Marxist Ecopoetics in the Poetic Creation of the Niger Delta

Yaqi Gui

doi:10.71222/qshr4991

Authors

Yaqi Gui Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71222/qshr4991

Keywords:

the Niger Delta, poetic creation, Marxist, ecological poetics

Abstract

As one of Africa's largest wetland ecosystems, the Niger Delta serves as a central arena for the creative practices of its poetic community. The poetry of three successive generations of poets in this region embodies distinctive and profound ecological-political insights. The first generation employs the metaphorical system of water folds to allegorize the alienation of nature, establishing an imaginative framework that reflects environmental estrangement. The second generation advances this exploration by utilizing the topological structures of land mazes to portray ecological violence, revealing the complex interactions between human activity and environmental degradation. The third generation further evolves this trajectory through the reconstruction of oil-ravaged landscapes, transforming depictions of ecological devastation into visions of ecological revolution. This iterative engagement with environmental ruin has gradually coalesced into a poetics paradigm marked by resistance and critical reflection. These poetic works not only illuminate the distinctive ecological perception of African poets but also expand the practice of Marxist Ecological Poetics in the Global South, offering a literary critique of oil capitalism while envisioning alternative pathways for ecological thought and cultural intervention.

References

1. Z. Zhu, "Marxism as Perceived by Native Nigerian Writers," ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 507-517, 2025. doi: 10.1080/0895769x.2025.2566456

2. B. Clark, and S. B. Longo, "Marxism and Ecology," In Routledge Handbook of Marxian Economics, 2017, pp. 399-408. doi: 10.4324/9781315774206-37

3. L. Nichols, "Conversations with African Writers: Interviews with Twenty-Six African Authors," Voice of America, 1981.

4. O. I. Yemisi, "From Tribal Society to Nation-State: A Survey of the National Development of Nigeria, by Liu Hongwu," Africa Review, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 233-235, 2025. doi: 10.1163/09744061-bja10262

5. J. W. Moore, "Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital," Verso Books, 2025.

6. A. Olagunju, G. Thondhlana, J. S. Chilima, A. Sène-Harper, W. N. Compaoré, and E. Ohiozebau, "Water governance research in Africa: progress, challenges and an agenda for research and action," Water International, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 382-407, 2019. doi: 10.1080/02508060.2019.1594576

7. A. Munyai, "African renaissance: Effects of colonialism on Africa's natural resources and the right to development," Journal for Juridical Science, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 1-27, 2020. doi: 10.18820/24150517/jjs45.i1.1

8. S. E. Egya, "Nature and environmentalism of the poor: eco-poetry from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria," Journal of African Cultural Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 1-12, 2016. doi: 10.1080/13696815.2015.1083848

9. G. Okara, and B. M. Osbey, "Gabriel Okara: Collected Poems," U of Nebraska Press, 2016.

10. C. D. Course, "EBB TIDE,".

11. C. Ononye, and I. Chiluwa, ""There's still something positive about the Niger Delta ecology": Metaphor and ideology in the Niger Delta poetic discourse," Language and Literature, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 275-296, 2023. doi: 10.1177/09639470231158694

12. R. J. Lane, "Reading Walter Benjamin: writing through the catastrophe," In Reading Walter Benjamin. Manchester University Press., 2024.

13. M. Story, "Poems from the Niger Delta," Culture-Environment-Society Humanities and beyond, vol. 115, 2023.

14. W. Benjamin, "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction," In A museum studies approach to heritage, 2018, pp. 226-243. doi: 10.4324/9781315668505-19

15. A. Gorz, "Ecology as politics," Black Rose Books, 1980.

16. D. Boyer, "Liquid modernity," 2002.

17. R. Grundmann, "The ecological challenge to Marxism," New Left Review, vol. 187, no. 1, pp. 103-120, 1991. doi: 10.64590/3al

18. B. Schwartz, "Marx and Lenin in China," Far Eastern Survey, vol. 18, no. 15, pp. 174-178, 1949. doi: 10.1525/as.1949.18.15.01p04927

19. J. L. Borges, D. A. Yates, and J. E. Irby, "Labyrinths (p. 228)," Donald A. Yates & James E. Irby, 1964.

20. J. R. O'Connor, "Natural causes: Essays in ecological Marxism," Guilford Press, 1998.

21. F. L. Wang, and Y. Lou, "Research on the Enlightenment of Marx's Ecological Philosophy Thought on Ecological Civilization Education," Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, vol. 25, no. 2, 2025.

22. S. E. Egya, "Eco-human engagement in recent Nigerian poetry in English," Journal of Postcolonial Writing, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 60-70, 2013. doi: 10.1080/17449855.2012.677404

23. C. K. Tong, "Lu Xun, Nonhumans, and the Critique of Domination," Lu Xun and World Literature, vol. 226, 2025. doi: 10.2307/jj.28210037.21

24. M. Perelman, "Myths of the Market: Economics and the Environment," Organization & Environment, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 168-226, 2003.

25. K. van Opijnen, "The Powers of Poetry: Creative writing from the Niger Delta as a tool for environmental justice," 2021.

26. N. Bassey, "We thought it was oil but it was blood," Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2002.

27. U. E. Inyang, and M. I. Orhero, "The Saro-Wiwa Motif in Niger Delta Poetry," Abraka Humanities Review, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 37-53, 2020.

28. E. Kulczycki, W. M. Kolasa, and K. Szadkowski, "Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin as highly cited researchers? Historical bibliometrics study," Scientometrics, vol. 126, no. 10, pp. 8683-8700, 2021. doi: 10.1007/s11192-021-04126-3

29. K. Friesenhan, "Voices From the Fringes: The Eco-Poetics of Niger Delta Women," Scrutiny2, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 107-125, 2024. doi: 10.1080/18125441.2024.2363233

30. Z. Zhenwu, and L. Dan, "The Africanness of African Literatures and New Patterns in Human Civilization," Social Sciences in China, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 113-127, 2022. doi: 10.1080/02529203.2022.2122210

31. B. O. ESAMAGU, "TRAUMA AND TRAUMATOGENIC INSCRIPTIONS IN NIGER DELTA POETRY (Doctoral dissertation)," 2023.

32. Z. Zhenwu, "Marxism in African Diaspora Literature," Comparative Literature in China, no. 4, p. 2, 2025.