160892

(Reimagining African Identity through Afrofuturism: A reading of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti (2015

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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-

Tags

العلوم الإنسانية

Abstract

Afrofuturism is a flourishing contemporary movement in African and African American studies. It has attracted black diasporic writers, artists, musicians, and theorists. Afrofuturism has been described by cultural critics as a way of looking, navigating and imagining future conditions of life through a black lens. Afrofuturists illuminate up-to-date issues by placing them in fantastical contexts; more specifically, they address themes and concerns of the black people that have been otherwise neglected in the western futurist canon. One of the most prominent afrofuturist authors, with a close connection to Africa, is Nnedi Okorafor. Her novella Binti (2015), a space travel adventure through an Afrocentric lens, deftly explores questions about the cultural identity in a futuristic world. Accrodingly, the study aims to explore the theme of the African identity in Okorafor's novella, focusing on selected visionary references rooted in African culture to signify a new image for the African in a new environment, where blackness is technologically managed. In so doing, the paper highlights the mix between the incredible myths of the Himba people and technoculture, which make it possible for Okorafor to challenge the stereotypical view of the African identity, put a black face on the future, and mark the novella as an African-inspired futuristic work.

DOI

10.21608/jssa.2021.60767.1232

Keywords

Afrofuturism, Nnedi Okorafor, African identity, African myths

Authors

First Name

Shaden

Last Name

Nasser

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

قسم اللغة الانجليزية وآدابها بکلية البنات - جامعة عبن شمس

Email

shaden3900@gmail.com

City

القاهرة

Orcid

-

Volume

22

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

22625

Issue Date

2021-01-01

Receive Date

2021-01-31

Publish Date

2021-01-01

Page Start

166

Page End

176

Print ISSN

2356-8321

Online ISSN

2356-833X

Link

https://jssa.journals.ekb.eg/article_160892.html

Detail API

https://jssa.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=160892

Order

8

Type

المقالة الأصلية

Type Code

653

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

مجلة البحث العلمي في الآداب

Publication Link

https://jssa.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

(Reimagining African Identity through Afrofuturism: A reading of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti (2015

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023