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<p>This article examines the representation of the connection between religious beliefs and the natural environment around sacred places in <italic>God Was African</italic> by Nkemngong Nkengasong and <italic>Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer</italic> by Cyrus Mistry. Comparing the eco-cycle around Zoroastrian Fire Temples, the Towers of Silence in Bombay and the shrines of Fuondem and other gods in Lewoh traditional religion, this article argues that the inter-connectivity between these Parsi-Bangwa religions reveals that gods reside in our immediate environment and only our eco-politics can preserve this supernatural connection. Using ecocriticism, therefore, I contend that the Parsis in India and the Bangwa in Lebialem revere and protect natural abodes of the gods like earth, water, hills, valleys, forests and fire against the devastating environmental crises heralded by the modernist backlash. The modern transformation of these sacred places into sources of generating renewable and artificial energies accounts for the different physical and ideological conflicts that abound in the two novels. As such, by protecting the different forms of life that inhabit these sacred places, this article concludes that Nkengasong’s and Mistry’s eco-poetical language and style in <italic>God Was African</italic> and <italic>Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer</italic> reflect Lewoh traditional religion, Zoroastrianism and the environment, participating in the Afro-Oriental artistic crusade for biophilia and environmentally friendly belief systems.</p>
</abstract>

This article examines the representation of the connection between religious beliefs and the natural environment around sacred places in God Was African by Nkemngong Nkengasong and Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer by Cyrus Mistry. Comparing the eco-cycle around Zoroastrian Fire Temples, the Towers of Silence in Bombay and the shrines of Fuondem and other gods in Lewoh traditional religion, this article argues that the inter-connectivity between these Parsi-Bangwa religions reveals that gods reside in our immediate environment and only our eco-politics can preserve this supernatural connection. Using ecocriticism, therefore, I contend that the Parsis in India and the Bangwa in Lebialem revere and protect natural abodes of the gods like earth, water, hills, valleys, forests and fire against the devastating environmental crises heralded by the modernist backlash. The modern transformation of these sacred places into sources of generating renewable and artificial energies accounts for the different physical and ideological conflicts that abound in the two novels. As such, by protecting the different forms of life that inhabit these sacred places, this article concludes that Nkengasong’s and Mistry’s eco-poetical language and style in God Was African and Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer reflect Lewoh traditional religion, Zoroastrianism and the environment, participating in the Afro-Oriental artistic crusade for biophilia and environmentally friendly belief systems.

Negotiating Afro-Oriental Religious Eco-Political Space and the Modernist Backlash in <italic>God Was African</italic> by Nkemngong Nkengasong and <italic>Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer</italic> by Cyrus Mistry

East-West Cultural Passage

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Negotiating Afro-Oriental Religious Eco-Political Space and the Modernist Backlash in  by Nkemngong Nkengasong and  by Cyrus Mistry

This article examines the representation of the connection between religious beliefs and the natural environment around sacred places in God Was African by...

Negotiating Afro-Oriental Religious Eco-Political Space and the Modernist Backlash in God Was African by Nkemngong Nkengasong and Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer by Cyrus Mistry

Pubblicato online: 13 mar 2024

Pagine: 108 - 138

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2023-0009

Parole chiave
Afro-Oriental, Eco-poetics, modernist backlash, biophilia, renewable energy

© 2023 Nyanchi Marcel Ebliylu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Negotiating Afro-Oriental Religious Eco-Political Space and the Modernist Backlash in God Was African by Nkemngong Nkengasong and Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer by Cyrus Mistry

Pubblicato online: 13 mar 2024

Pagine: 108 - 138

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2023-0009

Parole chiaveAfro-Oriental, Eco-poetics, modernist backlash, biophilia, renewable energy

© 2023 Nyanchi Marcel Ebliylu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Parole chiave
Afro-Oriental, Eco-poetics, modernist backlash, biophilia, renewable energy