Into the Heart of Nature: Conradian Echoes in Helon Habila's Oil on Water

IF 0.3 3区文学 0 LITERATURE, AFRICAN, AUSTRALIAN, CANADIAN

Research in African Literatures Pub Date : 2021-07-19 DOI:10.2979/reseafrilite.51.4.06

J. Fernández-Vázquez

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This paper develops an intertextual reading that brings together Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Helon Habila's Oil on Water. It analyzes the major thematic and stylistic aspects that the two texts share: the presence of a metaphorical journey, the description of social and environmental damage as interrelated processes, and the presence of dialogic structures and narrative skepticism, which reveal the complexity of the oil conflict and question the possibility of finding the truth. The comparison between the two narratives shows how Habila recontextualizes the Conradian tropes to address socially and historically specific concerns related to oil extraction in the Niger Delta region, which were beyond Conrad's experience. From a theoretical point of view, the process of recontextualization that Habila undertakes transcends the traditional understanding of postcolonial intertextuality as an oppositional response to colonial ideology.To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe.—Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

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走进自然之心：海伦·哈比拉《水上之油》中的Conradian回声

摘要：本文将约瑟夫·康拉德的《黑暗之心》和海伦·哈比拉的《水上之油》融合在一起，形成了一种互文阅读。它分析了两个文本共有的主要主题和风格方面：隐喻之旅的存在，将社会和环境破坏描述为相互关联的过程，以及对话结构和叙事怀疑论的存在，这些都揭示了石油冲突的复杂性，并质疑寻找真相的可能性。这两种叙事之间的比较表明，哈比拉如何将Conradian比喻重新文本化，以解决与尼日尔三角洲地区石油开采有关的社会和历史特定问题，这超出了康拉德的经验。从理论的角度来看，哈比拉所进行的重新文本化过程超越了对后殖民互文性的传统理解，是对殖民意识形态的一种对立回应。从这片土地的深处挖出宝藏是他们的愿望，其背后没有什么道德目的，就像窃贼闯入保险箱一样--约瑟夫·康拉德，黑暗之心

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来源期刊

Research in African Literatures LITERATURE, AFRICAN, AUSTRALIAN, CANADIAN-

CiteScore

0.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Founded in 1970, Research in African Literatures is the premier journal of African literary studies worldwide and provides a forum in English for research on the oral and written literatures of Africa, as well as information on African publishing, announcements of importance to Africanists, and notes and queries of literary interest. Reviews of current scholarly books are included in every issue, often presented as review essays, and a forum offers readers the opportunity to respond to issues raised in articles and book reviews.