Lavender, Isiah
MTWRF 12:30 PM
Park Hall 0259
Black culture critic Greg Tate once said that “Black people live the estrangement that science fiction writers imagine.” In this respect, Afrofuturism has quickly become a rich and valuable vein of analysis for science fiction in its brief existence. Since its birth in 1993, Afrofuturism remains one of the most critical, creative, and contested terms in the literary/science fiction community. Afrofuturist thought rethinks race in science fiction, reaches new emancipatory mindscapes that will further break apart the false ideal of a colorblind society still reproduced in science fiction’s many visions of a monochrome future where whiteness remains the standard of civilization. Welcome to a crash course in Afrofuturism, where we will study comics, films, music, social media, and literature as we learn about the theory and trace Afrofuturism across the twenty-first century cultural landscape in the United States.
Book list:
Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, Lawrence Hill Books, ISBN-13: 978-1613747964
Kyle Baker, Nat Turner, Abrams Comic Arts, ISBN-13: 978-0810972278
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain Gang All Stars, Vintage, ISBN-13 978-0593469316
Tobias S. Buckell, Arctic Rising, Tor, ISBN-13: 978-0765358738
Nnedi Okorafor, Noor, DAW, ISBN-13: 978-0756418304
Janelle Monae, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, Harper Voyager, ISBN-13: 978-0063070882