07 July 2026 / News, Research, Doctorate/PhD, People, Info

DPL graduate Dr. Katienegnimin Seydou KONATE has published his monograph "Humanity, Nature, Ecological Issues and Challenges: An Ecocritical Study of Ivorian Children's Literature" (Entremises Éditions).

The book examines representations of the relationship between humans and nature in Ivorian children's literature from an ecocritical perspective. It explores how literary works for young readers depict nature, animals, and ecosystems while addressing issues such as environmental degradation, biodiversity conservation, ecological ethics, and sustainable development. It also highlights the role of children's literature as a powerful medium for fostering environmental awareness and educating younger generations about contemporary ecological challenges. Bringing together ecocriticism, geocriticism, Animal Studies, environmental humanities, and African children's literature, the monograph investigates a corpus that has received little scholarly attention to date. It makes an original contribution to the study of environmental literature in Sub-Saharan Africa and to current debates on ecological justice, sustainability, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More broadly, it demonstrates how literary studies and the environmental humanities contribute to a deeper understanding of the interactions between culture, society, and the environment in contemporary African contexts. A pioneering study of the environmental literature of sub-Saharan Africa.