Naturalizing Africa: Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance in African Literature PDF
Preview Naturalizing Africa: Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance in African Literature
“NaturalizingAfricaisanessentialadditiontoenvironmentalstudiesin Africa.Ihekahasanimpressivecommandoftheinterfacebetweenhuman communities and non-human ecologies and the way literature can illuminatesomeofthemostvitalenvironmentalchallengesofourtime.” RobNixon,CurrieC.andThomasA.BarronFamilyProfessorinthe HumanitiesandtheEnvironment,PrincetonUniversity “Throughitsfocusonnon-humanagencyandwhatCajetanIhekacalls ‘the proximity’ of human and non-human actors, Naturalizing Africa offersaninnovativeapproachtotheroleAfricanliterarystudiescanplay in addressing environmental degradation and injustice in Africa. It represents an insightful and significant contribution to literary, postcolonial,andenvironmentalstudies.” ByronSantangelo,ProfessorofEnglish,UniversityofKansas “Cajetan Iheka delivers a beautifully researched referendum on the EurocentriclimitationsofbothEnlightenmentandpostcolonialthought, seeking torelocateAfrican ecocriticism and environmental activism in a primarily indigenous African understanding of the relations of humans with non-humans. His delineation of an ‘aesthetics of proximity’ as a means of representing multispecies relationships adds yet another dimension to the most progressive scholarship in animal studies, ecocriticism,andthenewmaterialism.” StephanieLeMenager,MooreEndowedProfessor,DepartmentofEnglish, UniversityofOregon “Brilliantly countering the anthropocentrism of much ecocritical scholarship on African literatures, Cajetan Iheka’s Naturalizing Africa offers important new interventions into African, postcolonial, and environmental studies. Through its skillful, expert analyses of literary representations of ecological crises from across the African continent, this book also contributes significantly to envisioning alternative, sustainableecosystems.” KarenL.Thornber,ProfessorofComparativeLiterature,HarvardUniversity “Cajetan Iheka’s Naturalizing Africa is an eloquent, theoretically sophisticated contribution to the growing body of ecocritical work engaged with the Global South. This book vividly illuminates the culturalcausesofandresponsestoAfrica’senvironmentalcrises,using carefullychosenexamplesfromvarioussub-Saharanregions.” ScottSlovic,ProfessorofEnglish,UniversityofIdahoandcoeditorofEcocritical Aesthetics:Language,Beauty,andtheEnvironmentandEcocriticism oftheGlobalSouth “Iheka’sNaturalizingAfricaisabookthatisuncannyinitsprescience. Synthesizingarangeofdebatesinenvironmental,animal,andAfrican literarystudies,itnotonlyelaboratesthegroundsofcurrentdebatesin thesefieldsbutalsoilluminatesapathwayforwhatistocome.Thisis goingtobeoftremendousinfluenceforaverylongtime.” AtoQuayson,ProfessorandDirectoroftheCentreforDiaspora andTransnationalStudies,UniversityofToronto Naturalizing Africa TheproblemofenvironmentaldegradationontheAfricancontinent is a severe one. In this book, Cajetan Iheka analyzes how African literary texts have engaged with pressing ecological problems in Africa, including the Niger Delta oil pollution in Nigeria, ecologies ofwarinSomalia,andanimalabusesacrossthecontinent.Analyzing narratives by important African writers such as Amos Tutuola, WangariMaathai,J.M.Coetzee,BessieHead,andBenOkri,Iheka challengesthetendencytofocusprimarilyonhumansintheconcep- tualization of environmental problems and instead focuses on how Africanliteraturedemonstratestheinterconnectionand“proximity” ofhumanandnonhumanbeings.Ihekaproposesarevisionoftheidea ofagencybasedonhumanintentionalityinAfricanliterarycriticism and postcolonial studies. He argues that the narratives yoke the exploitation of Africans to the despoliation of the environment and recommend responsibility toward human and nonhuman beings as crucialforecologicalsustainabilityandaddressingclimatechange. CajetanIhekaisanassistantprofessorofEnglish,specializinginAfrican and Postcolonial Literatures, at the University of Alabama. He is an editor for African Studies Review, the journal of the African Studies Association. Naturalizing Africa Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance in African Literature Cajetan Iheka UniversityofAlabama UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107199170 DOI:10.1017/9781108183123 ©CajetanIheka2018 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2018 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Iheka,CajetanNwabueze,author. Title:NaturalizingAfrica:ecologicalviolence,agencyandpostcolonial resistanceinAfricanliterature/CajetanNwabuezeIheka. Description:NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2017.| Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. Identifiers:LCCN2017030487|ISBN9781107199170(alk.paper)| ISBN1107199174(alk.paper) Subjects:LCSH:Ecocriticism.|Ecocriticisminliterature.|Postcolonialism inliterature.|Human-animalrelationships–Africa.|Human-plant relationships–Africa.|Humanbeings–Effectofenvironmenton–Africa.| Nature–Effectofhumanbeingson–Africa.|Humanecology–Africa.| Humanecologyinliterature.|Violence–Environmentalaspects–Africa.| War–Environmentalaspects–Africa. Classification:LCCPN98.E36I372017|DDC809.933553–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017030487 ISBN978-1-107-19917-0Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. For Keji, Kamsi, and the unborn My Loves, ndi o ga diri mma Contents Acknowledgments pagex Introduction:NaturalizingAfrica 1 1 AfricanLiteratureandtheAestheticsofProximity 21 2 BeyondHumanAgency:NuruddinFarahandSomalia’s EcologiesofWar 57 3 RethinkingPostcolonialResistance:TheNigerDelta Example 85 4 ResistancefromtheGround:Agriculture,Gender,and ManualLabor 126 Epilogue:RehabilitatingtheHuman 158 Notes 167 WorksCited 193 Index 207 ix
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