Helon Habila and the Trauma of Disposable People in Oil on Water
Helon Habila and the Trauma of Disposable People in Oil on Water

Summary/Abstract: Trauma studies are no doubt a burgeoning area of discourse that has captured the lit- erary imagination of academic scholars for a few decades running. This study examines the complex relationship between socio-cultural influences and intimate personal relations portrayed in trauma fiction, such as Helon Habila’s Oil on Water. Specifically, how do these depictions in Ha- bila’s fiction direct our awareness of the catastrophic effects of war, poverty, hostage-taking, and domestic abuse on the individual psyche? How do traumatised people respond? To what extent can we theorise trauma studies and ecocritical studies? How traumatised is the physical land- scape portrayed in Habila’s fiction? The study concludes by insisting that governments of nations and relevant international organisations owe the people the responsibility of intentionally com- mitting to rearticulating and rehabilitating the social conditions, voices, and, indeed, the lives of marginalised people.

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