As we talked about in class, the science fiction genre contains a large variety of sub-genres, but usually revolves around some kind of change in our familiar environment that must be dealt with. In class we talked about science fiction needing to be able to respond to the “hard questions” about reality. In science fiction the character or society is frequently forced into a situation they are not prepared to respond to because something does not follow “standard” human moral or scientific law. In his essay “Further Considerations on Afrofuturism,” Eshun writes “Black existence and science fiction are one and the same” (298). He further writes, “Most science fiction tales dramatically deal with how the individual is going to contend with these alienating, dislocating societies and circumstances that pretty much sums up the mass experiences of black people in the postslavery twentieth century” (298). The truth is, many minority groups daily have lived out and still live out a type of “science fiction” where they face alienation and dislocation. They must respond to circumstances not encountered by the majority.
Throughout “Deep End” by Nisi Shawl, the main character Wayna spends her time floating through a space ship in a body not her own. The ship brings the prisoners to a new planet where they will serve as glorified “mammies.” The story reminded me of a journey of a slave to America on a slave ship. The prisoners are fed just enough food to survive, given little information about where they are and where they are going, and are expected to obey command without question. The extraterrestrial circumstances Wayna encounters chillingly reflect the circumstances encountered by slaves brought to America. I took a slave narrative class from Dr. Rivera last year and we read this short story as a slave narrative. It made sense to me as a type of neo-slave narrative but I’ve never thought about science fiction as black existence and science fiction being “one and the same.” Eshun’s ideas have given me a new perspective on “Deep End” and a lot of other science fiction texts.
I very much like the science fiction genre, specifically dystopian novels and science fiction movies. While reading Eshun’s article and “Deep End,” several movies were brought to my mind that I really enjoyed. We talked about The Matrix in class, but that movie along with Planet of the Apes and District 9 are all movies I thought could connect with Afrofuturism. It has been a while since I have seen these three movies but if I see any of them in the near future I will definitely watch for themes brought up by Eshun and Shawl. If anyone has thoughts about these or other science fiction movies and their connection with Afrofuturism, I would love to hear them!
How does the option of download at the end of “Deep End” (Wayna’s decision to download and Thad and Doe’s decision not to download) connect with slavery and freedom, especially if it is read as a slave narrative? What other popular science fiction books and films can be connected with Afrofuturism and possibly be read as a neo-slave narrative?
