Tropical Eco-African Futurism in Ben Okri’s every leaf a hallelujah and Ndhlovu and Keokgale’s Zandi’s Song

Abstract

This article offers a reading of Ben Okri’s every leaf a hallelujah (2021) and Zandile Ndhlovu and Katlego Keokgale’s Zandi’s Song (2023) as eco-fictional children’s books that integrate tropical futurisms, Afrofuturism, environmental consciousness, and magical realism. Situated at the interstice of children’s adventure fiction and travel writing, the two books’ folkloric resources clearly delineate ecofeminist and eco-critical campaigns against the backdrop of deforestation and ocean pollution. In every leaf a hallelujah, the protagonist, Mangoshi, forages in the forest for a leaf that could cure her mother’s ailment, while Zandi’s Song details the adventure of the eponymous protagonist, Zandi, into the ocean. Thus, while every leaf a hallelujah is an indictment of human beings’ insensitivity to the need of tree preservation for their medicinal properties, Zandi’s Song draws attention to a heightened awareness of ocean pollution as waste creates a moving depiction of environmental destruction. Mangoshi and Zandi’s environmental activism elicits intra-textual initiatives where the boundaries of eco-literature and magical realism are re-contextualized and complexified. In these books, Afrofuturism intersects with tropical futurisms through an enchanting array of visual objects that enrich perspectives of ecofeminism, environmental humanities, and blue humanities.