even aliens and spiritual deities from West-African folklore. The novel is thus a call for total integration, and this expands to plants, foreign creatures from other parts of the cosmos, inanimate beings, and even the earth we tread on. The amalgam of beings that populate the pages of the narrative is extraordi- Fig. 1 @nnediokorafor. LaGuardia’s front cover. nary, and it makes the literary work ec- Instagram, April 12, 2020, lectic and diverse. The range of individu- https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4j5OclEqW/ als who appear goes from science fiction characters—aliens, monsters who look The image shows people and aliens like Star Wars creatures (251)—to hu- attending a demonstration: they are mans and animals that inhabit this holding banners with powerful messages, planet. Jue adds that this novel “does not appealing to the rights of non-human precategorize the other—aliens, under- populations. Alien beings and Nigerian water cities, monstrous sea creatures, women—there is even one who is preg- indigenous deities—ahead of time, into nant, which is an allusion to the fight for the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or reproductive rights and personal auton- the folkloric” (2017: 175) instead “it cul- omy—are marching together. They are tivates a practice of listening to the oth- taking part in a protest against the op- er” (2017: 175) in order to work together pressions and inequalities these minori- towards the goal of cleansing the ocean ties experience in their daily lives. and making it habitable. The desire and Again, the symbiosis of science fiction, ambition to include all forms of life can environmental ethics and anticolonial also be seen in Okorafor’s other produc- thought is made explicit. tions. The following image is the front cover of LaGuardia, a graphic story the

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3.1. Decentering the Human Subject: ria—animals, plant and spirit.” Their ex- Narratological Devices periences are no longer marginal or peripheral and they take part in the events. In Lagoon there are three chapters writ- The novel is divided into three main sec- ten from the point of view of animals. tions or acts (“Welcome”, “Awakening” Thus, non-human narrators—a bat, a and “Symbiosis”). At the beginning of spider and a swordfish—offer new per- each part there is a chapter narrated by spectives on how they see, experience and an animal. The first chapter is the one connect with the outside world. In a note featuring the swordfish, which has been at the end of the novel the author men- examined above. The marine creatures tions that in first contact narratives, al- have a fundamental role in the novel as iens initially interact with humans. La- they rebel against the oil companies’ in- goon reverses the parameters of frastructures that are poisoning their mainstream science fiction novels, as the habitat: they want the water to be clean, extraterrestrial beings communicate with “for sea life… which meant toxic for mod- sea creatures in the first place. The visi- ern, civilized, meat-eating, clean-water- tors from beyond the stars make no dis- drinking human beings” (248, original el- tinction between the diverse forms of life lipsis). Humans have taken possession of and they decide to interact with the ani- natural goods, they have dominated other mals first. The note also adds that most of species (provoking the extinction of count- the planet—around 70% of the surface of less creatures) and exploited resources, the Earth—is covered by oceans, rivers, but in Lagoon the inhabitants of the seas lakes and so on. Hence, although humans have the opportunity to fight back and re- populate land surfaces, there is life be- gain that which had always been theirs. yond our cities, countries and civiliza- Hence, the introduction of the voice of the tions. The focus is no longer on humans swordfish allows for a critique of the dom- but rather on marine species and the deep inating nature of human enterprises. waters of the Atlantic, “the people of the The other two narrators that open Act waters” (240). In fact, it is important to II and III are a tarantula and a bat. The note that Lagoon’s innovation is two-fold. readers are able to experience their lives On the one hand, as noted the aliens con- and struggles because they are given an tact marine animals—and not humans— opportunity to see the world through their in the first place. On the other hand, the lenses. The bat can communicate with extra-terrestrial beings do not land in a other members of her species using ultra- cosmopolitan, “advanced,” European sonic squeaks and echolocation. The read- country, but they do so in a country from er learns that “[s]he has no words for col- the Global South. Thus, the action takes or because she is a bat and bats do not see place in Nigeria and not in Tokyo, Los colors” (224), but they can perceive Angeles or London (Jue, 2017: 175) or any sounds in a different way; a sound can be other city of the rich North. “visceral, thick, but not quite substantial” There are multiple subjectivities that (223). The human senses, our system of appear on the pages of Lagoon. Okorafor communication (language), the way we gives animals a voice, a space within the categorize the world and the meaning we myriad of stories that conform this novel. attribute to sounds, words and sentences In fact, the work is dedicated to “the di- are being interrogated. We take these verse and dynamic people of Lagos, Nige- concepts and our understanding of the

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universe for granted but these interludes However, there are some parts written offer a new prism, a different perspective using the first person and they are visual- on everyday events. ly distinct from the others because these Moreover, the narrator praises the parts are in italics. In chapter 44 the lives of these beings, no matter how mi- reader becomes aware of who is narrating nuscule, insignificant and apparently an- this tale: “I am Udide, the narrator, the noying. The readers are told that the spi- story weaver, the Great Spider” (228, em- der has lost a leg in an accident, and that phasis in original). The Igbo deity has this was a “blow to his identity” (120). been weaving and carefully layering the Thus, the seven-limbed tarantula has a different parts and pieces of the story: “I sense of being, just as humans do. Be- spin the story. This is the story I’ve spun” sides, both these animals meet tragic des- (291). tinies: Adaora’s car crushes the spider un- This literary strategy creates a poly- intentionally and the bat is killed by the phonic effect; the different stories, voices, Nigerian President’s plane. These epi- echoes, visions and perspectives overlap sodes show that these lives are disposable in the “great tapestry” (292) which Udide because animals are only a commodity for Okwanka weaves non-stop. The spider humans: we consume animal products, we seems to be an omniscient force, a divine keep them as pets, we trade and sell them creature who is aware of everything be- and we destroy them non-chalantly. cause it has been part of this universe Braidotti emphases this point: “In ad- from the beginning: “I know it all because vanced capitalism, animals […] have been I created it all” (291). The deity knows the turned into tradable disposable bodies, stories of everybody: “I’ve knitted their inscribed in a global market of post- stories and watched them knit their own anthropocentric exploitation” (2013b: 70). crude webs” (291). The narrator addresses Okorafor is therefore revalorising the the reader to ask jokingly if we wish to naturalized other stating that these bod- know what happens to Chris, Agu, ies, these lives are equally important. Adaora, Anthony, Kola and the others. Another narratological device Okorafor However, the god-spider cannot solve this uses in order to decentre human subjec- mystery because it “feels the press of other tivity and give voice to other entities is stories” (292). Udide Okwanka seems to exemplified by the fact that the narrator establish a continuum, there is no end of the story is the Igbo deity Udide and no beginning because the stories of Okwanka—the spiritual dimension of the the people of Nigeria are part of the same novel is worth noting. All the chapters are tapestry, they are rather cyclical than narrated in the third person: there is a lineal. Therefore, Lagoon seems to be like heterodiegetic narrator who knows all the a palimpsest: new texts dialogue with details regarding the plot and this is Udi- former texts, all stories are imbricated de Okwanka. It seems to hover above the and interconnected, the voices of the story, but it is not involved in the main characters overlap. action. The narrator is an internal- The notion of weaving, transforming focaliser because it adopts the perspective and rewriting stories continually reso- of the different characters this novel con- nates with ancient story-telling rites and tains—sometimes it explains the events ceremonies typical of West African re- from the point of view of the swordfish, gions. Anansi is a mythical creature that Adaora, the prostitute Fisayo and so on. takes the form of a spider and is thought

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to know all the stories. The parallels with tion follow. Another example of a spiritual Udide Okwanka are obvious for “Anansi entity that provokes chaos in the middle is my cousin” (292, idem). The Akan- of Lagos is Legba, the god of crossroads. speaking people in Ghana have a rich oral The Ghanaian singer’s protégé (see sec- culture; there is an art form, called An- tion 4.2.), is waiting “on the corner of a ansesem, which consists of telling stories busy intersection” (211) after a concert, accompanied by a musical performance when he witnesses an anarchic and tu- (Sutherland, 1999: V). However, these multuous scene: there is a deafening noise folktales are not rigidly composed, story- that makes windows shatter and traffic tellers can introduce some variations to go wild. The young man cannot contain prove their artistry and they also accept his excitement for “Legba, the god of the contributions and suggestions from the crossroads was alive and well in the coun- audience; therefore, “stories in the tradi- try of his origin” (214). These are chapters tion are under constant revision for re- narrated by minor characters who only newal and development” (Sutherland, appear once in the novel, but they rein- 1999: VI). The idea of composing a story force the idea that Afrofuturism has its with multiple voices in Lagoon certainly roots in African myths and cosmologies, takes its inspiration from West African as Bryce (2019) suggests. Moreover, they communal traditions. Hence, Okorafor exemplify the scope of characters that ap- adopts certain elements of African com- pear in this narrative, which is not only munities and their storytelling events: reduced to animals and humans but even while in the West there is a “strong indi- includes the divine. vidualistic ideology of […] (literate) histo- riography” (Tonkin, 1992, cited in Ok- pewho, 2003: 227), in oral cultures the 3.2. The Limits between Human and creation of a new text is a shared experi- Non-human ence and the limits between individual and collective memory are interrogated Adaora’s mutation illustrates the ques- (Tonkin, 1992, cited in Okpewho, 2003: tioning of the constructed hierarchy that 227). places the human subject as “the measure The spiritual component in Lagoon is of all things” (Braidotti, 2013a: 13) since relevant, as other deities from African her hybrid body blurs the lines between and Nigerian systems of beliefs appear in human and non-human entities. Braidotti this story. Science fiction and traditional argues that posthumanism is a brand of myths are intertwined; Okorafor draws vital materialism and thus “contests the on traditional cosmologies to create pow- arrogance of anthropocentrism and the erful episodes of terror. African mytholo- ‘exceptionalism’ of the Human as a tran- gy, horror and speculative fiction are in- scendental category” (2013: 66). There- termixed. For instance, a huge creature fore, Lagoon interrogates and redefines makes its entrance in a cybercafé where a the categorization of the animal as the man involved in the well-known Nigerian “much cherished other of Anthropos” internet scam 419 is involved. The pro- (Braidotti, 2013b: 68). This is exemplified tagonist of the chapter is busy working on by the transformative process that his manipulative plan when Ijele, “[t]he Adaora experiences at the end of the nov- Chief of all Masquerades” (199) comes el when she is about to meet the Elders: through the door. Mayhem and destruc- “Her legs were no longer legs. This part of

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her body had become the body of a giant identities, which are “contradictory, par- metallic blue fish” (251). She relates how tial, and strategic” (1985: 72). Therefore, she is suddenly able to breathe inside the the hybrid being Adaora transforms into water because “she didn’t have lungs an- is representative of fractured identities ymore… she had gills” (250, original ellip- that resist fixed labels. This new being ses). The marine biologist becomes “half embodies in-betweenness, fluidity and fish and half human” (261). Adaora be- fragmentation. comes then a hybrid creature who inhab- There are other bizarre, human- its multiple spaces at the same time as looking characters in the novel, which al- she is located in the interstices. The pro- so fluctuate between the limits of human- tagonist embodies this heterogeneity and ness. Adaora explains that at one moment seemingly diametric contradictions. The she sees “five humanoid figures that re- point, though, is that this mutation “com- minded her of something out of Star plicates any comfortable distinction be- Wars” (251). The monsters represent the tween human and non-human beings” symbiosis of human features, science fic- (Mackey, 2018: 534). Her fusion with an- tion classic movie characters and the cy- other species destabilises the accepted di- borg. Another example of these mixed chotomy between human and animals. monsters are the aliens that come out of Although Adaora explains that she the water to populate the Nigerian city; was born “with webbed feet and hands” they look like humans save for the (257) which the doctors had to separate strangeness that surrounds them. This is surgically and that she did not need to the reaction of a man when he encounters learn to swim because she was a natural one of these impostors: “She looked so at it, she only becomes half fish and half normal. Except… […] There was a flicker human once the aliens come to Earth. of oddness about her […]” (205). These Hence, the biologist undergoes this physi- figures destroy any sense of familiarity; cal transformation when the extraterres- they combine a human appearance with trial beings land; their presence and their something alien and undecipherable, technology are a catalyst for this altera- something that cannot be fully grasped. tion in Adaora’s body. Therefore, the Ni- Their indefiniteness and ambiguity are gerian-American author uses science fic- deeply disturbing but also attractive. tion tropes to question the dualistic The three main human characters of opposition between animals and humans. this Afrofuturistic novel have some sort of Science fiction and ecocriticism are in- supernatural power, something that dif- termingled once more. Adaora’s “strange ferentiates them from the general popula- naked mermaid body” (256) could also be tion. Anthony Dey Craze’s power is that read as the fusion of technology with the he feels an energy coming from the earth. human subject, which resonates with the He is able to establish a connection with idea of the cyborg developed in “A Cyborg inert matter, the cosmos, other species; it Manifesto.” Donna Haraway (1985) states is what he calls a “rhythm.” The Ghana- that the cyborg destroys dualities— ian singer recalls an episode from his in- animal and machine, body and mind— fancy; he had a bitter argument with with its mere existence, and it appears some relatives and he felt the anger in- “where the boundary between human and vading his chest, a strange force fighting animal is transgressed” (1985: 68). The to emerge from his entrails: “Then that cyborg is also the emblem of postmodern which was building up within him, hum-

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ming to the rhythm of the earth, burst” praises integration and global connection (164). The explosion generates a sonic and it also reflects some ideas of new ma- wave that makes windows shatter and terialist theories that authors like houses shake. This raw power also con- Braidotti are developing. nects him with the larger cosmos, specifi- cally with the “Elders from the starts” (160), the messengers of Ayodele’s people. Conclusions These are the creatures “that Anthony was having a hard time separating from In Lagoon, speculative fiction tropes himself. He could still hear their song merge with an anticolonial positioning to […]” (160). This rhythm is the reason why articulate a powerful critique of petro- he is a successful singer; people who at- culture, animal exploitation and human tend his concerts are touched by this un- exceptionalism. Okorafor’s work consti- stoppable force, by his energetic aura. His tutes a good example of an alternative protégé explains that when he saw An- discourse that addresses ecological devas- thony’s live performance for the first time, tation in Nigeria. Furthermore, this novel he was changed, he knew that the seeks to raise awareness about ecosystem strength “came straight from the soil of destruction and spread the message that the continent” (211). we, as a society, need to work towards a Therefore, his energy works like a link sustainable development. between the humans and the cosmos. The first sections have analysed the This suggests that there is an inherent Afrofuturist aesthetics, along with the bond between humans and the rest of the controversies canonical science fiction universe for which I will use the termi- movies or novels present. Black charac- nology Braidotti uses to talk about non- ters in mainstream science fiction are as human life, which she calls zoe (this cate- marginal as in any other genre, and gory includes more than animal and hu- whenever they appear, they are reduced man life). This powerful network of inter- to a mystical figure or some sort of sham- connections could refer to “the alliance an. Afrofuturism is born as a reaction to with the productive and immanent force this: the aim of Afro-diasporic and African of zoe, or life in its nonhuman aspects” writers is to produce literary works in (2013b: 66) that Braidotti announces. which black people travel to outer space This scholar states that “the vitality of and interact with aliens. These authors this bond is based on sharing this planet, are actively dismantling the idea that […] on terms that are no longer so clearly geek culture or cyberculture is a Western hierarchical, nor self-evident” (2013b: 76). invention; it is indeed a global phenome- This new holistic approximation decon- non. Moreover, speculative fiction written structs human supremacy and under- by black authors offers new perspectives stands that all species are related as they on issues of race, identity, colonization all belong to the same planet. Anthony’s and it enriches and widens the horizons of power reflects a new understanding of the mainstream science fiction works. relations between different species, one Another aspect that has been ad- that celebrates life in all its forms. This dressed is that postcolonial theory has of- ability, “this vibration that swelled up in- ten overlooked non-mimetic literature. side him” (167) is what allows him “to Some authors and critics believe that Af- touch all things” (167). Therefore, Lagoon rica is torn apart by insurgencies, wars,

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corrupt governments and human rights natural energy are celebrated throughout violations and therefore readers consume the novel, is finally clean and wildlife literature that denounces these crimes. I flourishes again in all its splendour. In- argue that an ethical positioning is not an terspecies cooperation—involving aliens, exclusive feature of realist narratives and sea creatures, humans, the president— that futurist thinking is also necessary makes the construction of an advanced, because it proposes solutions. Extremely post-petroleum Nigeria possible. crude depictions of violence lead to noth- Therefore, this narration is a call to ing if no effective alternatives are offered; protect the environment and the natural fantasy literature has the potential to im- resources, to embrace non-human forms agine new possibilities, utopian futures, of life and to transform the hierarchical better societies. relationship that places the human spe- Thirdly, I have also shown how prob- cies at the centre of Western epistemolo- lematic it is to advocate for an apolitical, gy. The theoretical framework I have objective ecocriticism. Instead, postcolo- used in order to examine how human su- nial environmental criticism has proved premacy is challenged and revisited in to be more accurate because it does not Lagoon has been Braidotti’s post- ignore the role that the colonizing nations humanism. A good example of the notion played in transforming the natural habi- of decentring human subjectivity in tats, the traditional agricultural practices Okorafor’s novel is the introduction of an- and, in general, the social structures of imal and spiritual narrators, such as a ta- the native communities. Hence, it can be rantula, a bat or the Igbo deity Udide said that this novel is an example of envi- Okwanka (who is represented as a spi- ronmental science fiction work (Mackey, der). Moreover, Adaora’s transformation 2018: 530), since it is a non-mimetic novel into a fishlike creature—a hybrid being that focuses on the unequal resource dis- which is part cyborg, part mermaid, part tribution across the world. Nnedi Okora- human—destroys any sense of distinction for’s narrative could also be classified as a and it blurs the boundaries between hu- petro-novel; it highlights the environmen- man and non-human bodies. She is the tal damage inflicted upon the marine eco- emblem of fractured and fluctuating systems outside Lagos. Western corpora- postmodern identities. Furthermore, An- tions—oil companies such as Shell in the thony’s “rhythm” or ability to perceive the case of Nigeria—are a legacy of colonial- vibrations of the earth, the soil (the zoe) ism. While a small part of the population and even the alien species and the larger prospers, the communities of the Delta cosmos shows that humans are somehow Niger region suffer the consequences of connected with the physical environment the exploitation; oil spills, illnesses de- and that we are all part of the web of life. rived from pollution or the destruction of the marine habitat. In Lagoon, animals—especially the Works Cited swordfish—have an important role because they rebel against the oil infra- ALAIMO, Stacy (2019). “Introduction: Sci- structures that pollute the Niger Delta ence Studies and the Blue Humani- region. Thanks to the technology of the al- ties,” Configurations, 27.4: 429-432. iens, ecological reparation is achieved. ATTEBERY, Brian (2003). “The Magazine The sea, whose powers and almost super- Era: 1926-1960,” E. James & F.

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