Niger Delta Literature as Echoes of Grand Dystopian

The aim of this paper aim of this paper is to explore how Niger Delta literature points to oil companies as the real villains of their stories. This representation follows the tenets of postcolonial ecocriticism and a self designed model which offers a simple exploration of the acts of villainy of the oil companies in the texts and exposes the fact that these companies never lose or suffer any consequences. The paper adopts a descriptive and analytical methodology with the selected Niger Delta literary texts as the primary sources of data. This paper explores multinational oil companies as grand villains in selected Niger Delta literary texts. The paper reveals that popular texts in the region recreate the acts of villainy that these companies carry out in the region. It also reveals that the oil companies are immune to defeat and consequence. Thus, it recommends Niger Delta text scholars/authors fully embrace the dystopian and speculative genre to reach a wider audience. It also recommends that comparative studies of the global south suppression by corporations should be incorporated in African literary research. The paper concludes that Niger Delta literary texts represents the oil companies as the neo-colonial and economic forces that are directly responsible for the condition of the region through a form of the dystopian genre.

Keywords: Dystopia Niger Delta Literature Grand Villain Niger Delta

Authors

• Amabebe, Ebimobode Alexander
  Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State.
  alexamabebe2017@gmail.com
• Deghinmotei Alred-Ugbenbo
  Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayelsa Medical University, Nigeria
• Owota, Grace Ebideinere
  Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State.
  owotagrace@gmail.com