The Environment and Agency: An Ecocritical Reading of Richard Maduku’s Kokoro Compound

ABSTRACT

Many studies have explored the impact of human activities on the environment. Using the framework of ecocriticism, this study examines the theme of rural–urban migration in Richard Maduku’s Kokoro Compound. The central aim is an exploration of the relationships between the characters and their environment and how various environmental realities influence the characters’ lived-experiences. The present study argues that in addressing the issue of rural–urban migration, Maduku’s novel becomes a conjugation of binaries. Thus allied to the identification of rural–urban migration, there are the binary oppositions of tradition–modernity, poverty–opulence, as well as the dichotomies of innocence-experience and male–female gender relations. These oppositions show the relationship the characters have with the environment in their quest for self-actualisation and financial freedom. In addition, the oppositions highlight the struggles of individuals in postcolonial Nigeria. The identifications also contribute to the understanding of the influence the environment has on individuals and groups of people.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecocriticism
• environment, binary oppositions
• binary oppositions
• rural–urban migration
• postcolonial realities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayobami Olajumoke Onanuga

Ayobami Olajumoke Onanuga has a PhD from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria, where she studied the victimhood of homosexual characters and the agency of women in sexually oppressing male homosexuals in African fictional narratives. She is an early career researcher and currently an independent scholar with research interests in African fiction, genocide narratives in literature, queer and gender studies. Her articles have been published in Journal of Literary Studies, Contemporary Music Review, Journal of the African Literature Association, Analize, and others.