Afro-future females : Black writers chart science fiction's newest new-wave trajectory

Afro-Future Females: Black Writers Chart Science Fiction's Newest New-Wave Trajectory, edited by Marleen S. Barr, is the first combined science fiction critical anthology and short story collection to focus upon black women via written and visual texts. The volume creates a dialogue with existing theories of Afro-Futurism in order to generate fresh ideas about how to apply race to science fiction studies in terms of gender. The contributors, including Hortense Spillers, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia E. Butler, and Steven Barnes, formulate a woman-centered Afro-Futurism by repositioning previously excluded fiction to redefine science fiction as a broader fantastic endeavor. They articulate a platform for scholars to mount a vigorous argument in favor of redefining science fiction to encompass varieties of fantastic writing and, therefore, to include a range of black women's writing that would otherwise be excluded. Afro-Future Females builds upon Barr's previous work in black science fiction and fills a gap in the literature. It is the first critical anthology to address the "blackness" of outer space fiction in terms of feminism, emphasizing that it is necessary to revise the very nature of a genre that has been constructed in such a way as to exclude its new black participants. Black science fiction writers alter genre conventions to change how we read and define science fiction itself. The work's main point: black science fiction is the most exciting literature of the nascent twenty-first century. Contents 6 Preface: “All At One Point” Conveys the Point, Period: Or, Black Science Fiction Is Bursting Out All Over 10 Introductions: “Dark Matter” Matters 26 Imaginative Encounters • Hortense J. Spillers 28 Black to the Future: Afro-Futurism 1.0 • Mark Dery 31 “On the Other Side of the Glass”: The Television Roots of Black Science Fiction • Marleen S. Barr 39 Essays: The Blackness of Outer Space Ficti onas Blast(off ) from the Past 54 Becoming Animal in Black Women’s Science Fiction • Madhu Dubey 56 “God Is Change”: Persuasion and Pragmatic Utopianism in Octavia E. Butler’s Earthseed Novels • Ellen Peel 77 Tananarive Due and Nalo Hopkinson Revisit the Reproduction of Mothering: Legacies of the Past and Strategies for the Future • Alcena Madeline Davis Rogan 100 Close Encounters between Traditional and Nontraditional Science Fiction: Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred and Gayl Jones’s Corregidora Sing the Time Travel Blues • Jennifer E. Henton 125 Beyond the History We Know: Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Nisi Shawl, and Jarla Tangh Rethink Science Fiction Tradition • De Witt Douglas Kilgore 144 Responses to De Witt Douglas Kilgore 155 Bubbling Champagne Power Trip • Nisi Shawl 155 “Of Course People Can Fly” • Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu 156 Carla Johnson/Jarla Tangh: A Close Encounter with My Pseudonym • Jarla Tangh 157 Stories: Techno/Magic Sistahs Are Not the Sistahs from Another Planet 158 The Book of Martha • Octavia E. Butler 160 Double Consciousness • Andrea Hairston 176 Dynamo Hum • Nisi Shawl 183 The Ferryman • Sheree R. Thomas 192 Herbal • Nalo Hopkinson 199 Commentaries: Kindred Spirit 202 On Octavia E. Butler • Tananarive Due 204 Can a Brother Get Some Love? Sociobiology in Images of African-American Sensuality in Contemporary Cinema: Or, Why We’d Better the Hell Claim Vin Diesel as Our Own • Steven Barnes 207 Conversation with Samuel R. Delany about Sex, Gender, Race, Writing—and Science Fiction • Samuel R. Delany and Carl Freedman 216 Black “Science Faction”: An Interview with Kevin Willmott, Director and Writer of CSA, The Confederate States of America • Kevin Willmott and Marleen S. Barr 261 Octavia’s Healing Power: A Tribute to the Late Great Octavia E. Butler • Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu 266 Afterword: The Big Bang: Or, the Inception of Scholarship about Black Women Science Fiction Writers • Marleen S. Barr 270 Response to the Afterword 274 Connecting Metamorphoses: Italo Calvino’s Mrs. Ph(i)NKo and I,Dr. Ph(d)SalvagGIo • Ruth Salvaggio 274 Notes on Contributors 276 All At One Point Conveys The Point, Period: Or, Black Science Fiction Is Bursting Out All Over -- Imaginative Encounters / Hortense J. Spillers -- Black To The Future: Afro-futurism 1.0 / Mark Dery -- On The Other Side Of The Glass: The Television Roots Of Black Science Fiction / Marleen S. Barr -- Becoming Animal In Black Women's Science Fiction / Madhu Dubey -- God Is Change: Persuasion And Pragmatic Utopianism In Octavia E. Butler's Earthseed Novels / Ellen Peel -- Tananarive Due And Nalo Hopkinson Revisit The Reproduction Of Mothering: Legacies Of The Past And Strategies For The Future / Alcena Madeline Davis Rogan -- Close Encounters Between Traditional And Nontraditional Science Fiction: Octavia E. Butler's Kindred And Gayl Jone's Corregidora Sing The Time Travel Blues / Jennifer E. Henton -- Beyond The History We Know: Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu, Nisi Shawl, And Jarla Tangh Rethink Science Fiction Tradition / De Witt Douglas Kilgore --^ Bubbling Champagne Power Trip / Nisi Shawl -- Of Course People Can Fly / Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu -- Carla Johnson/jarla Tangh: A Close Encounter With My Pseudonym / Jarla Tangh -- The Book Of Martha / Octavia E. Butler -- Double Consciousness / Andrea Hairston -- Dynamo Hum / Nisi Shawl -- The Ferryman / Sheree R. Thomas -- Herbal / Nalo Hopkinson -- On Octavia E. Butler / Tananarive Due -- Can A Brother Get Some Love? Sociobiology In Images Of African-american Sensuality In Contemporary Cinema: Or, Why We'd Better The Hell Claim Vin Diesel As Our Own / Steven Barnes -- A Conversation With Samuel R. Delany About Sex, Gender, Race, Writing-and Science Fiction / Samuel R. Delany And Carl Freedman -- Black Science Faction: An Interview With Kevin Willmott, Director And Writer Of Csa, The Confederate States Of America / Kevin Willmott And Marleen S. Barr -- Octavia's Healing Power: A Tribute To The Late Great Octavia E. Butler / Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu --^ The Big Bang: Or, The Inception Of Scholarship About Black Women Science Fiction Writers / Marleen S. Barr -- Connecting Metamorphoses: Italo Calvino's Mrs. Ph (i)nko And I, Dr. Ph(d)salvagglo / Ruth Salvaggio. Edited By Marleen S. Barr. Includes Bibliographical References. "Afro-Future Females: Black Writers Chart Science Fiction's Newest New-Wave Trajectory,edited by Marleen S. Barr, is the first combined science fiction critical anthology and short story collection to focus upon black women via written and visual texts. The volume creates a dialogue with existing theories of Afro-Futurism in order to generate fresh ideas about how to apply race to science fiction studies in terms of gender. The contributors, including Hortense Spillers, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia E. Butler, and Steven Barnes, formulate a woman-centered Afro-Futurism by repositioning previously excluded fiction to redefine science fiction as a broader fantastic endeavor. They articulate a platform for scholars to mount a vigorous argument in favor of redefining science fiction to encompass varieties of fantastic writing and, therefore, to include a range of black women's writing that would otherwise be excluded. Afro-Future Females builds upon Barr's previous work in black science fiction and fills a gap in the literature. It is the first critical anthology to address the "blackness" of outer space fiction in terms of feminism, emphasizing that it is necessary to revise the very nature of a genre that has been constructed in such a way as to exclude its new black participants. Black science fiction writers alter genre conventions to change how we read and define science fiction itself. The work's main point: black science fiction is the most exciting literature of the nascent twenty-first century"--Publisher's description __Afro-Future Females: Black Writers Chart Science Fiction's Newest New-Wave Trajectory,__ __Afro-Future Females__