The Discourse of Sustainable Farming and the Environment in Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather

Abstract

Starting with her pioneering novel, When rain clouds gather (1968), Head has left behind an impressive body of eco-literature. In this debut novel, Head tackles some of the most pressing problems of the environment as they affect the lives of poor rural dwellers in Botswana trying to leave hunger and poverty behind and gain a foothold in modernity and self-sufficiency with respect to the basic amenities of existence. Head’s novel gives a global dimension to this project that unambiguously gestures toward a cosmopolitan ecocriticism.