The Ecological Discourse in The Famished Road and Wizard of the Crow: A Comparative Ecocritical Analysis

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