{"title":"走进自然之心:海伦·哈比拉《水上之油》中的Conradian回声","authors":"J. Fernández-Vázquez","doi":"10.2979/reseafrilite.51.4.06","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"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","PeriodicalId":21021,"journal":{"name":"Research in African Literatures","volume":"51 1","pages":"103 - 122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Into the Heart of Nature: Conradian Echoes in Helon Habila's Oil on Water\",\"authors\":\"J. Fernández-Vázquez\",\"doi\":\"10.2979/reseafrilite.51.4.06\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"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\",\"PeriodicalId\":21021,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Research in African Literatures\",\"volume\":\"51 1\",\"pages\":\"103 - 122\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-07-19\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"1\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Research in African Literatures\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.51.4.06\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"LITERATURE, AFRICAN, AUSTRALIAN, CANADIAN\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research in African Literatures","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.51.4.06","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE, AFRICAN, AUSTRALIAN, CANADIAN","Score":null,"Total":0}
Into the Heart of Nature: Conradian Echoes in Helon Habila's Oil on Water
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
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.