Ecocritical Encounter in Shadrach Ambanasom’s Forest of the Gods

Abstract

Although many scholars  pessimistically agree that by far, not enough has been done to mitigate the looming environmental crisis, and that time is indeed running out, the recent years have witnessed  a noteworthy change with regard to the role the humanities and arts have been assigned in these troubled times. (Bartosh and Grimmer, 2014, p.2).This increasing concern has been due to the drastic failure in human/nature relationship. Man’s activities continue to devastate the environment and ecology. Human beings seem to have the illusion that they are the most important species in the ecosphere. On the basis of this problem, this paper seeks to demonstrate/investigate the role and potential of literature and particularly poetry in the process of contesting, negotiating and re-evaluating the natural environment and human ethical attitudes towards it. It further argues and portrays that poetic texts can inspire and could be employed for ecopedagogic purposes. This study is an analysis of some selected poems in Shadrach Abanasom’s Forest of the Gods. Some tenets of ecocriticism will be used to buttress our analyses.The paper concludes that Ambanasom’s collection of poems, Forest of the Gods is a valuable tool/weapon for environmental teaching and eco-discourse that has taken centre stage in contemporary literary criticism. The paper recommends that the planetary crisis calls for not only a serious concerted effort but also a radical paradigm shift in re-interrogating the sustainability of the global life world.