Postcolonial Ecocriticism and the African Response to Human Experience and the Environment

Abstract

Postcolonial ecocriticism is a theory that looks at both the environment and people, how both are interconnected, reflect and define each other. Writers symbolically use wholesome social environment to indicate spiritual and moral vivacity of a society while unhealthy environment shows exploitation, extreme materialism, moral decadence, and spiritual ineptitude of a society. This paper looks at Postcolonial ecocriticism as a local response to global environmental issues, and also explores the colonial impact and legacy on human and nonhumans in Africa. The paper is reliant on Postcolonial ecocriticism and uses Frantz Fanon’s thoughts in Wretched of the Earth as the theory that guides the analysis of Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s I will Marry When I Want and Athol Fugard’s Sorrows and Rejoicing. The plays serve as the primary texts of this research paper. Thus, this paper will look at the interconnectedness of humans and nonhumans in the two select plays. The paper specifically sees Postcolonial ecocriticism as Africa’s local response to the global environmental writings that have occluded the issue of colonialism and displacement. The paper also establishes a connection between the anthropos and nonhuman elements in African drama.