Class Reflection: 03/23

After my question in class, i was prompted to look up Africanfuturism. Found out it was coined by Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian american author. She felt like Afrofutrism “had several definitions and some of the most prominent ones didn’t describe what I was doing.”

Africanfuturism is rooted more in African culture, history and mythology with no centering of the west or of western experiences, a subcategory of sci-fi.

In some texts that I read, there was a tension brought up between the difference between Afrofuturist text and Africanfuturist text, however acknowledging that some texts can hold parts of both.

I got to read the introduction of Okafor’s Lagoon, which takes place within the context on Nigeria. It interested me because Okafor’s work didn’t ideate on what Nigeria could have been prior to colonisation, she wrote in a present to futuring perspective which I thought was more inspiring. The “what is and can/will be” as she stated, having an element drawn from actual African culture, beliefs, and worldviews.

I also learnt about Afrojujuism which is another term coined by Okafor to classify the blend of African spiritualities and cosmologies with the imaginative. More of a fantasy genre