Land Deterioration and Environmental Damage: A Postcolonial Eco-critical Study of How Beautiful We Were 67

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Land Deterioration and Environmental Damage: A Postcolonial Eco-critical Study

of How Beautiful We Were
Musaib Junejo1
Tania Shabir Shaikh2
1Lecturer, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan
2Senior Lecturer, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract
The paper tries to answer, how western corporations are responsible for land
deterioration and environmental damage under the guise of development. It brings forth
neocolonial forces into the limelight that have caused ecological damage. The study is
guided by the postcolonial eco- critical model of Huggan and Tiffin (2010). Huggan and
Tiffin assert the intertwined correlation among environmental violence, marginalization
of the indigenous groups, and destruction of land by the neocolonial agencies. The
findings are based on data supplied by textual analysis of the novel. The study reveals
the ways in which oil corporations exploit the resources, contaminate the land, damage
the environment, and cause economic inequality. It is a typical fictional study of
neocolonial agencies’ ironic dreams of development and progress. The novel not only
voices the environmental injustices and the disastrous consequences of Oil Corporation
but also cultural and social marginalization of locals. It has been suggested that western
neocolonial corporations are the real culprits of ecological damage in Asia and Africa.
Therefore, time is ripe for the world to reverse the damage and take a step towards
inclusive and human centered sustainable development.
Keywords: postcolonial ecocriticism; environmental exploitation; development; oil
corporations
Introduction
The Swahili proverb reflects that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that
suffers (Dyer, 1994). The proverb touches on a significant element of colonization;
highlighting the fact that the environment suffers in conjunction with its colonized
inhabitants. Humans are collectively considered as a geological force that alters
ecosystems, it raises an important question: who starts this process of alteration of
environment? In an answer to this question, Sloterdijk (2015) speaks of a ‘Eurocene’ or
‘Technocene’, marking western industries and their technocracy as the main culprits of
environmental degradation. The responsibility of environmental injustices and calamities
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are on the shoulders of western upper-class agents (Haraway, 2015; Di chiro, 2017).
Hence, much of the human and ecological exploitation is a result of imperial colonizing
efforts. The Empire has been a significant factor in the climate change and use of fossil
fuels. This complicated connection has reconciled ecocriticism and postcolonial studies.
It has given rise to ideology of postcolonial ecocriticism that continues to flourish in
literary and critical realms. While post colonialism is concerned with displacement and
Diaspora; ecocriticism turns on the ethics of locality and stresses the sense of place
(Nixon, 2005). Both theories seem to thrive on upturning binaries: for postcolonial, the
west/ other binary, and ecocriticism, the human/ nature binary.
Postcolonial ecocriticism draws attention to the fact that the indigenous natives
often live in polluted environments. The effects of climate and environmental change in
the developed countries are foregrounded, while in the developing countries, it appears
more remote and is pushed into the background. Huggan and Tiffin (2010) also claim that
the voices of the environmental catastrophes in the periphery are always neglected. This
further leads to complex interdependencies of environmental conditions, social,
historical, and cultural factors to the long history of colonization. Nixon (2011) considers
global climate change as a slow form of violence that starts, fosters, and thrives on
environmental changes. In this neocolonial approach, postcolonial nations suffer through
the thawing cryosphere, toxic drift deforestation, acidifying oceans, polluted water, and
other environmental catastrophes. Feldman and Hsu (2007) claim that such issues remain
linked to the question of the race where indigenous people are more prone to face such
calamities. The infrastructure of postcolonial nations was designed primarily for the
benefit of resource extraction, rather than for sustainability and repair, hence they are
robbed of resources. Said (2001), in his book ‘Power, Politics and Culture’ also reflects that
imperialism is predicated on an act of geographical violence and regaining sovereignty
over the land and natural resources. Europeans justified their annexation and
appropriation of indigenous land on the basis that the natives were uncivilized and
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lacked recognizable skills, unable to tame and cultivate nature. Hence, their land can be
appropriated directly by industrious and rational colonists (Benton, 2007). To try and
prevent the world’s elite from taking economic, social, and political advantage of
developing third world, postcolonial ecocriticism becomes imperative. This will help
avoid the missteps of the past and prevent the worst of the catastrophe in future that is
looming on the horizon.
The landscape is a prominent part of African culture that echoes its history and
points towards the genesis of human relations with the land. African ecology is known
for its vast green landscapes and dense vegetation. The continent has always tempted
foreigners to explore the fascinating culture of flora and fauna. In the long history of
colonization, the west clawed through Africa, scraped away its resources, spoiled the
land, and murdered its people. This theme is further explored by Imbolo Mbue in the
novel, ‘How Beautiful We Were’ (2021). The novel reflects both postcolonial and
environmental concerns, illuminating a lucid connection between the oppression of
colonized people and the pollution of natural environment. The story of corporate greed
and environmental destruction serves as an elegy to lost land.
The novel opens in an African village, Kosawa that is touched by the United States
from thousands of miles away. Ever since the American oil company installed pipelines
in the village, the toxic polluted chemicals poisoned much of the water, clogged the air
and food and ruined the land, resulting in undrinkable water, falling of acid rains,
rendering farmlands infertile, and death of children. Moreover, the masters’ promises of
cleanup and financial reparations were made and ignored. The oil company promised
‘prosperity’ but failed to protect the local people and the environment. They instead
reaped only sickness, diseases and deaths (Charles, 2021). The novel celebrates the
communal way of life lived close to nature but it ends without offering any solution as it
incites action to change the situation. The novel persuasively depicts the capitalist
motivations behind colonialism and imperialism that harm both environment and
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people. By emphasizing the correlation between the oppression of colonization and

damage to the natural environment, the novel supports a postcolonial eco-critical reading
in its holistic critiques of capitalist imperialism.
Hence, the current study, through postcolonial ecocriticism aims to unveil how the
environment has and is still been radically altered by colonialism and how power
relations, industrialization, and colonization affect climate and result in environmental
violence. It has been suggested that western neocolonial corporations are the real culprits
of ecological damage in Asia and Africa. Therefore, time is ripe for them to reverse the
damage and take a step towards sustainable development for the good of everyone.
Literature Review
Global climate change is probably the biggest threat to the only inhabitable planet,
the Earth and to human civilization. The seriousness of the topic and urgency of the
situation have stimulated academicians, theorists and researchers from not only the
domain of natural but also social sciences and humanities. Postcolonial ecocriticism is the
brainchild of contemporary critical arguments on the ecosystem and climate change. The
framework is still very new and there are wide open spaces and gaps in it that need the
focus of literary theorists and environmentalists. Human agency as a geological force
affects all aspects of the ecosystem, particularly climate and land. Much of the human
and ecological degradation is a result of imperial colonizing efforts. The postcolonial
analysis needs to reflect on the human condition without losing sight of environmental
violence. Hence, it is important for a postcolonial critique to include an ecological
perspective (Nixon, 2011; De Loughrey et al., 2015; Heise, 2017).
Postcolonial ecocriticism has broadly discussed the connection between economic
growth and imperialism. As theorized by Huggan and Tiffin (2010), postcolonial
ecocriticism asserts the intertwined correlation between environmental violence and the
marginalization of the indigenous groups. Western ideologies of development are often
associated with a ‘top-down’ form of economic management. In this regard
neocolonialist global corporation march to the indigenous land for industrialization but
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in reality, bring disastrous cultural and ecological effects. Mackenthun (2015) further
claims that the practice of industrialized nations of locating nuclear plants or oil
companies on the properties of the natives has given birth to the concept of
environmental racism. This theoretical affinity unveils the abuses of the masters with an
ethical commitment to improve the conditions of the oppressed. Hence, it is a matter of
the conquest of nature by appropriating local resources.
The present study is directed by postcolonial ecocriticism, applying the framework
of Huggan and Tiffin (2010). They have displayed major concerns about the ecological
history where the colonizers exploit indigenous land in the name of development and
civilization. This is achieved through several methods e.g. media, commerce, trade,
commercialization and financial aids. The following sections highlight the elements of
the selected theoretical framework in detail.
Land
The concept of land is very pivotal to both postcolonial and ecological theorists.
The land is the converging point between two contradicting and relatively dissimilar
fields of study. Almost all postcolonial critics and their narrative is grounded in the
European colonization of lands in Asia and Africa. In postcolonial theory, land is more
than a place or terrain. Land is the source of bread, culture, and above all dignity. On the
other side, ecology also accentuates the importance of land. Ecologists consider land as a
terrestrial biosphere or ecosphere. Along with air and water land is the place where both
biotic and abiotic components not only survive but thrive. So, land is the converging
point of ecology and post-colonialism. Former talks about aesthetics and cleanliness and
later stresses historicity and custody of land.
Huggan and Tiffin highlight the significance of land at multiple levels. According
to them, “Land is not land alone, we breathe into it, it is touched by our modes and
memories' (2010, p. 115). The idea of land goes far beyond the land itself. It is the site of
memories, moods and the air that people breathe. Besides, land includes “soil, water,
plants and animals” (Huggan & Tiffin, 2010, p. 106). This over inclusive definition of the
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land incorporates everything above and inside the land as land. Likewise, Zammito et al.
(2008) considers the land as a nonhuman member of the community. Hence, when a
colonizer subject kills an animal, cuts a plant, digs out the soil, and exploits the natural
resources or any other malicious activity that damages land comes under the jurisdiction
of postcolonial ecocriticism.
If the land is of so much importance, then the question arises who controls the land.
Here, Huggan and Tiffin touch upon the most sensitive and controversial idea of land
rights. Contrary to postcolonial critics who consider land as the property of those who
reside over it, postcolonial ecocriticism does not consider it a commodity. According to
Huggan and Tiffin (2010), “humans must abandon the view that land is a commodity and
come to be seen not as conquerors of nature but citizens on it” (p. 44). This sets the ground
that land is not personal property but a universal asset. It has a right of continued
existence in the pure, cleanest and natural form. These critics oppose both the
developmental and nativist view. The former, that land belongs to people and the later
that people belong to land. But if land is no one’s property then how it is going to be
used? Huggan and Tiffin (2010) explain that use of land is the right of the individuals
who inhabit it with the regulation and prior perception of the environment.
Furthermore, postcolonial ecocriticism has exposed the colonizers’ ulterior
motives of the exploitation and the plunder of land and its resources. According to
Huggan and Tiffin (2010) this right to loot the land and resources is usually justified on
two grounds. First is the “self-accorded right of conquest or discovery” (p. 121). Land
does not belong to aboriginal people but it is the property of one who conquers or
discovers it. This thought sowed the seeds of colonization and the desire to expand the
empire. On this pretext, European colonizers drained the resources from Asia and Africa.
With strong armies and naval power colonizers captured and discovered the lands across
the globe and altered the ecosystems by exploiting resources. The second pretext is the
“inability of the natives to use land” (p. 121). According to Harris (2013), this pretext is
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neo-colonialist in nature. The land belongs to the indigenous people but as they cannot
make use of the land, therefore, multinational corporations and global chains gain the
right to exploit it. Showing quixotic dreams of development and under the guise of
globalization, western MNCs annihilate the diversity of flora, fauna and above all human
lives and dignity.
Huggan and Tiffin (2010) also explain the process of westerners’ exploitation of
land in Asia and Africa. They quote horrifying stories of environmental degradation and
human displacement emanating from the activities of American oil companies in the
Niger Delta. “In the first tradition, the landscape is rendered empty or silent” (Huggan
and Tiffin, 2010, p. 99). The forceful displacement of the natives, cutting trees and
damaging the biodiversity is making land empty and silent. Bringing in the case study of
native tribes from the Niger delta, Huggan and Tiffin mention how they were forced to
empty land for the American multinational giant- Shell. The oil company has emptied
the flora, fauna, lives and culture of the delta. Once the land is emptied, in the second
step, it is polluted, but only at the expense of removing the labor of those hands that make
the landscape speak. The emptied land is polluted with machines, chemicals and foreign
workers at the cost of biodiversity. De Loughrey (2014) posits that land is dotted, decayed
and ruined with the remnants of grandeur ancient. This circle of emptying the land and
inhibiting it once again with something foreign and artificial, Trulijo, (2016) titles it
“marketability of nature” (p. 32). The Wilderness, cleanliness and culture of the land is
traded for minerals, oil and timber.
The Myth of Globalization and Development
One of the central thoughts of postcolonial ecocriticism is contesting and
challenging the “western ideologies of development and providing alternatives”
(Huggan & Tiffin, 2010, p. 27). By rightly rejecting the western notion of development
and entitling it as a myth, postcolonial ecocriticism accentuates local solutions for local
problems rather than foreign. Development is a western capitalist ideology forced upon
the eastern countries under the pretext of globalization and expansion. According to
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Huggan and Tiffin (2010) “development is largely filtered through economistic myths of
progress: ‘amenity’, ‘benefit’, ‘improvement’” (p. 71). There are a number of fundamental
reasons why postcolonial ecocriticism detests development.
Development has snatched more than it gifted. A shift from agrarian to
industrialist economy and society has engendered the thought that flora and fauna are of
no worth to the globe. This shift of practices and ideologies has caused huge damage to
both humans and ecology. As Huggan and Tiffin (2010) say that undervaluation of
indigenous people and environmental abuses are practiced in the name of development.
Development has pauperized millions of people in the agrarian sector by diminishing the
stock of plants, water and soil at an alarming rate. The overvaluation of western
substance-based corporations has ravaged the relationship between nature, the non-
human world and the human community. Therefore, Black (1999) considers development
a “disguised form of neocolonialism” (p. 268). Development primarily serves the political
and economic interests of the west.
Within the human community, development has widened the rift of haves and
have-nots Marxist critic Lazarus (2006) titles it “development’s destruction” (p.12). He
considers development a synonym of destruction. The question arises if development is
detrimental to the global ecosystem and environment then why a comprehensive climate
treaty is not signed to check the environmental degradation and human displacement.
Huggan and Tiffin (2010) have a very simple answer to it. Environmental degradation is
not tackled largely because it will tackle the growth of capitalism. They believe that
development and environmental sustainability can’t go hand in hand as the western
world prefers capital over nature.
Rejecting the western idea of development, postcolonial ecocriticism propounded
indigenous and ecological ideas of development. Firstly, “development is first and
foremost human development” (Huggan & Tiffin, 2010, p. 29). If development is not
benefiting the indigenous population and causes deaths, displacement and damage then
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it is rather a destruction as said by Lazarus. Secondly, “development of an environment

arbiters between people and nature” (p. 80). Huggan and Tiffin define this as sustainable
development. It strengthens and mediates between humans and the environment rather
damaging that relationship. Escobar (1997) explains it as a human-centered
developmentalization of the environment. A model of development in which both the
environment and humans are the beneficiaries. Thirdly, development is all-inclusive.
According to Huggan and Tiffin (2010) historically marginalized social groups are
equally rewarded and recognized through sustainable development. This idea of
development never creates the rift of haves and have-nots. This postcolonial Eco critical
view of development is human-centered, environmentally friendly, participatory, and
sustainable.
Research Methodology
The study employs a non-empirical research approach in which the data is based
on the interpretation of a literary text to present the major findings of the research. The
study uses the text, ‘How Beautiful we were’ (2021) that is analyzed in the light of Huggan
and Tiffin’s model (2010) of Postcolonial Ecocriticism. Morrow and Brown (1994) describe
non-empirical research as text-based research. Further, Mouton (2001) reflects that non-
empirical research is based on the theory that starts with its application and ends with
results controlled by the theory. The present study has also selected a novel and is
directed by Postcolonial ecocriticism theory, the framework of Huggan and Tiffin (2010).
Since the study is non-empirical, it opts for textual analysis as a data analysis tool.
Krippendorff (2004) defines textual analysis as a research technique for making valid
inferences from the text. According to Mckee (2003), textual analysis is “a way to gather
information about how other human beings make sense of the world” (p. 1). It shows that
textual analysis is not only a research method of data analysis but of understanding
human beings and their nature. Besides this, textual analysis is a technique to acquire
critical textual meaning from a piece of a given literary text (Cuddon, 1999). A literary
text is studied and analyzed critically by a researcher in the light of theory through textual
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analysis. Similarly, interpretation of the selected novel and building opinion in the light
of postcolonial ecocriticism theory is the main objective of this research study. Hence, all
these features of textual analysis make this a suitable method of data analysis that is to
be used in this study.
Textual analysis is carried through close, in-depth reading to analyze the selected
novel. Close reading is disciplined, mindful reading of an object that helps deepen
understanding its meaning (Brummett, 2018). It is a systematic and organized method of
looking into text and searching the related material from the entire text. Close reading is
to understand meaning between the lines besides surface-level superficial meaning. This
careful interpretation will aid in understanding the text from the point of view of the
elements of theory. This research technique questions the relationship between us and
text and how we see text and represent (Rockwell, 2003). Therefore, a close reading will
be used as a technique for analyzing the text of the selected novel.
Findings and Discussion
Development: A Disguised form of Colonialism
Huggan and Tiffin (2010) together with postcolonial critics consider western
ushered development as a disguised form of colonialism. The novel How Beautiful we Were
(2021) justifies the similar notion. The exploitation of resources, contamination of culture
and degradation of the environment were carried out under the noble cause of
development.
The novel mentions that “drilling for oil would bring something called
“civilization” and “prosperity” (p. 78). Unveiling the unreal dreams of progress, Pexton
(A fictional American oil company) drills the land. The ordinary indigenous people of
Kosawa (fictional town in Africa) were bamboozled by the ideal vision of progress and
development. Huggan and Tiffin (2010) also elucidate that “development is largely
filtered through economistic myths of progress: ‘amenity’, ‘benefit’, ‘improvement’ (p.
71). With the little dreams of brick houses, Kosowan people cherished the arrival of
Pexton and discovery of oil under their land. As Thula- a girl child-says in the novel that
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“our parents rejoiced and believed in Pexton’s lie” (p. 78). Innocent indigenous people
did not smell the upcoming menace. Therefore, Huggan and Tiffin consider this neo-
colonization of corporations as the worst form of colonialism.
In this regard Kadafa (2012) compares the first arrival of European colonizers
under the pretext of ‘civilization’ and now the arrival of their corporation with the golden
dreams of progress and development. In this regard Yaya –old lady- says in the novel
that “all people from overseas are the same, don’t they? The Americans, the Europeans,
every single overseas person who has ever set foot on our soil, you know they all want
the same thing” (Mbue, 2020, p. 107). Earlier European colonization for ivory, slaves and
rubber and now American corporation for the oil. Kosawa’s people realized that nothing
useful had arrived from the shores. Therefore, Huggan and Tiffin (2010) focus on the
localized generation of wealth and local solutions for the local problems rather foreign.
Furthermore, Huggan and Tiffin define how western led Multinational
Corporations function and exploit the resources by deeply damaging the ecosystem. They
first pledge to bring prosperity to the land. As it is found in the novel how Pexton showed
a prosperous future to the people of Kosawa. Moreover, MNCs get the license of
exploitation as the natives don’t have technology to use what is beneath their earth.
Taking the advantage of “inability of the natives to use land” (Huggan and Tiffin, 2010
p. 121) corporations do all the malpractices. Rowell (2017) summarizes it as corporations
arrive to provide panacea for the world's problems but in reality they trigger human and
environmental catastrophe. A catastrophe that is inestimable and can only be felt not
counted and measured. Kosawa’s people later realized the gravity of the situation when
Bongo says, “we now realize the fullness of the curse that came from living on the land
beneath which oil sat” (p. 31). The natural resources that should have brought prosperity
but contrastingly have caused death of children and proved a curse for locals. Thus Black
(1999) considers this model of development as exploitative and self-privileging.
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The wealth generated in Kosawa ends up in the hands of corporations; only

unusable toxic residues become the fate of inhabitants. As Sahel in the novel says, “no
reason why citizens should lack when the country had bauxite, oil, and timber” (p. 342).
Not to speak of improvement of the living condition, Kosawans suffered despite wealth
under their feet. People of Kosawa needed land to cultivate and rivers to drink water, not
the oil. Thus, it was evident how something useless for people of Kosawa can bring
prosperity in their lives. Huggan and Tiffin consider this as a neo liberal development
rather than egalitarianism. The oil drilled from Kosawa was of no use to the indigenous
people. As Malabo explains to Thula, “Pexton came to Kosawa to get oil so that their
other friends in America would have oil for their cars” (p. 32). The oil fueled the cars and
energized the industries in America while the ecosystem and humans suffered a great
loss in Kosawa. Yaya, Sahel, Bongo and Thula smelled the oil in their air while American
powered their machines with the same.
The western led and owned pseudo development has also stratified the word. As
Marxist critic Lazarus (2006) claims that the world is more unequal today than before as
the gap between the haves and have-nots has increased. As Mbue (2020) mentions in the
novels “Woja Beki drinks bottled water of Bezam, lives in brick houses and wears
American clothes” (p. 43). Woja Beki was rewarded for supporting Pexton. Intervention
of neocolonial forces made a class of people whose mean of production-Land- was
destroyed and a class of people like Woja Beki who thrived. Once an egalitarian
community, Kosawa was now divided into haves and have-nots as a result of
development. Furthermore, the gap between poor Kosawa and rich city Bezam within
the same country speaks volumes about the rising gap. As Thula writes in the letter
addressed to the Kosawans “Flickers of progress are brightening lives in isolated corners
of the world” (p. 287). This development benefits the few at the expense of a major portion
of the world. Therefore, Huggan and Tiffin (2010) consider this form of development that
snatches more than it gifts, a disguised form of colonialism.
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How Ugly We Are: The Story of Kosawa’s Land

Mbue’s How Beautiful We Were is an account of the cultural and environmental
transformation of an imaginary African village at the hands of neocolonialist agents. The
novel addresses the journey of Kosawa’s land from purity to pollution. This section
analyzes and discusses the environmental degradation and cultural deterioration of
Kosawa from the lens of Huggan and Tiffin’s (2010) neologism of Land.
Huggan and Tiffin believe that Land is not land alone. It includes soil, water, plants
and animals (2010). In this regard the story of Kosawa’s land in the novel is the story of
destruction of almost everything that Huggan and Tiffin define as land at the hands of
neocolonial agencies. The portrayal of destruction of land is in the very first sentence of
the novel. Children of Kosawa say, “Sky began to pour acid and rivers began to turn
green, our land should be dead soon” (Mbue, 2021, p. 6). The children of Kosawa were
well aware of the environmental degradation. They know acid rains from the sky and
poison from the rivers will put everything to death. As Yaya says, “One day, we know,
our world and our ways will vanish in totality” (p.36). This neo colonial dual onslaught
on both the culture and environment makes the little world of Kosawa inhabitable for the
people. Huggan and Tiffin (2010) highlight the significance of land. According to them
“we breathe into it, it is touched by our modes and memories” (p. 115). But in the novel
natives cannot breathe in Kosawa, their memories are wiped out and their modes are
being remolded. Discovery of Oil in Kosawa brings with it not prosperity but cultural
and environmental catastrophes.
Mbue (2021) describes the level of pollution and its consequences after the
unfortunate arrival of Pexton- an imaginary American Oil Corporation. Water, the most
essential and vital component of life, was the first thing to be contaminated. As Thula- a
girl child – describes “Mama and papa cautioning me never to go near the big river
covered with oil and toxic wastes” (p. 31). Once clean and pure water of the big river that
Thula’s ancestors used to swim in, changed into a dirty and toxic place. The native
inhabitants of Kosawa were barred from swimming in their own river and drinking its
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water. It was not only the humans who were devoid of the benefits of the river but also
the fishes. As mentioned in the novel “Whatever life was left in the big river disappeared.
Within a year, fishermen broke down their canoes and found new uses for the wood.
Children began to forget the taste of fish'' (p. 35). This “environmental apocalypticism”
as defined by Buell (1995) is the outcome of blatant violation of nature. Kadafa (2012) in
her environmental study of the contamination of the rivers of Niger Delta because of Oil
exploration says that “rivers don’t just provide water, but they are sacred source of
civilization” (p. 41). The toxification of the river deprives the people not only from the
water but also the deep-rooted civilization and culture that thrived on its banks. Along
with the ecosystem, the old ways of indigenous people were spoiled and poisoned. Once
thriving land of Kosawa later becomes a mammoth oil well. Besides river water, the
amount of poison was so high that it seeped into the underground water. As described
in the novel “It was poison not water, the toxins that had seeped into the well's water
from Pexton’s field” (p.12). The underground water of the well and flowing water of the
big river both were filthy and unfit for use. Huggan and Tiffin (2010) consider it as an
environmental nightmare.
Kosawa’s pure and clean air in which Thula’s ancestors breathed for centuries is
smoky, dirty and deadly after intervention of neo colonial agents. Mbue (2021) describes
“the air of Kosawa progressed from dirty to deadly” (p. 35). Besides, the smoke and soot
emitted from Pexton’s oil fields make the air unbreathable. The level of the air pollution
in Kosawa can be gauged by the way that even rains will not bring water but acid on the
ground as mentioned in the novel “sky began to pour acid” (p. 6). Yaya, Sahel, Juba,
Bongo, Malabo and other indigenous people of Kosawa had no right over their air. As
mentioned “they (Pexton) own the air we breathe '' (p. 101). Neocolonialist corporations
like Pexton claim the right over land on the pretext that it’s a natural commodity and we
have the right to exploit it. Huggan and Tiffin deny their claims and say “human must
abandon the view that land is commodity and come to see not as conquerors of nature
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but citizens within it” (2010, p. 44). Land (that includes water and air) can only be rightly
used when neocolonialist corporations consider them stakeholders of the land rather than
conquerors with greed of resources.
Moreover, the noise of the machines and sound of explosions have disturbed the
peace and silence of Kosawa. As mentioned in the novel “noise from the oil field
multiplied; day and night we heard it in our bedrooms, in our classroom, in the forest.
Our air turned heavy'' (p. 35). The tumultuous noises plagued the peace and
overshadowed the chattering of birds and hissing of animals. The noise pollution as we
call it added to the psychological disturbance of the people of Kosawa.
Besides water, air and noise the topographic outer land surface was directly
devastated by the wrongdoings of Pexton. The novel brings in notice all the
environmental problems including the deforestation, oil spills, landslides, fires, sea
intrusion and infertility of the soil. Kosawa’s land was also devastated by the network of
the pipelines under and over it. As mentioned “Trees were felled all over the valley to
make room for the oil field and pipelines” (p. 77). Forests were erased and trees were cut
to make space for the pipelines and oil wells. With it animals, birds and the entire
ecosystem of the place was altered. Oil spill and fire made the land infertile for crop
production. “Farms that had been rendered useless after fires; they examined the
shriveled-up products of our soil. (p. 142). Kosawa’s soil will no longer produce the crops
to sustain the life over it. Network of pipelines under and over the land represented the
authority and claim of neocolonialist agents over the Kosawa’s soil. As the novel says,
“pipelines violated the sanctity of the soil” (p. 214). These neocolonial malpractices
damaged the ecosystem and the livings of the indigenous people. Huggan and Tiffin
(2010) elucidate that these neocolonial practices dispose the locally generated wealth and
fundamental human rights. The possessions of the locals of Kosawa including, land,
water, crops and air were taken over and vandalized. All this was carried out under the
pretext of development and sustainability.
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Pexton as a Neo Colonial Corporation of Exploitation

Who is more powerful - countries or corporations? A million dollar question in the
age of globalization. Chamberlin (2003) in his study titled “If This Is Your Land, Where
Are Your Stories” discusses the devastating stories of powerful corporations. According
to him indigenous claims over the land are weaker than corporations’ claims. Similarly,
in the novel How Beautiful We Were an imaginary American oil company ‘Pexton’ was
more powerful and influential than indigenous people. Pexton is an undeclared dictator
that owns everything above and over the Kosawa as mentioned “they even own the air
we breathe” (P. 101). These are the corporations “whose bellies are never full” (Huggan
and Tiffin, 2010, p. 90). Pextons is the neo colonial organ that damages the land, cuts the
forests, poisons the water, disturbs the social fabric, and above all kills the people for the
sake of their greed. How Beautiful We Were is an account of how a corporation does all
these things under the guise of development and sustainability and still goes
unpunished.
Ziai (2007) claims that these transnational companies are the tail ends of the
colonial movement. They have still kept the colonial tradition alive till date in a different
way. Pexton bought the loyalty of Woja Beki and the government like a typical colonial
country. As said in the novel “he (Woja Beki) descended from the same ancestors as us,
but Pexton had bought him” (p. 8). This made it easier for the Pexton to do what it wanted
to under the patronage of powerful man and head of community. Huggan and Tiffin
(2010) quote the example of Shell and Chevron that how they twanged ecological war in
the Niger Delta under the protection of the Nigerian government. In the novel Mbue
brings the similar story but in fiction.
Furthermore, Mbue describes Pexton as “greedy and reckless”. It is the
corporation, more powerful than the people, courts, and countries. It uses all the means
of dictatorial control e.g. repression of the opponents, suppression of the dissent, curbing
the freedom of media and forceful disappearances of the people. In addition, the
ecological damage caused by Pexton is inestimable and enormous. In the novel, Yaya
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compares Pexton with European colonizer countries. She says “I asked which was worse:
the European masters, or Pexton and the government. My husband shrugged and said
he couldn’t decide. Maybe the masters were better” (p. 231). Therefore, Pexton’s control
over the Kosawa seems more strict and oppressive than that of any European colonizer.
Despite the struggles of the restoration movement, protests of American people, media
campaigns by the Austin and Thula, and interference of American courts, Pexton stands
on the land of Kosawa taller and stronger than before.
Moreover, the deaths and massacre carried out by the Pexton in the greedy pursuit
of wealth and the ecological damage caused is irreversible. Kosawa was changed into the
oil well and indigenous people were displayed. As Juba said, “we have no land left to
fight for” (p. 367). The sacrifices of Malabo, Bongo, Thula, countless children, the mango
trees, big river and animal species were in vain. Pexton did not only snatch the land, life,
and ecosystem but the culture as well. As Juba mourns in the end of the novel “our
children speak English and recognize foreign spirit” (p. 368). This cultural and
environmental damage in the developing countries by the corporations like Pexton is
aptly described by Arundhati Roy in her essay End of Imagination.
Our cities and forests, our fields and villages will burn for days. Rivers will turn to
poison. The air will become fire. The wind will spread the flames. When everything
there is to burn has burned and the fires die, smoke will rise and shut out the sun.
What shall we do then, those of us who are still alive? Burned and blind and bald
and ill, carrying the cancerous carcasses of our children in our arms, where shall
we go? What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we breathe? (Roy, 1999,
p. 124).
Conclusion
This study has examined the role of neocolonial corporations in creating
environmental and cultural catastrophe with reference to Mbue’s How Beautiful We Were
(2021). The study has explored how western multinational corporations are responsible
for land deterioration and environmental damage under the guise of development as
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reflected in the selected novel. Since the present study is about imperial colonizing efforts
in human and ecological exploitation, Huggan and Tiffin’s (2010) model of Postcolonial
Ecocriticism as a theoretical framework has guided this study. The key arguments based
on findings of this study reveal the cultural and environmental transformation of an
imaginary African village at the hands of neocolonialist agents. The novel addresses the
journey of Kosawa’s land from purity to pollution. Discovery of Oil in Kosawa brings
with it not prosperity but cultural and environmental catastrophes. This neo colonial dual
onslaught on both the culture and environment makes the little world of Kosawa
inhabitable for the people. Water, the most essential and vital component of life, was the
first thing to be contaminated. The native inhabitants of Kosawa were barred from
swimming in their own river and drinking its water.
Kosawa’s pure and clean air in which the ancestors breathed for centuries became
smoky, dirty and deadly after intervention of neo colonial agents. Besides, the noise of
the machines and sound of explosions have disturbed the peace and silence of Kosawa.
Besides water, air and noise pollution, the topographic outer land surface was directly
devastated by the wrongdoings of Pexton. The novel brings in notice all the
environmental problems including the deforestation, oil spills, landslides, fires, sea
intrusion and infertility of the soils in the novel. Furthermore, the oil corporation
disturbed the entire social fabric by creating inequality and classes of haves and have-
nots that divided the Kosawa. Moreover, the next generation of Kosawa was cut off from
the roots and became alien to ancestral language and culture. The novel brings out the
fictional case study that how greedy MNCs and their supporters have devastated the
environment, purity, and old customs under the guise of globalization.
The study recommends that western neocolonial corporations are the real culprits
of ecological and cultural damage in Asia and Africa. They must be held responsible for
the environmental and cultural genocide. The time is ripe for western world to accept the
crimes they committed under the pretext of development. They must feel responsibility
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and help the developing countries in reversing the damage. In this regard role of world
organization like UNO is vital. Policy of sustainable development is needed that does not
stratify the society and damage the ecosystem. Earth needs development that is suitable,
sustainable all-inclusive and above all human centered.
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