A Comparative Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of Selected African and South Asian Fiction

Abstract

Postcolonial Eco criticism is one of the rapidly emerging fields in literature
which is gaining the attention of writers and research scholars due to its focus on
environmental justice. This study aims to compare the selected novels to examine the
environmental problems of Africa and South Asia and their link with neocolonialism.
The researcher relies on Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin’s (2010) framework of
Postcolonial Eco criticism for the analysis of the selected texts. The analysis, carried
out through textual analysis, revealed that the neocolonial economic activities of the
West are responsible for the environmental destruction of both postcolonial states.
Moreover, the West through the use of different techniques such as the myth of
development and state vampirism, carries out its exploitation missions, leading to the
environmental deterioration of these regions. The findings indicate that the
environmental degradation caused by neocolonialism deeply affects the marginalized
indigenous people, leading to their displacement and loss of livelihood. This research
is significant for policymakers and environmentalists to advocate for equitable and
inclusive environmental policies and developmental projects that do not come at the
cost of the environment or the well-being of the indigenous people.