Afrofuturism

This article is about the cultural movement led by the African diaspora. For the similar movement led by natives of Africa, see Africanfuturism.

Clockwise from top left: Sun Ra, Grace Jones, Beyoncé, a work by Fanuel Leul, Lil Nas X, Afrika Bambaataa

Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture and speculative fiction, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afro-diasporic experiences.[1] While Afrofuturism is most commonly associated with science fiction, it can also encompass other speculative genres such as fantasy, alternate history and magic realism,[2] and can also be found in music.[3]

The term was coined by American cultural critic Mark Dery in 1993[4] and explored in the late 1990s through conversations led by Alondra Nelson.[5]

Ytasha L. Womack, writer of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, defines it as "an intersection of imagination, technology, the future and liberation".[6] She also follows up with a quote by the curator Ingrid LaFleur, who defines it as "a way of imagining possible futures through a black cultural lens".[7] Kathy Brown paraphrases Bennett Capers' 2019 work in stating that Afrofuturism is about "forward thinking as well as backward thinking, while having a distressing past, a distressing present, but still looking forward to thriving in the future".[8] Others have said that the genre is "fluid and malleable", bringing together technology, African culture, and "other influences".[9]

Seminal Afrofuturistic works include the novels of Samuel R. Delany and Octavia Butler; the canvases of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Angelbert Metoyer, and the photography of Renée Cox; the explicitly extraterrestrial mythoi of Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth, Wind and Fire with their overt Afrocentric symbolism bold performance attire and hopeful visions of Black sovereignty,[10] Herbie Hancock's partnership with Robert Springett and other visual artists, while developing the use of synthesizers, the Jonzun Crew, Warp 9, Deltron 3030, Kool Keith, Sun Ra and the Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther.[11][12][13][14]

  1. ^ Yaszek, Lisa (November 2006). "Afrofuturism, science fiction, and the history of the future". Socialism and Democracy. 20 (3): 41–60. doi:10.1080/08854300600950236. S2CID 20605379. Archived from the original on 26 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Afrofuturism is the sh*t: a brief History and five books to get you started". afropunk.com. 26 October 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Culture Bay-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Dery, Mark (1993). "Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel R. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose". The South Atlantic Quarterly. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press: 736. OCLC 30482743.
  5. ^ Rambsy II, Howard (14 April 2012). "A Notebook on Afrofuturism". Cultural Front. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  6. ^ Womack, Ytasha. Afrofuturism : The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. 1st edition, Independent Publishers Group, 2013, p. 9.
  7. ^ Womack, Ytasha. Afrofuturism : The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. 1st edition, Independent Publishers Group, 2013.
  8. ^ Wise, Kathy (4 February 2021). "Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Art: A UNT Speaker Series Provides a Vision for the Future". D Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. ^ Moyer, Shelby Rowe (9 February 2021). "The Freedom of Afrofuturism". 425 Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ^ Afrovisualism (22 April 2019). "Exploring Afrofuturism in Music and Visual Art". Medium. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Calls for Papers". Callaloo. 26 (3): 932–934. 2003. doi:10.1353/cal.2003.0081.
  12. ^ Thrasher, Steven W. (7 December 2015). "Afrofuturism: reimagining science and the future from a black perspective". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Reese, Aaron (30 June 2015). "The Journey to Wakanda: Afrofuturism and Black Panther". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  14. ^ "The Afrofuturism of Robert Springett and Herbie Hancock". Retrieved 16 February 2022.