African literature

Ecosystems and resistance

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344./abriu2022.11.2.

Keywords:

ecocriticism, African literatures, ecosystems, resistance, archives

Abstract

In this paper we present and discuss the concept of ecocriticism as well as different ways through which it can be read in chosen African literary texts. We have selected authors Paulina Chiziane, Dina Salústio, Ruy Duarte de Carvalho, among others, departing from narratives where the importance of eco- systems is apparent. The dimension of environmental preservation is visible in the alerts they highlight and in the forms that they choose to describe the relation- ships between the natural worlds and their human counterparts. We also consider historical, anthropological and philosophical descriptions in these texts; they are in fact presented as complex archives and multidimensional documents incorpo- rating memories on space and territory. The authors present multiple possibilities for the identification of principles of active relation with current realities and sig- nal responses to environmental degradation.

Author Biography

Ana Martinho, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Ana Maria Martinho works at FCSH - Universidade Nova de Lisboa since 1989. From 2007-2010 she was at UCBerkeley, where she undertook interdepartmental activities, bridging links between Africa and the Portuguese-speaking world. She spent a sabbatical at SOAS, London University, in 2011, strengthening her institutional links with Lusophone Africa. She is also a visiting faculty member at other universities, notably in Angola, Cabo Verde, and Moçambique.
She earned her Agregação in 2006, and her doctoral degree, in 1998, both at UNL.
Ana Maria Martinho has won awards and fellowships from the Hellman Family Faculty Fund, the Instituto Camões, Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, the European Union, and the Science Ministry in Portugal.
She has supervised graduate students across the world (including in the United States, Angola, Portugal, Cabo Verde and Moçambique). A number of her students have attained positions in academia and politics.
Having been involved in over sixty international missions, she visited multiple times all five Lusophone African countries. She also has established academic links with Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Venezuela, Botswana, Canada, the US, having lectured extensively in many of these locations.
She serves on the editorial board of 4 international academic publications. Since 1990, she has authored 82 publications.

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Published

2022-10-15

How to Cite

Martinho, A. (2022). African literature: Ecosystems and resistance. Abriu: Estudos De Textualidade Do Brasil, Galicia E Portugal, (11), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.1344./abriu2022.11.2.

Issue

No. 11 (2022): Ecocritics: Words and Images

Section

MONOGRAPH

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Ana Martinho

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Author retains ownership of the copyright of the article, unless the contrary is stated, and all rights not expressly granted in this agreement, including the non-exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display the article in print or electronic form, and grants to Abriu: estudos de textualidade do Brasil, Galicia e Portugal the exclusive rights to first publication of the Article. The work will be available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license, by which the article must be credited to the Author and the Journal must be credited as first place of publication.