Environmental racism and ecological crisis in Achebe’s Things fall apart (1958), and Gordimer’s My son’s story (1990)

Abstract

This research explores environmental racism in the forms of Nigerian ‘colonialism’ and South African ‘apartheid’ policies. It is designed a comparative framework to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), and Nadine Gordimer’s My Son’s Story (1990). This research helps to understand the ecocritical approach from the Nigerian and South African context. Re/construction of racism in the form of the contemporary theoretical concept of ‘environmental racism’ is our today’s need. This study aims to raise a voice for global justice and environmental sustainability. Environmental-related dominant issues (i.e. environmental control of a particular group, inequality of natural resource uses, and particular group’s accessibility to live a healthy environment) are addressed in detail and analysed through these texts. The theory of ‘environmental racism’ is interrogated through colonial cultural, and apartheid political ways concerning the African world. To conclude, the ecological crisis and environmental racism encountered in these texts have clearly illustrated the imbalance of utilizing natural resources. A consequence of this inequality and exploitation can be seen in Nigerian black, and South African ‘coloured’ communities where environmental injustice is a serious issue.