Black Speculative Fiction

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The Black Panther movie franchise has intensified popular and scholarly interest in Black speculative fiction and Afrofuturism. To better understand the significance of this phenomenon, we will trace the literary traditions that made these films possible. We will start with genre-bending works by W.E.B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and Ishmael Reed among other African American authors. Before we end the semester by watching both Black Panther films, we will also discuss other multimedia texts that challenge normative scifi narratives. By the end of the semester, students will have a better understanding of how Black speculative writing has indeed shaped science fiction as we know it today. Students from all majors are welcome.