Introducing The Roots of Africanfuturism (Group 2) by Abby M. https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789 en-us 2023-01-26 15:27:31 UTC 2025-10-09 16:40:57 UTC hello@padlet.com African Feminism amooney25 https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459253100 On pages 4 and 5 of her editorial, Mougoue highlights the potential for change that stems out of "liquid space." I found this terminology to be compelling and hopeful--the idea that time and space are not linear as many in the Western world perceive it, and therefore, the future may grow out of the past. Pulling from the "liquid space" African authors may create a world in which positive and equitable change exists in terms of gender equality alongside the advancement of technology; a world in which progress is complex and relies heavily on the interconnectedness of African Feminism and Africanfuturism. ]]> 2023-01-27 17:23:46 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459253100 Africanfuturism in "Sunrise" amooney25 https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459451670 Eze in Okorafor's "Sunrise" could easily be a stand-in for Okorafor herself--she is after all an African woman who writes speculative fiction. What grabbed my attention right away in this story was when Ian Scott asserted that it wasn't obvious Eze was an African writer, despite her texts being set in Africa because they were set in "a futuristic Africa....So that's not really Africa, right?" (Okorafor 9). Here we see how in the speculative fiction world, too often people cannot see how Africa fits into science fiction and imaginations of the future. As Ian shows us, science fiction readers tend to only expect futuristic imaginings from white men or maybe Japanese men. Africanfuturism is actively working to fight back agaisnt these misconceptions, working to assert Africa's place in the future as imagined by African writers. Long story short, I really appreciated this meta moment, and I have to imagine Okorafor has had to deal with this very situation herself as an Africanfuturism author. ]]> 2023-01-27 20:36:55 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459451670 Gender in "Sunrise" amooney25 https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459496286 Mougoue's concepts regarding the intersectionality of gender and technology are exemplified in Okorafor's "Sunrise" by the feminized PI, Sunrise who accompanies Eze to Nigeria. After taking offense to Eze's writing, Sunrise sabotages Eze's relationship with her family members saying, "They think you're a witch, you think robots and PIs like me are insane...Taste your own medicine" (Okorafor 14). Throughout history, we have seen examples of women being ostracized and hunted as witches for being different or misunderstood. Here we see the same actions being taken against a technological being. Sunrise is not seen as worthy of the same rights as humans, and she resents this treatment, so she becomes what humans expect her to be: a malicious entity out to get humans. ]]> 2023-01-27 21:53:19 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459496286 The Definition of Africanfuturism PaintingPaws https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459998292 Africanfuturism is a sub genre of science fiction that focuses in on the fusion of African culture, history, and myths. The works that use this sub genre often will focus on the far off future than in the distant future. ]]> 2023-01-28 21:31:12 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2459998292 Africanfuturism vs. Afrofuturism PaintingPaws https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460000738 While the two sound similar on paper they are different.  

Afrofuturism is a science fiction genre that focuses more on Black people and the cultural issues that they face. The genre uses conversations about races and technology to imagine what the future may be like for black people.

Africanfuturism on the other hand focuses more on people from Africa and their culture. The genre will weave in aspects of their history, culture, and point of view and make it the story's main focus.]]> 2023-01-28 21:39:22 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460000738 The World of Parable of the Sower PaintingPaws https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460024677 In the world of the book "Parable of the Sower" the year is 2024. In the beginning the main character Lauren lives in Los Angeles. the area is surrounded by walls that protect the community from those in the outside that would cause them harm. Outside the walls most people are struggling to survive and there are also bands of people high on the drug called "Pyro". The drug causes the user to set fire to absolutely everything so they hunt for different neighborhoods to attack. 

Religion is also focused on quite a bit with Lauren's father being a Baptist preacher. Lauren herself however is skeptical of most mainstream religions and begins to develop her own religion in her journals the basis of it being the "God of Change".

The thing that jumps out of me most while reading is how in the face of hardship some people will seek faith in order to help guide them during hard times. This has happened many things throughout our history some examples being during the Black Death (also known as the Bubonic plague) people turned to religion. They tired the "cures" that the church told them in order to rid themselves of the plague or to prevent them from getting it. "Thus the Pope at the time (Clement VI) sat between two logs fire while he was giving mass. He the record he was noted for surviving the plague." (History of the Black Death, Flash Point History 49:03).]]> 2023-01-28 23:10:02 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460024677 Mougoue's "Gender and Sexual in African futurism" Bidit https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460037186 In Mougous’s “Gender and Sexuality in African futurism,” I found Delai Kumavie’s piece of writing very interesting in that, it highlighted some most important aspects of how African gender sexuality and African futurism really will look like within these mixed cultural experiences and unstoppable changing world. “Haunted Airports and sexuality anxieties in Nana Nyarko Boateng’s swallowed Ice.” Kumavie takes the opportunity in Boateng’s story about two lesbians kissing at Ghana’s main international airport to help him position Africans’ future debate about the nation’s social and sexual identity. According to the text, his aim is to relate the literature, history, and debate about national culture and sexual identity. Another part I find more intriguing is how Luam Kidane of Cameroon is talking about the impact of Covid-19, where technology played a very crucial role in terms of connection with family back home (p.8). Covid-19 had created an unpredictable divided world when traveling was reduced and limited to none. Kidane explains about managing to watch her people burying their dead through Whatsapp and other messaging homages. Both Africans at home and in diasporas are able to share part of their life activities in general (births, traditional recipes for health and wellness). Above all technology created a different world, which changed the existence of African life. However, this does not only change Kidane’s viewpoint and experience of time and geographies of the lives of Africans futurism but also so many Africans who left home many years ago. 

-- Bidit
 
]]> 2023-01-29 00:12:43 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460037186 Bidit https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460424905 The story of Okaorafor’s trip to her homeland Nigeria took its twist and turn right after she entered the airport here in the US before she reached her native country Nigeria. At the airport she encountered all kinds of conversations, which she had no interest in finding herself in at all. Soon she arrived at her father’s rural village and she felt another challenge right away—the technology issue. There was no Wi-fi, and her connection with the outside world became impossible at that point. That tells her the distinction between the Africa she used to know and the part of Africa that inherited technology from the west, such as her uncle Sam who owns Wi-fi at his home. Abby, has touched one of the experienced Okorafor may not forget. I never thought that the illusion of witch still being kept alive in some part of Africa. ]]> 2023-01-29 17:11:44 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460424905 Africanfuturism Bidit https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460486690 You are right, the task Okorafor has taken is to redefine and explain to the world what Africanfuturism stands for, which is exclusively concentrated heavily on African people. While Afrofuturism is a program in the literature that includes art and music; it is in science fiction. Afrofuturism bonds all together the Africans in the continent and the African descendants in the diaspora. I couldn’t find much distinction between the two (Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism) before I read her book. In her own definition, Korafor puts it this way, “Africanfuturism is a subcategory of science fiction.” And in another word, Africanfuturism is rooted directly in African culture, history, and mythology). However, in addition to Africanjujust, it is very new to me, while I am an African, I heard about it with very limited experience. In the eastern part of the continent where I hail from, the religion Juju may be very new there or I would say probably expands to the entire continent soon after I left the continent. I think this is part of the package that we all learn from this book, whether we are of African descent or not. 

-- Bidit]]> 2023-01-29 18:47:29 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460486690 Butler's World amooney25 https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460749964 This text feels incredibly prescient, to the point that it was sometimes difficult for me to read, even though I really enjoyed the book! The challenge stemmed from the fact that the world in Parable is more similar to our own than I feel completely comfortable with.  In the world of Parable, there is a plethora of gun violence, rampant addiction to drugs, and corporations taking advantage of peoples' desperation, like when KSF shows up to privatize the coastal town of Olivar (119). Then there are the natural dangers of wildfires and rising sea levels. This text read like a clear vision of what California will look like soon if we don't work to combat a lot of our societal and environmental challenges.   

On the other hand, the world that Butler portrays is also deeply hopeful, especially in its focus on community. I was particularly in tune with how Lauren Olamina learns to value community as her story progresses. At the beginning of the book, she appears to love her community, but still feels detached from it; all she can focus on is how she will one day be able to survive without her community. Then when she is thrust into the outside world by the fire, she finds herself working to build a strong community. She even includes the importance of community in Earthseed: The Books of the Living by proclaiming, “Once or twice / each week / A Gathering of Earthseed / is a good and necessary thing. / It vents emotion, then / quiets the mind. / It focuses attention, / strengthens purpose, and / unifies people" (214). We see in our world today numerous grassroots movements attempting to build a strong community to help heal and progress our society into the future. ]]> 2023-01-30 02:33:35 UTC https://padlet.com/GenderinLit2023/l9qodl0ehl3iq789/wish/2460749964