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Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I attempt to create a connection between the practice of ecocriticism in Nigeria and in Cameroon, two neighbouring West African countries that are historically and culturally linked in spite of their colonially framed dissimilarities.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I attempt to create a connection between the practice of ecocriticism in Nigeria and in Cameroon, two neighbouring West African countries that are historically and culturally linked in spite of their colonially framed dissimilarities. My starting point is the argument that environmental literature (as a creative practice and as a critical discourse) is necessarily local, paying attention to ecological particularities that define a locality. For instance, how does the postcolonial experience of each country shape the course of ecocriticism? In other words, how can the distinctive ecological experience of Nigeria or Cameroon feed the discourse of postcolonial ecocriticism? While emphasising the particularities of each country, I am also interested in drawing attention to the strands of environmental literature that suggest transnational ecocritical discourse from a West African perspective as opposed to, say, a Southern African perspective. How can the distinct experiences of West African nations in ecocriticism coalesce into what we may frame as West African ecocriticism? With a comparative analysis of the poetry of G’Ebinyo Ogbowei from Nigeria and the poetry of Nsah Mala from Cameroon, I pay attention to not only the present inter-connecting experiences of the Anthropocene, but also suggest that a West African ecocriticism will have to take into account traditional practices that preserve natures and promote planetary balance.