African Ecologies special section in the Journal of the British Academy

The Journal of the British Academy has just published its latest issue, which includes a special section on "African Ecologies: Literary, Cultural and Religious Perspectives." The recently restyled journal was launched at a celebratory event at the British Academy in London, on 22 May 2024. At this event, the journal's editor, Professor Fiona Williams, highlighted the importance of the section, saying that

this highly original collection of essays bring the humanities to bear on the understanding of the effects of the environmental crisis in African contexts.

The special themed section was edited by LUCAS members, Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda and Abel Ugba, with Damaris Parsitau (from the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity). It is the output of a workshop, jointly organised by the Leeds University Centre for African Studies and the British Institute in Eastern Africa, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2023. This workshop was funded under the British Academy International Writing Workshop scheme.

The special section includes the following contributions:

• "African ecologies: literary, cultural, and religious perspectives – introduction", by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau, and Abel Ugba.
• "Nature, ideology, and the ecocritical enterprise: Wangari Maathai’s The Green Belt Movement and Nadine Gordimer’s Get a Life", by Zaynab Ango.
• "Traumatogenic metaphors and religious motifs in Niger Delta ecopoetry", by Emmanuel Edafe Erhijodo.
• "Kukurúùkúù’: ecospiritual implications of the sounds of the cockcrow in Yoruba rural dwellings", by Ibukunolu Isaac Olodude.
• "Nso’ traditional religion and climate forecast: a critical photographic analysis", by Noela Kinyuy Banla.

At the launch event at the British Academy, Emmanuel Erhijodo delivered a video message in which he introduced his article about Niger Delta eco-poetry: