Women and Nature in the Movie, "Black November"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56666/ahyu.v7i.153Keywords:
Ecocriticism, Ecofeminism, Nollywood, Black NovemberAbstract
Issues about people’s natural environment have undeniably become an integral part of human existence. In this regard, a lot of literary scholars and social critics have unrelentingly written on how to curtail or end the numerous environmental degradations. Despite many studies conducted on environmental concerns in Nigerian literature, only little attention has been given to how Nollywood movies contribute to this cause. Using Jeta Amata’s film, Black November—an outstanding film with environmental underpinnings—this paper argues that there is a gender trajectory to the environmental issues in Nigerian literature. Specifically, in Black November. We find that women possess an innate ingenious heroism, which upstages the notion that the Niger Delta struggle was carried out by men alone. Drawing on an ecofeminist theoretical approach, this essay further explores the affinity between man’s domination of nature and the patriarchal domination of women. Considering the various resilient attributes of women in the movie towards a sustainable environment, the study concludes that women could contribute immensely towards curbing environmental issues if patriarchal authorities would give them more latitude to do so.
Downloads
References
Adesokan, Akin. ‘‘Anticipating Nollywood: Lagos circa 1996.” Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies. 37.1 (2011): 99-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2011.569998
Brisson Sami. "Women's Connectedness to Nature: An Ecofeminist Exploration." www.epublications.regis.edu. Regis University Student Publications. April 5th,2017. Accessed: 16th May, 2023.
Buell, Lawrence. The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing and the Formation of American Culture. London: Harvard U P, 1995. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1nzfgsv
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Minnesota: Fawcett. 1962.
D’Eaubonne, Francoise. Le Feminisme ou La Mort. Paris: Horay,1974.
Glotfelty, Cheryll. "Introduction." The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Eds. Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens: University of Georgia, 1996. pp. xv-xxix.
Glotfelty, Cheryll and Fromm, Harold. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Athens: U of Georgia P. 2009.
Jargran Josh. "Meaning of Ecology." . Jargran News Media. Aug. 14th, 2015. Accessed: 13th June, 2023.
Haynes, Jonathan & Onookome Okome.‘‘Evolving Popular Media: Nigerian Video Films.’’ Research in African Literatures. 29. 3 (1998): 106-119.
Hopkinson, Peter. Role of Film in Development. Paris: Place de Fontenoy, 1971.
Merchant, Carolyn. Radical Ecology: The search for a Livable World. New York: Routledge, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203084212
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Eds. Stephan Qrgel and Johnalhon Goldberg. Oxford: Oxford U P, 2003.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Eds. Rivkin Julie and Michael Ryan. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1998. pp. 586-698.
Nwahunanya, Chinyere. "Introduction: From Boom to Doom: The Niger Delta in Contemporary Nigerian Literature.” From Boom to Doom: Protest and Conflict Resolution in the Literature of the Niger Delta. Ed. Nwahunanya Chinyere. Owerri: Springfield, 2011. pp. xiii-xxi.
Ortner, Sherry. "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" Feminist Studies 1. 2 (1972): 73-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3177638
Plant, Judith. "Woman and Nature." . Judith News Society. Jan. 2017. Accessed: 13th May, 2023.
Rueckert, William. "Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism". The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Eds. Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1996. pp. 107-128.
Ruether, Rosemary. Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing. San Francisco: Harper, 1994.
Salman, Mohammed Salama. "Ecofeminist Reading of NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names." Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education 69 (2020): 5-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/opde.2020.145595
Ukata, Agatha. "Conflicting Framing of Women in Nollywood Video." . Jan. 2010. Accessed: 2nd Oct. 2023.
Warren, Karen. Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. Bloomington: Indiana U P, 2010.
Wordsworth, William. "Descriptive Sketches." The Poems of William Wordsworth. . 2009. Accessed: 2nd June, 2023.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Adachukwu Okafor, Mrs Onyinyechi Anyalenkeya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
ALL ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED UNDER THE FOLLOWING LICENSE:
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International
This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only. If others modify or adapt the material, they must license the modified material under identical terms.
* * * * * * * * * * ``
BY: Credit must be given to you, the creator.
NC: Only noncommercial use of your work is permitted.Noncommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.