From speculative worlds to specified words, Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction utilizes essays and anthology to weave together an array of genre labels into a coherent fabric of African and African American authored works. With a unique and inclusive approach as to what constitutes “afro,” as well as to the manner in which such inclusion enhances the possibilities and authenticity of futurism, this curated collection highlights the collective lived experiences of its authors while recognizing the individual voices found within the genre. Featuring award-winning authors like Suyi Okungbowa, Cheryl S. Ntumy, and Dilman Dila, Eugen Bacon offers this collection as a way to dispel the concept of the afro-fiction monolith—and reveal the multifaceted gem that is afro-centered speculative fiction.
The anthology is premised on the notion of reconsideration and reclassification of the terms and genre labels that are popularly applied to the fiction works of African and African American authors. Interrogated throughout the anthology is the definition and distinction between “Afrofuturism” and “Africanfuturism.” Several contributors, including Bacon herself, highlight that “Afrofuturism,” while foundational, was a term coined by Mark Dery (a white writer) and arose primarily from a Western Black speculative fiction context. Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor further offered bibliophiles and academics the term “Africanfuturism,” which was given to emphasize the influence of religion, spirituality, culture, and language of the African continent in fiction. As evidenced in this volume’s title, Bacon prefers and provides a well-reasoned academic argument in support of Suyi Okungbowa’s chosen nomenclature of “afro-centered futurism.” Throughout the anthology, Bacon seeks to expand and re-center the conversation, positing “afro-centered futurisms” as a more expansive and authentic framework that directly incorporates African lived experiences and diverse cultural specificities from the continent itself. This approach allows for a critical distinction that includes the multitude of voices from both the African continent and the descendants of the African diaspora.
At its heart, the anthology is composed of eleven author-based chapters. Each highlighted author is paired with a scholarly inquiry and creative reflection by Bacon. The resulting effect is a work with broader basis and greater accessibility, providing rigorous and thoughtful analysis for academics in a presentation that remains inviting to a more general audience. This unique textual partnership works to ensure an approachable academic discussion that stays grounded in the ideas of the futurisms held among Afro-descendant authors.
Though the structure of the anthology rests on its ability to present each chapter as a conversation, this does not mean that the conversation lacks conflict and internal struggle. One example of this cognitive dissonance is evident in Okungbowa’s critique of Marvel’s wildly successful Black Panther movie (2018). While the film is critically and publicly praised for its organic and respectful incorporation of African and African American cultural symbols and touchstones, Okungbowa cites that the character of the Black Panther was the product of two white comic book creators—the beloved Stan Lee (Excelsior!) and Jack Kirby. Because of this, the influence of the Western lens is inseparable from the narrative, much like the impact of colonialism on native and diasporic literature. There is a question around precisely how much “afro” exists in this “afro-centered” futurism film.
A companion to this query is the anthology’s throughline revolving around the notion of “sitting with grief.” Explored in the chapter on “Black Futurisms vs Systems of Domination,” Shingai Njeri Kagunda articulates the impossibility of constructing “afro-futures” without acknowledging and ultimately dealing with the messy scars of colonial violence and its legacy of systemic injustice. Bacon and Kagunda argue that only through facing this truth can authors create worlds and futures that are not only authentic but also make ever more possible the lifting of generational trauma’s weight. Bacon describes this realization in craft as “subversive activism.”
No discussion of afro-centered literature would be complete without consideration of the liminal spaces of the diasporic identity. Woven through many of the anthology’s essays, the importance of autoethnographic authenticity in afro-futurism becomes a secondary mantra of the text. Bacon, as well as many of the authors featured in the book, argue that naming works, and applying labels to them, with the intent to create hardline delineations is decidedly a Western philosophy. This is the ideology that attempts to lock “Blackness” into a monolith. This anthology presents a counterargument, emphasizing the reality of a complex continent of people and their diasporic children. In Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, “blackness” is not a monolith; it’s a multiplicity.
Bacon also uses this curated collection to address issues and concerns around worldbuilding and constructed languages. Noting that many speculative fiction authors create at least pieces of language within their works, Bacon and Stephen Embleton emphasize the necessity of those languages being rooted in the linguistic culture of the world it inhabits. While an ill-chosen word may pull the reader out of the narrative or date the material, linguistically connected words or phrases—or those that illustrate truisms—come weighted with assumed wisdom that adds another layer of reality to the narrative. Successful language incorporation can be modeled on the existing linguistic tradition of the author, lending not only guidance but also an unmistakable infusion of authenticity.
It should be noted, however, that contention exists around some of the authors highlighted in the collection. The perceived difficulty with some contributors—like Stephen Embleton, Xan van Rooyen, and Nerine Dorman—is that the authors are white and may not serve the interests of a discussion of afro-centered futurisms. However, as Bacon argues in the introduction of the anthology, the label of afro-centered futurisms is not designed to be exclusive but rather offer an inclusive cohort of related lived experiences and cultures not rooted in skin color but in geographic location. The inclusion of these white South African authors, then, demonstrates Bacon’s intent to unify authors of the African continent and of African descent through their shared geo-cultural and historical influences. Viewed in this way, to separate white South African authors from the rest of the continent would be incompatible with truly “afro-centered” futurism works.
Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction is a welcome introduction to viewing the broad scope of Black speculative fiction through the lens of a unique kind of unifying diversity. It highlights the connection between creator and culture: Eugen Bacon and the anthology’s contributing authors have curated a collection that is appealing to academic and casual readers alike, yet still provides an intellectually rigorous analysis coupled with some hard truths. The deeply earnest conversations within the text challenge readers to think critically about the origins and trajectories of afro-centered futurism. This book offers itself as a tool for exploring identity, confronting historical injustices, and imagining radical futures, all of which grow as branches from the deeply rooted tree of African and African diasporic histories and heritages.