By David Iruoje
Afrofuturism in literature is more or less speculative fiction from an African perspective. It can also be considered as Black literary futurism. Speculative fiction is an aspect of narrative fiction that includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural or superhero stories. Fiction that depicts Dystopia, Utopia, Apocalyptic worlds, time travel and alternative realities are said to be speculative in nature.
While there are many definitions on what Afrofuturism entails, the general theme of such works involve “a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and philosophy of history that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentrism, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of [B]lack people, but also revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past.”
Afrofuturism, at its core, is unbound Black imagination with the ultimate focus of centering Blackness in ways that are non-restrictive and non-prohibitive with no consideration of the chokeholds of white imperialism.
In over fifty years of Nigerian prose fiction, Afrofuturism is yet to really find her place on the stage of Nigerian writing. The typical Nigerian novel has been concerned with addressing sociopolitical issues such as pre- and post-colonialism, corruption, oppression, class struggle, feminism and more recently, the African Diaspora.
There is practically nothing wrong with literature that explicitly references the structural and cultural consequences of white imperialism. African history is replete with blood, pain and injustice, and therefore most writers see it as a duty and calling to condemn and satirize these issues in their works. This is ideal and noble as it is one of the fundamental functions of literature and art in general.
Writers that fall within this category include Chinua Achebe, Festus Iyayi, Wole Soyinka, Chukwuemeka Ike, Buchi Emechetta, Flora Nwapa, among others. Contemporary writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Seffi Atta, Helon Habila, Toni Kan, Lola Shonenyin, Chris Abani,, and others,, have equally continued the trend of typical Nigerian writing.
Ben Okri is deliberately omitted from the above list considering his 1991 classic The Famished Road. The novel combines magical realism and sociopolitical themes to tell its story. Set during the eve of independence in Nigeria, the novel tells the story of Azaro, a spirit child or “Abiku” who is determined to stay in the world of the living. In the novel, the author uses Azaro as a sort of bridge between the magical and the ordinary, and this manifests in Azaro’s existence, his relationship with his parents, as well as society. The supernatural and the physical flow into each other in the novel such that one often cannot tell the boundaries of either. In this regard, the novel can be said to embody speculative or Afrofuturistic fiction.
Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard published in 1952, can be considered one of the first Afrofuturistic writings in Nigerian prose.The novel is heavily inundated with magical realism despite its “stylistic shortcomings.” The novel is written in ungrammatical English partly because Amos Tutuola was literally translating the Yoruba idea and expressions behind the novel into English. The novel is a mix of fantasy, myth and magic. The protagonist of the novel (a “professional palm wine drinker”) sets out on a journey to the world of the dead and spirits in order to find his favourite palm wine tapper who had died.
This tendency to always ‘protest’ with fiction in Nigeria and Africa at large has played a major role in the stunted growth of Afrofuturism in Nigerian fiction.
Fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, Dystopia and other forms of speculative writing are considered non academic, trivial, weak and Eurocentric. To the typical Nigerian literary scholar or teacher, it is normal to see a novel like The Time Machine or The War of The Worlds come from an English writer but deeply abnormal to see a hypothetical title like “The Time Travellers” from a Nigerian novelist. Many middle age and young Nigerians will go to the cinemas to watch the latest in the Star Wars movies or purchase an American fantasy epic like A Song of Ice and Fire, but shun the same titles if produced by a Nigerian author. This is because, they consider these titles from the west to be far more exciting, “original”, and full of imagination. While they have an unhealthy idea that the Nigerian writers cannot properly crystallize the concepts behind speculative and crime fiction hence novels or even movies from said writers would tend to be boring and tasteless.
Although one cannot blame them too much. Apart from the fact that speculative fiction as a type, is not very popular among the writers and readers, technological realities in the nation have also played a role. It is indeed hard to relate to a Nigerian sci fi novel that shows proton guns and inter-dimensional travel when one lives in a country where technological advancement is still crawling at best. This makes many upcoming writers, readers and critics shun speculative fiction as it is viewed as a literary type solely for the western scene. This indirectly highlights the huge gap in leadership and societal development as it obtains in both continents. However, such a gap should not exist in fiction because fiction is primarily born from the imagination, and imagination is a human experience whether African or European.
Publishers in Nigeria have also been affected by the foregoing points. Although it is necessary to state that indigenous publishers experience a lot of hardships with distribution of books from Nigerians across borders. In the social chokehold of white imperialism, literary publishing on the world stage is often determined by western publishers who desire to dictate the type of stories that come out of our nations. And it should come as no surprise if these western elements ignore Black sci fi and fantasy ultimately preventing their distribution on the world stage. This is likely a reason why contemporary publishers do not embrace this form of fiction in Nigeria.
It is quite unfortunate that Nigerian writers, readers and literary scholars have indirectly placed Nigerian fiction in a box. Speculative fiction is highly creative and imaginative. Often, a writer will create whole worlds, countries, cultures, timelines and languages in order to comment on issues that capture the human experience. Speculative fiction stimulates the mind greatly and modern African issues or realities can be addressed and represented through Afrofuturism.
Nnedi Okorafor is about the only Afrofuturistic writer from Nigeria and also one of the best writers from Nigeria presently. From her award winning novel “Zarah The Wind Seeker” to her “Binti” novella, Okorafor’s level of creativity and imagination is truly exceptional. Most likely the reason why she has written one of Marvel’s comic book titles: Black Panther: Long Live The King. And it appears she would be doing more writing for the comic book company.
Children of Blood and Bone written by Tomi Adeyemi-an American based Nigerian writer-is an Afrofuturistic debut novel from the author. Like Nnedi’s What Sunny Saw In The Flames, Sunny And The Mysteries Of Osisi, Tomi Adeyemi’s novel captures elements of magic, fantasy and the supernatural. Even though she is relatively unknown in Nigeria, her novel has shown signs of being a huge hit in the West where she has reportedly landed a huge movie deal with FOX based on her work.
Afrofuturism is beneficial in that as a form of writing, it offers a wide range of opportunities as they can easily be adapted for film, animation and comic books. Professor Ahmed Yerima highlights a similar notion. This will equally have a positive impact on Nigerian film making and cinematography. Another positive impact it can produce is increase in readership and circulation, because sci fi, fantasy or crime novels usually contain action-that is without gratuitous violence-mystery, thrills that can stimulate interest and excitement in readers. While these are not necessarily the salient points of Nigerian prose fiction, they can help to engage young contemporary readers who may find it hard to sit down with a classic like Festus Iyayi’s Violence.
Young Nigerian and African writers should continue to break through traditional literary limits to indulge in Afrofuturistic ideation. The opportunities to build on the foundations laid by the elders of Nigerian prose are limitless. Breaking these boundaries will further make common the act of imagining Black futures without the gaze of whiteness in mind.
David Iruoje likes to write crime fiction as well as satires. He lives and works in Benin City, Nigeria.
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