List of Afrofuturist literature

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Afrofuturism, as a genre, describes fictional works which encompass Black science fiction and may engage with any and all structural elements of the broader umbrella of subgenres (horror, fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, etc.) classified under Black speculative fiction. [1] [2] [3]

Afrofuturist literary works resist singular notions of a “Black” cultural experience. [4] Instead, Afrofuturist narratives draw upon a variety of ethnic, national, regional histories and cosmologies, as well as indigenous religious frameworks. [5] Thematically, Afrofuturist literature delves into revisionist or alternative history making, while galvanizing conversations on social injustice and Black liberation. Afrofuturist literature investigates questions of Black intellectual production, materiality, and intellectual ownership, while reimagining the potential futures of individuals within the Afrodiaspora. [6]

The emerging genre of Afrofuturist literature is influenced by two strands, Afro-pessimism and Black optimism. [7] Afro-pessimism asserts that the violence of colonialism and slavery contributes to a definition of Blackness as a state of non-being. In this state, Black individuals exist within and yet are alienated from the rest of society. [8] In Afrofuturist literature, Afro-pessimism underscores a bleak view of futurity and any inherent possibility for Black self-determination and social advancement. [9] [10] In contrast, Black optimism reconsiders Blackness after slavery and colonialism relative to modernity, technology, and culture. Black optimism emphasizes Blackness as a complete and holistic state of being. [11] It rejects the essentialism and inherent abjectness of socially-determined “Blackness” as portrayed in Afro-pessimism. [12] [13] Within the context of Afrofuturist literature, the Black imaginary and its creative expression are essential pivot points for self-determining futurity.

List of Afrofuturist literature

Author(s)/Editor(s)YearTitle
Brissett, Jennifer Marie2014Elysium, Or, The World After [14]
Butler, Octavia 1979 Kindred
Du Bois, W. E. B. 1920 Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil [15]
Ellison, Ralph 1952 Invisible Man
Hopkinson, Nalo 1998 Brown Girl in the Ring [16]
Jemisin, N.K.2015 The Fifth Season
Jennings, John; Robinson, Stacey2013 Black Kirby: In Search Of: The Motherboxx Connection [17] [18]
Due, Tananarive 1997 My Soul to Keep [19]
Farmer, Nancy 1994 The Ear, the Eye and the Arm [20]
Wilson, Kai Ashante 2015 The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
James, Marlon 2019 Black Leopard, Red Wolf [21]
Schuyler, George 1931 Black No More
Adeyemi, Tomi 2018 Children of Blood and Bone [22]
Tutuola, Amos 1952 The Palm-Wine Drinkard
Callender, Kacen 2019 Queen of the Conquered [23]
Johnson, Mat 2011 Pym [24]
Okri, Ben 1991 The Famished Road
Deonn, Tracy 2020 Legendborn
Whitehead, Colson 2011 Zone One [25]
Bayron, Kalynn2020 Cinderella is Dead
Ifueko, Jordan 2020 Raybearer [20]
Monáe, Janelle 2022 The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer [26]
Clarke, Matthew; Lynch, Nigel2021Hardears [27] [28]
Fielder, Tim2021Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale [29] [30]
Campbell, Bill; Hall, Edward Austin2013Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond [31]
Olayiwola, Porsha 2019i shimmer sometimes, too [32]
Reed, Ishmael 1972 Mumbo Jumbo [33] [34]
Lord, Karen 2014The Galaxy Game [35]
Okupe, Roye2015E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale WIlliams [36]
Johnson, Dawn Alaya2020Trouble The Saints [37]
Kwame, Mbalia2020Tristian Strong Destroys the World [38]
Banks, Leslie 2003 The Vampire Huntress Legend Series: Minion [39]
Mbalia, Kwame2019 Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky [40] [41]
Ireland, Justina 2018 Dread Nation [42] [43]
James, Marlon 2022 Moon Witch, Spider King [44]
Barnes, Steven 2002Lion's Blood [45]
Allen, Jeffery Renard 2014 Song of the Shank [46]
Jackson, Kosoko2022Survive the Dome [47]
Forma, Namina 2021 The Gilded Ones [48]
Shawl, Nisi 2016Everfair [49]
Nisi Shawl 2008Filter House [50]
Hairston, Andrea 2006Mindscape [51]
Broaddus, Maurice 2022Sweep of Stars [52]
Ireland, Justina 2020Deathless Divide [53]
Okorafor, Nnedi2015Binti
Solomon, Rivers2017An Unkindness of Ghosts
Delany, Martin R. 1859 Blake; or the Huts of America [54]
Thomas, Sheree R. 2000 Dark Matter (prose anthologies) [55]
Chesnutt, Charles 1899 The Conjure Woman [56]
Turnbull, Cadwell 2021 No Gods, No Monsters [57]

References

  1. ↑ Carrington, André M. (2016-02-29). Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-1-4529-4975-8.
  2. ↑ Lavender (III), Isiah (2019). Afrofuturism Rising: The Literary Prehistory of a Movement. Ohio State University Press. ISBN   978-0-8142-5556-8.
  3. ↑ Bould, Mark (2007). "The Ships Landed Long Ago: Afrofuturism and Black SF". Science Fiction Studies. 34 (2): 177–186. ISSN   0091-7729. JSTOR   4241520.
  4. ↑ Culture, Nat'l Mus Afr Am Hist (2023-03-21). Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. Soho Press. ISBN   978-1-58834-740-4.
  5. ↑ McDougall, Audrey Suzanne (2020-05-15). "Afrofuturism: Blackness, Sound, and Counter-Narratives". Journal of Integrated Studies. 12 (1). ISSN   2816-3001.
  6. ↑ Ogbunu, C. Brandon. "How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  7. ↑ Hill-Jarrett, Tanisha G. (2023). "The Black radical imagination: a space of hope and possible futures". Frontiers in Neurology. 14. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1241922 . ISSN   1664-2295. PMC   10557459 . PMID   37808484.
  8. ↑ Wilderson, Frank B., III (2020-04-07). Afropessimism. Liveright Publishing. ISBN   978-1-63149-615-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Day, Iyko (2015). "Being or Nothingness: Indigeneity, Antiblackness, and Settler Colonial Critique" . Critical Ethnic Studies. 1 (2): 102–121. doi:10.5749/jcritethnstud.1.2.0102. ISSN   2373-5031. JSTOR   10.5749/jcritethnstud.1.2.0102.
  10. ↑ Warren, Calvin L. (2015-03-01). "Black Nihilism and the Politics of Hope" (PDF). CR: The New Centennial Review. 15 (1): 215–248. doi:10.14321/crnewcentrevi.15.1.0215. ISSN   1532-687X. S2CID   145258705.
  11. ↑ Moten, Fred (2008). "The Case of Blackness" . Criticism. 50 (2): 177–218. doi:10.1353/crt.0.0062. ISSN   0011-1589. JSTOR   23128740. S2CID   154145525.
  12. ↑ Hart, William David (2018-01-01). "Constellations: Capitalism, Antiblackness, Afro-Pessimism, and Black Optimism" . American Journal of Theology & Philosophy. 39 (1): 5–33. doi:10.5406/amerjtheophil.39.1.0005. ISSN   0194-3448.
  13. ↑ Moten, Fred (2008). "Black Op". PMLA. 123 (5): 1743–1747. ISSN   0030-8129. JSTOR   25501981.
  14. ↑ "Afrofuturism beginner's reading list: Octavia E. Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Janelle Monáe, more". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  15. ↑ Cheatam, Safiyah (2020-07-31). "Making a Case for W.E.B. Du Bois as a Proto Afrofuturist". The Drinking Gourd. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  16. ↑ "Narrative Muse | Brown Girl in the Ring | Book". Narrative Muse. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  17. ↑ Jennings, John; Robinson, Stacey (2013). Black Kirby. Buffalo, NY: Black Kirby Collective in association with Eye Trauma Studio/ J2D2/ URBAN KREEP ENTERPRISES and Trimekka Studios.
  18. ↑ "BSO". BSO. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  19. ↑ Sanchez-Taylor, Joy (2020-03-22). "Alternative Futurisms: Tananarive Due's African Immortal Series" . Extrapolation. 61 (1): 91–109. doi:10.3828/extr.2020.7. S2CID   218944753.
  20. 1 2 "Afrofuturism Fiction Suggestions for Kids, Teens & Adults". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  21. ↑ Power, Ed. "Book Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf". Hotpress. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  22. ↑ II, Vann R. Newkirk (2018-03-06). "Where Fantasy Meets Black Lives Matter". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  23. ↑ "Explore Afrofuturism, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy". Carmel Clay Public Library. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  24. ↑ "An Afro Futurism book - Extreme Reader 2021". Tacoma Public Library. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  25. ↑ "Afrofuturism beginner's reading list: Octavia E. Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Janelle Monáe, more". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  26. ↑ Kearse, Stephen (2022-04-19). "Janelle Monáe's Queer, Afrofuturist Literary Debut". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  27. ↑ Lynch, Clarke, Matthew & Nigel. "Hardears". Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ↑ Bould, Mark (2007). "The Ships Landed Long Ago: Afrofuturism and Black SF". Science Fiction Studies. 34 (2): 177–186. ISSN   0091-7729. JSTOR   4241520.
  29. ↑ "Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale: Illustrator-Author Tim Fielder Looks to the Future With a Modern Epic". The Root. 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  30. ↑ Fielder, Tim (2021-01-19). Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale. HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-06-306788-2.
  31. ↑ Campbell, Bill; Hall, Edward Austin (2013). Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond. Rosarium Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9891411-4-7.
  32. ↑ Olayiwola, Porsha (2019). i shimmer sometimes, too. Button Poetry. ISBN   978-1-9437354-5-7.
  33. ↑ Kim, Myungsung (2018). "The Grapevine Telegraph "Jes Grew": Sonic Materialism, Afrofuturism and Information Theory in Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo" . TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. 39: 89–109. doi:10.3138/topia.39.05. ISSN   1916-0194. S2CID   165304856.
  34. ↑ Reed, Ishmael (2013-01-29). Mumbo Jumbo. Open Road Media. ISBN   978-1-4532-8797-2.
  35. ↑ "Must-Read Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism Books | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  36. ↑ Ito, Robert (2021-02-07). "Beyond 'Black Panther': Afrofuturism Is Booming in Comics". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  37. ↑ "Finding Room for Black Hope, Black Justice, and Black Love in Noir Fiction". CrimeReads. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  38. ↑ "Review: Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia". Bayley Reads Books. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  39. ↑ "Afrofuturism Fiction Suggestions for Kids, Teens & Adults". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  40. ↑ Stephens, John (2019-10-23). "A Debut Fantasy Novel Summons the Power of African Myths". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  41. ↑ "Traversing the Gaps: An Afrofuturist Approach to Social Change Through Dreaming in Science Fiction and STEM/Computer Science Education * Journal of Futures Studies". Journal of Futures Studies. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  42. ↑ "Afrofuturism & Afrofantasy List". Washoe County Library System. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  43. ↑ "Afrofuturism". The Seattle Public Library. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  44. ↑ "Must-Read Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism Books | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  45. ↑ Ebert, Chaz. "Reprise: The Evolution of Afrofuturism: Black Power, Black Love, Black Superheroes and Magic | Chaz's Journal | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  46. ↑ Antonucci, Michael (2024-02-14). "African Time Machine: An Interview with Jeffery Renard Allen". BIG OTHER. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  47. ↑ "Afrofuturism". The Indianapolis Public Library. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  48. ↑ Smith, Dywanna; Johnson, Kenesha; Eaddy, Kiana (2024). "And Then the Black Birthed Me: Celebrating Black Girlhood in Middle Level ELA Classrooms Through Afrofuturism". South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal. 3 (3): 122–129.
  49. ↑ sonofsagan (2019-12-01). "Afrofuturism's Specter: Alternate History, Racial Capitalism, and Nisi Shawl's "Everfair"". Sean Guynes. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  50. ↑ "Science Fiction by Women: Afrofuturism Edition". www.chipublib.org. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  51. ↑ Takács, Bogi (2018-10-23). "QUILTBAG+ Speculative Classics: Mindscape by Andrea Hairston". Reactor. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  52. ↑ "Writing an Afrofuturist Space Opera - Tor/Forge Blog". www.torforgeblog.com. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  53. ↑ "Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism". www.powells.com. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  54. ↑ Han, Yoonji (2023-02-28). "22 Afrofuturist books that reimagine worlds from a Black perspective". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  55. ↑ "Afrofuturism, Dark Matter, and the Divine: A Conversation with Maxine Montgomery on Black Is King". TriQuarterly. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  56. ↑ Elia, Adriano. "W.E.B. Du Bois's Proto-Afrofuturist Short Fiction: The Comet".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  57. ↑ "2023 Summer Reading -Afrofuturism". SWAN Consortium. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
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