Echoes of Environmental Degradation and Social Dislocation in Niyi Osundare’s City Without People

Abstract

Sustained research on the poetry of Nigerian writer Niyi Osundare has largely concentrated on his socio-political preoccupations and unrelenting celebrations of nature, particularly in the tradition of the Romantics, including the unique stylo-linguistic character of his writings. Moreover, as a nationally and internationally decorated poet, scores of well-placed studies continue to privilege Osundare’s more popular volumes, creating a critical gap in his overall “global humanistic vision” (Diala). One such issue, addressed in the less-acclaimed City Without People (2012), is environmental abuse and its direct link to human suffering. The sombre, quite melancholic City Without People dwells on nothing else but Osundare’s own traumatic experience of Hurricane Katrina. However, starting with the volume’s ominous title, a closer reading reveals a work that points environmental degradation as a vital part of the larger issue of climate change. Eco-criticism, a broad investigative tool for dissecting global ecological issues through the intersections of literature, culture, and the physical environment has been adopted as theoretical framework for this paper.