Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the Ecological Discourses in two African novels: The
Famished Road and Wizard of the Crow from an ecocriticism viewpoint. Postcolonial
ecocriticism has been used as a theoretical framework to conduct the critical analysis in the
selected novels. Within the ambit of this framework the concept of the “aesthetics of proximity”
has been employed. The two novels were selected purposively as both employ a narrative
perspective which is usually referred to as magical realism and because the ecological issues are
dominantly addressed by the authors. The methodology employed to approach the analysis of the
novels is purely qualitative, and a close reading of the symbols, theme, characters, and
interactions among ecological entities are made in undertaking the textual analysis. A
descriptive style is followed with the methodological orientation driven by the proximity
aesthetics. Textual techniques that express ecological discourses in both novels were gathered as
pieces of evidence for the human and non-human relationships represented. The study reveals
that both novels uniquely present a multispecies dwelling of the ecology in which the interaction
among the human and nonhuman entities are guided by the discourse of proximity. The
nonhuman entities presented in both novels are also given the agency to bring impact on humans
taking the attention paid to the usually othered part of the ecology. Hence, the agency is
distributed between the two entities challenging the anthropocentric discourse which places
agency only on the human. Beyond depicting the multispecies presence, the balanced
relationship among the varieties of species, and empower the narrative capacity of agency, the
two novels also embed instances of dismantling boundaries between the human and nonhuman
entities depicted in the novels. This last discourse has been made possible through the special
capacity the protagonists of both novels are given to embrace the human and nonhuman identity
through the technique of magical realism. Kamiti in Wizard of the Crow can transform himself
into a bird form and Azaro in The Famished Road dwells both in the physical and spiritual
worlds taking both human and nonhuman forms. The two novels also recurrently present
contemporary ecological challenges such as climate change, pollution, and deforestation. Based
on the analysis conducted, the researcher concludes that Ngugi and Okri present African
discourse of the ecological proximity created their narratives on the style of magical realism that
dominates the African oral tradition. As the study is delimited to only two novels the researcher
suggests a further inquiry into the other novels
