by Kenneth Nsah*
Abstract
From a postcolonial ecocritical standpoint, this essay analyzes the play Le Cri de la forêt (2015) co-authored by Henri Djombo, a cabinet minister from Congo-Brazzaville, and Osée Colin Koagne, a stage director and environmental activist from Francophone Cameroon. Mindful of the rich biodiversity of the Congo Basin where the playwrights originate, the essay interrogates why the forest in the play is screaming and moves on to engage with related ecological questions such as the scapegoating of witchcraft and doubtful traditional beliefs amidst climate change. It examines the controversial ways in which the play simultaneously promotes indigenous knowledge systems and capitalism. Furthermore, the essay grapples with the oft-debated role of overpopulation on climate change and ecological degradation, particularly in regions of the global South such as Africa. And, finally, it explores the playwrights’ depiction of women and children as both victims and combatants of environmental collapse, stressing their important role in fighting climate change as opposed to some critics’ claims that they are merely helpless victims. The essay therefore constitutes a double intervention in ecocriticism in the Francophone African world: both the playwrights and the present author seek to intervene in ecological discourses and actions.
NOTE: Full article available here.
