| dc.description.abstract | A significant element of globalization today is capitalism, which focuses on political and economic subjugation as well as ecologies as the basis for human survival. Therefore, this study investigated how selected literary artists portray the exploitation of Africa's resources by multinational corporations and international trade networks as a critique of a global capitalism culture that (de)constructs environmental as well as socio-political and economic conditions in a post-colonial African context. Acknowledging the duty of literature in addressing societal concerns, the selected texts were critiqued to expose the sinister objective of resource exploitation in the continent. The objectives of this study were: first, to analyze the writers’ use of 'eco-scape' metaphors in addressing the perpetuation of environmental imperialism as depicted in the selected texts; second, to investigate how the selected texts portray contradictions inherent in industrial and trade development as well as environmental sustainability; third, to interrogate the subversive relations that characterize the environmentally imperialized spaces in Africa as represented in the selected texts. To achieve these, the study analyzed three Anglophone African novels using postcolonial ecocriticism theory. The theory was used to examine the systematic and strategic extractive activities of multinational companies and international trade networks collaborating with continental elites to perpetuate environmental imperialism in post-independent Africa. In addition, it helped to analyze the portrayal of environmental crisis occasioned by industrial and trade development. The study adopted an analytical research design to interpret the data collected. Primary data was obtained by conducting a close reading of the three sampled texts, while secondary data was obtained from published journals, books, dissertations, theses, and other critical works. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis. Purposive sampling technique was employed with the inclusion criteria being Anglophone regions, millennium texts themed resource exploitation in post-colonial Africa by global capitalists, and the uniqueness of the diverse African resources in the Anglophone regions. This study established that ‘ecoscape’ metaphors portray the crisis of environmental imperialism in the primary texts. In addition, it revealed that although multinational corporations and international trade networks have positioned themselves as enablers of contemporary capital driven development, this developmentalist rhetoric serves to camouflage a more sinister objective of killing the actual environment, exposing the locals to diseases and violence. Moreover, the locals work to supplant the hegemonic powers of the global capitalists in imperialized spaces by engaging in provocative acts such as oil theft, kidnapping and ransom seeking, transactional sex, violent sabotage and fear mongering which destroy the environment that both sides claim to protect more than ever before. The study's findings contribute to and expand knowledge on how literary studies play an important role in solving the environmental crisis prompted by multinationals' ruinous extractive activities as well as discourses on the environment and socioeconomic dimensions in the postcolonial African context. | en_US |