Ecological economics and literary communication: Axes of discourse in Ifeanyi Izuka’s Travails of the black gold

Abstract

This paper is focused on a reading of Ifeanyi Izuka‘s Travails of the Black Gold (Black Gold) from the ambience of literary communication in order to examine the encoding stratagems contrived in the fictional narrative to convey causal chains of economics and ecology as informational content compatible with material practices in material worlds. The analysis is guided by the understanding that every element of a literary text, even apparent violations of expectations of any sort, is assumed to be designed as communicative, just as intention and its signaling via contextualization cues are conventionally treated as purposeful and meaningful acts. It is posited in this work that through adroit discourse strategies, Izuka‘s narration conveys effective information and presents a plausible dialogue on the experiences of the Niger Delta people of Nigeria from the ambience of activist economic and environmental witnessing. In other words, the writer uses the text as medium for encoding economic and environmental messages that affect the econiche, and for exploring human conditions and values as characters react to extraordinary economic and ecological situations that have universal application.

Keywords: Ecological economics, Literary communication, Axes of discourse.