Class and Disability as Environmental Issues in Ikechukwu Emmanuel Asika’s Love of an Angel

Abstract

Over the years, African literatures have showcased various unbearable problems seen in the environment. Among the represented ill-treatment is degradation of living and non-living beings in the surroundings. This inhuman devastation that is being meted out to both humans and non-humans is caused by man. Apparently, one of the reasons for this ill-behaviour is the amount of valuable material possession the person has to his or her name. This, in turn, incapacitates the individual in the environment. Hence, there is environmental injustice. To avoid examining previous studies, this research investigates class and disability as environmental issues in Ikechukwu Emmanuel Asika’s Love of an Angel. Subsequently, class is the system of placing individuals into groups, that the yardstick for placement depends on the individual’s level of socio-economic status, occupation, education, lifestyle, income, accumulated assets, among others. On the other hand, disability is a cultural construct about human bodies, human economic status, human position, human identity, to mention but a few, that the cultural construct ends up handicapping the individual. Thus, this makes them have slight or no chances of survival to attain a good standard of living, owing to the cultural construct that yields inordinate behaviours of human in the environment. Moreover, disability literary theory that fights against human action, which disembodies individuals in the environment is used to underscore this qualitative research. This study unravels that the family environment Olachi finds herself in (that is, Mrs Chendo’s household) disables her through a class system that perpetuates human degradation. However, it is crucial to note that the literary writer uses class to represent environmental disability. Keywords: African Literature, Class System, Disability Studies, Eco-Critical Studies, Family Environment