Gendered Visions of History and Ecological Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of Achebe and Adimora-Ezeigbo
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Mary J. N. Okolie
Presentation Date: May 14, 2026 @ 14:41 PM
Tags: Nsukka University of Nigeria Nigeria Enugu 2026 Mary J. N. Okolie
Abstract
This paper employs a postcolonial ecofeminist framework, drawing on the work of Vandana Shiva, to argue that Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s The Last of the Strong Ones presents a vital corrective to the patriarchal and tragic historical vision immortalized in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. While Achebe’s seminal novel charts the collapse of Umuofia through the lens of a hyper-masculine heroism, it inadvertently marginalizes the symbiotic and sustainable relationships between women and the environment that form the bedrock of communal survival. This study contends that Adimora-Ezeigbo’s text systematically rewrites this narrative by centering women as the primary agents of ecological and historical resilience. Through the comparative lenses of environment, gendered agency, and narrative structure, the analysis contrasts Achebe's sacred, punitive world leading to masculine collapse with Adimora-Ezeigbo's practical, sustaining land upheld by feminine communal stewardship, revealing a fundamental divergence between a linear narrative of tragedy and a cyclical one of regeneration. Ultimately, this comparative analysis reveals that reading these two novels together is essential for a complete understanding of how gendered ideologies shape foundational narratives of history, ecology, and sustainability within the African literary canon.
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