Revolutionary Trope and Environmental Pedagogy in Frank Arase’s Somewhere in Africa: The Cries of Humanity and David Attwood’s Blood and Oil

Chinyere Lilian Okam[1] & Onyekachi Peter Onuoha[2]

[1]  Department of Theatre and Media Studies, University of Calabar, Nigeria Email: clookam@gmail.com, chinyere.okam@unical.edu.ng Orcid: 0000-0001-5408-8608

[2]  Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Nigeria Email: onyekachidara@gmail.com, onyekachidara@unical.edu.ng Orcid: 0000-0002-2145-8139

Abstract

The dehumanisation and exploitation of the environment of the Niger Delta has become a template for fear of the end of human existence. This has driven an increased interest in studies about Anthropocene. From the 1980s, Robert Buell and Adrian Ivakhiv have advanced what Smith Kopnina terms The Environmental Condition to the frontiers of global scholarship thereby greening the humanities. Scholars in environmental studies like Bill McGuire have decried the rising level of floods, the ignorance of the destruction of the environment and the possibility of an apocalypse. Creative writers and dramatic artistes alike, including film makers from Africa and beyond have engaged in the exploration of environmental interests focusing on its degenerating condition, often depicting how people could take social action towards liberating themselves and their environment from oppressive chains. The study aims to interrogate how these stated eco-critical aims have been achieved in selected movies. Through the concept of anthropocene and eco-criticism, the paper undertakes acontent analysis of Frank Rajah Arase’s Somewhere in Africa: The cries of Humanityand David Attwood’s Blood and Oilto explore these concerns.

Keywords: Eco-capitalism, Eco-criticism, Language, Memory, Revolutionary praxis, Environmental pedagogy

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