John Taylor’s Maneaters and Marauders: An Ecocritical/Post-Colonial Evaluation of a Colonizer’s Perspective of African Wilderness

Abstract

Abstract

The paper intends to analyze the representation of African culture and junglescapes in Maneaters and Marauders by John “Pondoro” Taylor, from an ecocritical/post-colonial perspective. The paper seeks to find out how John Taylor, while describing his death-defying acts in the jungles of Nyasaland, Mozambique, etc. has perceived his immediate natural environment-whether his stance is that of a naturalist, or, that of a European ivory poacher, having no qualms about the exploitation of the natural resources of Central Africa, and if his attitude to nature has a direct relation with his belonging to the faction of European imperialist. The objective is to explore how the author takes both an anthropocentric and a Eurocentric approach while narrating his experiences in African jungles: how he has perceived the animal kingdom, the native people and their cultures, prejudices, beliefs, and if he has voiced his own racial prejudices while claiming to have viewed Africa from the perspectives of the Africans.