Arboreal Dialogics and Environmental Activism: Multispecies Entanglements in Ben Okri’s Every Leaf a Hallelujah
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The structures of capitalist production, grounded in the narrative of the Anthropocene, aim to sever the intricate relationships among various species, including the connections between humans and nonhumans. In this context, a profound re-evaluation of humans’ relationship with nonhuman entities is necessary. Literary narratives based on human‒ nonhuman interconnectedness can facilitate a renewed understanding of nonhuman agencies and entanglements with them, offering avenues for changing the manner in which humans coexist with other organisms. This article illustrates this by analysing Ben Okri’s Every Leaf a Hallelujah within the broader context of multispecies care, justice and conversation, studying the narrative of Mangoshi, a seven-year-old girl, her pursuit of a magical flower, her interactions with forest trees, and her activism in protecting trees from external threats. The article contends that multispecies approaches to care, justice and activism might facilitate radical initiatives for world-making and transformative possibilities as we support others and co-create interconnected relationships with them.
Source: Scrutiny2
Author: Goutam Karmakar
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4411492502