Consciousness and Identity as Environmental Realities in Mbuh Tennu Mbuh’s In the Shadow of My Country

Abstract

This research work investigates through Mbuh Tennu Mbuh’s In the Shadow of My country the different natural and social factors that influence human consciousness and identity. These factors include the elements of the physical world such as trees, mountains, and lakes, and politics, custom, tradition, and crime and punishment for the social factors. After a close reading of the novel, one gathers the impression that Mbuh’s characters are interconnected with their environment to the point that their bahaviour and actions are determined by their immediate surrounding. Thus, the way characters perceive and treat their environment and what becomes of them after is one of the focuses of this write up. The research endeavour also analyses the political, cultural and traditional influences on the characters as well as the changes that take place in characters when they change their environment to say that nature and society are vital in the development of a character and human beings in general. To this effect, the theories chosen for the analysis are New Historicism and Ecocriticism.