Ecological Memory and Indigenous Knowledge in the Colonial Encounter: A Comparative Study of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relationship between ecological memory, indigenous knowledge systems, and the colonial discourse in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. This paper highlights the fact that the discourse of colonialism disrupts the ecological continuity by destroying the connection of indigenous people with the land, whereas postcolonial stories try to restore cultural and environmental memories. With a focus on postcolonial ecocriticism, this paper attempts to analyse the representation of land in both literary works as the land is presented as not just the geographical location but also as the place of cultural identity, history, and ecology. Modern ecocriticism stresses the fact that colonialism causes lasting ecological destruction and epistemic violence resulting in the reconfiguration of indigenous knowledge system about the environment (Adugna & Hailu, 2024).

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