「虛構/批判石油文化」: 當代美國與奈及利亞之石油小說研究

Abstract

絲蒂芬妮•勒梅娜喆曾概述以偵探小說風格的方式去講述如何抗衡石油是對於後現代以及非理性的世界中，一種努力開闢出新觀點的方法。本論文旨在比較奈及利亞以及美國之石油文學，深入探討和比較兩地區的作者們接露生存在石油環境中以及現實生活中被石油公司所壓榨的感受。透過分析這四本關鍵小說:海陀•哈比拉的《水上石油》、阿蒂卡•洛克的《上漲的黑水》、梅美•埃文斯的《油與水》以及恩内迪•奥科拉福發的《潟湖》。我將概述石油文學對石油文化的貢獻，以及小說能揭發進而瓦解人們對石油的幻想。我希望能闡明縱使小說有其限制，但與許多數據類型或資料收集型的文獻的相比，小說提供了多樣的、不同的觀點去看待石油。經由本土化、類當地的口語敘述，小說提供了一些經常被忽略的觀點，以及帶領我們深入探討其他不被看見獲重視的微小地方。小說提供了另一種石油的觀點。作者可以藉由小說反駁對於所謂的“資源魔咒”，並聚焦在石油公司如何和政府之間互相合作創造出現今我們對於社會的“感知結構” 核心關係。”

The aim of this thesis is to compare four key petrofiction texts, two from Nigeria and two from the U.S., as a means of illuminating the structures of feeling within these nations in relation to the oil industry and the petroculture it fosters. The novels I shall analyse are Helon Habila's Oil on Water, Attica Locke's Black Water Rising, Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon and Mei Mei Evans’ Oil and Water. By including works that represent the Global North and the Global South, this study demonstrates that in the Global North, oil serves as an invisible, unquestioned foundation for the concept of freedom and the “American way of life.” Conversely, in the Global South, oil is an eminently visible source of structural violence, political oppression, and injustice. Stephanie LeMenager outlined the need to “plot against oil” in the style of a detective novel in order to illuminate the occluded realities of the interconnectedness of oil and modern life. Petrofiction is particularly productive as a medium through which to do just that. I hope to show that fiction, despite its limitations, is fertile ground for proffering divergent viewpoints on oil. Through its use of localised narratives, fiction offers insights into oft-overlooked elements of petroculture, elements that are often absent from data-driven macro-analyses. Fiction provides a perspective that enables authors to shine a spotlight on the nexus of oil corporations and governments that cooperate to create our contemporary structures of feeling. I will measure the extent to which each of the four key texts accomplishes this objective in their plots against oil.