“We are the Delta”: nature and agency in Helon Habila’s "Oil on Water"

• Autores: Felicity Hand
• Localización: Ecozon@ [Ecozona]: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment, ISSN-e 2171-9594, Vol. 12, N. 1, 2021 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Going green in the English as a foreign language classroom), págs. 107-120
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.37536/ECOZONA.2021.12.1.3556
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen
  • español

    A primera vista, en la novela de Helon Habila "Oil on Water" parece haber tan solo tres agentes humanos en la lucha del Delta del Níger: los soldados enviados por el gobierno federal que mantienen el negocio del petróleo en activo; las fuerzas rebeldes armadas que luchan para proteger el medio ambiente y para tener voz en la distribución de petrodólares; y finalmente los habitantes de las aldeas vecinas que se encuentran atrapados en el medio. El presente artículo sostiene que el cuarto actor en este ecodrama es el paisaje, víctima de un trato brutal. Lejos de asumir un papel pasivo, la Naturaleza en "Oil on Water" contraataca a través de la prosa de Habila. A la tierra devastada se le otorga una voz poderosa para exigir medidas urgentes de acción que pongan fin a nuevos daños causados por la extracción salvaje de petróleo.

  • English

    At first sight there appear to be three human groups in the Niger Delta struggle in Helon Habila’s novel "Oil on Water". The soldiers sent by the federal government who keep the oil business running; the armed rebels who fight to protect the environment and for a say in the distribution of petrodollars; and the local villagers who find themselves wedged in-between. This article claims that the fourth actor in the ecodrama is the brutalized landscape. Far from assuming a passive role, nature in "Oil on Water" strikes back through Habila’s prose. The devastated land is given a powerful voice in order to demand an urgent need for action to stop any further destruction caused by mindless oil extraction.

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