Afrofuturism:PoliticsCulturDe

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Afrofuturism has a decades-long history, but arguably did not enter the mainstream before 2018’s “Black Panther” popularized the genre. Long before the breakout film, however, Afrofuturist art forms, mainly speculative fiction and film, employed the lens of blackness to (re-)imagine the future, or futures, about black life and power, both worldly and otherworldly. Afrofuturism certainly has a foundation in African American culture. Yet what constitutes Afrofuturism continues to be defined, reinterpreted and debated, and many writers and scholars see Afrofuturism as rooted in African society, culture and the arts. Importantly, Afrofuturism is not merely the stuff of science fiction, mythology, or music, the formats in which it has seen its widest expression. In the real world, too, African governments have long engaged in futurist thinking, captured in technological blueprints and national development plans, “visioning” documents: Kenya’s Vision 2030, Rwanda’s Vision 2050, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and myriad national and continental initiatives, are all efforts to guide transformation and to imagine alternate futures for the continent. Thus, Afrofuturism, broadly conceived, can allow us to imagine different trajectories for Africa and its Diaspora. What do the varied perspectives on Afrofuturism say about African culture, identity and agency? How might Afrofuturist lenses affect Africa’s national development narratives and international relations? Drawing on such diverse sources as literature, film, policy documents and social science texts, and engaging intersecting themes, including gender, technology, humanity, and power, this course will interrogate these and other questions. Evaluation will include both social science and creative writing assignments.