Afrofuturism, as a genre, describes fictional works which encompass Black science fiction and may engage with any and all structural elements of the broader umbrella of subgenres (horror, fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, etc.) classified under Black speculative fiction.
Afrofuturist literary works resist singular notions of a “Black” cultural experience. Instead, Afrofuturist narratives draw upon a variety of ethnic, national, regional histories and cosmologies, as well as indigenous religious frameworks. Thematically, Afrofuturist literature delves into revisionist or alternative history making, while galvanizing conversations on social injustice and Black liberation. Afrofuturist literature investigates questions of Black intellectual production, materiality, and intellectual ownership, while reimagining the potential futures of individuals within the Afrodiaspora.
The emerging genre of Afrofuturist literature is influenced by two strands, Afro-pessimism and Black optimism. Afro-pessimism asserts that the violence of colonialism and slavery contributes to a definition of Blackness as a state of non-being. In this state, Black individuals exist within and yet are alienated from the rest of society. In Afrofuturist literature, Afro-pessimism underscores a bleak view of futurity and any inherent possibility for Black self-determination and social advancement. In contrast, Black optimism reconsiders Blackness after slavery and colonialism relative to modernity, technology, and culture. Black optimism emphasizes Blackness as a complete and holistic state of being. It rejects the essentialism and inherent abjectness of socially-determined “Blackness” as portrayed in Afro-pessimism. Within the context of Afrofuturist literature, the Black imaginary and its creative expression are essential pivot points for self-determining futurity.
List of Afrofuturist literature
Author(s)/Editor(s) | Year | Title |
---|---|---|
Brissett, Jennifer Marie | 2014 | Elysium, Or, The World After |
Butler, Octavia | 1979 | Kindred |
Du Bois, W. E. B. | 1920 | Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil |
Ellison, Ralph | 1952 | Invisible Man |
Hopkinson, Nalo | 1998 | Brown Girl in the Ring |
Jemisin, N.K. | 2015 | The Fifth Season |
Jennings, John; Robinson, Stacey | 2013 | Black Kirby: In Search Of: The Motherboxx Connection |
Due, Tananarive | 1997 | My Soul to Keep |
Farmer, Nancy | 1994 | The Ear, the Eye and the Arm |
Wilson, Kai Ashante | 2015 | The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps |
James, Marlon | 2019 | Black Leopard, Red Wolf |
Schuyler, George | 1931 | Black No More |
Adeyemi, Tomi | 2018 | Children of Blood and Bone |
Tutuola, Amos | 1952 | The Palm-Wine Drinkard |
Callender, Kacen | 2019 | Queen of the Conquered |
Johnson, Mat | 2011 | Pym |
Okri, Ben | 1991 | The Famished Road |
Deonn, Tracy | 2020 | Legendborn |
Whitehead, Colson | 2011 | Zone One |
Bayron, Kalynn | 2020 | Cinderella is Dead |
Ifueko, Jordan | 2020 | Raybearer |
Monáe, Janelle | 2022 | The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer |
Clarke, Matthew; Lynch, Nigel | 2021 | Hardears |
Fielder, Tim | 2021 | Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale |
Campbell, Bill; Hall, Edward Austin | 2013 | Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond |
Olayiwola, Porsha | 2019 | i shimmer sometimes, too |
Ashante Wilson, Kai | 2015 | The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps |
Reed, Ishmael | 1972 | Mumbo Jumbo |
Lord, Karen | 2014 | The Galaxy Game |
Roye Okupe | 2015 | E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale WIlliams |
Johnson, Dawn Alaya | 2020 | Trouble The Saints |
Kwame, Mbalia | 2019 | Tristian Strong Punches a Hole in the sky |
Kwame, Mbalia | 2020 | Tristian Strong Destroys the World |
Banks, Leslie | 2003 | The Vampire Huntress Legend Series: Minion |
Mbalia, Kwame | 2019 | Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky |
Ireland, Justina | 2018 | Dread Nation |
James, Marlon | 2022 | Moon Witch, Spider King |
Barnes, Steven | 2002 | Lion's Blood |
Jeffery Renard Allen | 2014 | Song of the Shank |
Jackson, Kosoko | 2022 | Survive the Dome |
Forma, Namina | 2021 | The Gilded Ones |
Shawl, Nisi | 2016 | Everfair |
Nisi Shawl | 2008 | Filter House |
Fielder, Tim | 2018 | Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale |
Andrea Hairston | 2006 | Mindscape |
Maurice Broaddus | 2022 | Sweep of Stars |
Ireland, Justina | 2020 | Deathless Divide |
Nnedi Okorafor | 2015 | Binti |
Rivers Solomon | 2017 | An Unkindness of Ghosts |
Delany R., Martin | 1859 | Blake; or the Huts of America |
Thomas R., Sheree | 2000 | Dark Matter (prose anthologies) |
|- |Turnbull, Cadwell |2021 |No gods, no monsters: a novel |}
References
- Carrington, André M. (2016-02-29). Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-4975-8.
- Lavender (III), Isiah (2019). Afrofuturism Rising: The Literary Prehistory of a Movement. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8142-5556-8.
- Bould, Mark (2007). "The Ships Landed Long Ago: Afrofuturism and Black SF". Science Fiction Studies. 34 (2): 177–186. ISSN 0091-7729. JSTOR 4241520.
- Culture, Nat'l Mus Afr Am Hist (2023-03-21). Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. Soho Press. ISBN 978-1-58834-740-4.
- McDougall, Audrey Suzanne (2020-05-15). "Afrofuturism: Blackness, Sound, and Counter-Narratives". Journal of Integrated Studies. 12 (1). ISSN 2816-3001.
- Ogbunu, C. Brandon. "How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- Hill-Jarrett, Tanisha G. (2023). "The Black radical imagination: a space of hope and possible futures". Frontiers in Neurology. 14. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1241922. ISSN 1664-2295. PMC 10557459. PMID 37808484.
- Wilderson, Frank B., III (2020-04-07). Afropessimism. Liveright Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63149-615-8.
{{cite book}}
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Bould, Mark (2007). "The Ships Landed Long Ago: Afrofuturism and Black SF". Science Fiction Studies. 34 (2): 177–186. ISSN 0091-7729. JSTOR 4241520.
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- Campbell, Bill; Hall, Edward Austin (2013). Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond. Rosarium Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9891411-4-7.
- Olayiwola, Porsha (2019). i shimmer sometimes, too. Button Poetry. ISBN 978-1-9437354-5-7.
- Kim, Myungsung (2018). "The Grapevine Telegraph "Jes Grew": Sonic Materialism, Afrofuturism and Information Theory in Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo". TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. 39: 89–109. doi:10.3138/topia.39.05. ISSN 1916-0194. S2CID 165304856.
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