Blog
AM Inspiration: Africa and the Political Environment
International climate change talks founder again and again on the differing realities to be found in developed versus developing nations, with good reason: climate change is being already affecting parts of the African continent. GreenBusinessAfrica reports "For most rural people especially in the Drylands of Africa, climate change is making their already difficult lives impossible," while some African communities have adapted in their agricultural practices and social networks. Searching for ways that these adaptations might be reflected in African literature, I found this interesting article about Nobel Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, an African environmentalist, and the emerging field of eco-criticism.
In the West, eco-criticism focuses mainly on the 19th century literature which celebrated nature and wildness. In Africa, it would be more energetic because most of the literature has a rural setting or a degenerate urban background that expresses a longing for the lost rural peace.
If the article offers a refreshing variety of images and perspectives on nature, it also has an edge:
The Western Transcendentalists were clearly neither the first nor the last word on the connection between nature and the environment. Here's just one taste of "A Kind of Drought," a poem by Zimbabwean poet Charles Mungoshi:
Trees.
Only trees.
Yes, trees.
They remain
the same old faithful parents...
In our land
the trees can be trusted
and sometimes they hide someone
who feels just like you do
and for a while
there are just the two of you
to frighten the darkness away
if only, only if,
if only
you can come to a river.
Tags: Africa, Climate change, Criticism, Culture, Developing nation, Literature, Western
« Back to BlogSearch
Like us on Facebook
Latest Tweet
Comments
No Comments