Environmental Injustice in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water (2011)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport- AASTMT (Smart Village), Egypt

Abstract

 The aim of this research paper is to investigate the representations of environmental injustice in Helon Habila’s novel, Oil on Water (2011). In fact, the study is an ecocritical exploration of the intersection between the neocolonial manipulation of the Niger-Delta region in Nigeria and its environmental devastation. It also investigates how neocolonialism is the worst kind of imperialism, capturing the dilemma of the people of the oil-rich Niger-Delta region, through the exploitation of both the multinational oil corporations and their own government. Furthermore, the paper examines the drastic ecological, economic and sociopolitical consequences of neocolonial destruction of the environment in the Niger-Delta region. In his novel Oil on Water, Habila skillfully delineates the struggle of the Nigerian people against these injustices and their modes of resistance to neocolonial control and manipulation of the natural resources of the area.

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About the Author:

Dr Heba-t-Allah Badr Abd El-Wahab is an Assistant Professor of American Literature. She graduated from the Dept. of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Arts – Ain Shams University. She got her MA and Ph.D. Degrees in American Literature from the Dept. of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Arts – Helwan University. She majored in American Drama. She is specialized in teaching courses of Drama, Literary criticism, language skills and ESP. Currently, she is the Head of the Humanities Dept. at the College of Language and Communication (CLC) – Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) - Smart Village Branch.

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