Afrofuturism : Embracing and Reconstructing The Concept of Blackness and Womanhood Through Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti (2015)

Abstract

The aim of this research work is to examine the concept of Afrofuturism and the efforts the movement’s pioneers dedicated to the reclamation of Black womanhood. Along the history, Black women’s identity in Africa mainly those in the Diaspora was most of the time neglected; putting aside all the contributions these women helped the world with. While white females stood up for their rights through the mainstream of Feminism, coloured women felt the need to have movements of their own after being rejected by the newly created white ideologies. Concepts of womanism and Africana womanism have been embraced by Afrofuturists who worked to shed light on past issues and spread hope to a future more hopeful and lighter than the one already in existence. With Africans and African Americans in the forefront of such movements and ideologies, many writers have been inspired to speak for themselves and their people through music, poetry and novels. Binti by Nnedi Okorofor (2015) is a novel, which most perfectly described and portrayed the movement of Afrofuturism while focusing on the importance of one’s identity, in this case, a Black woman’s identity. Binti is a young courageous girl who stood against all previous judgements about her and her people, and explored a world very different from hers while staying faithful to her identity as a woman, a daughter and a Himba. How is Afrofuturism the umbrella under which womanism and Africana womanism fall? What is the difference between feminism and previously mentioned Black mainstreams? In addition, how does Nnedi Okorofor depict such concepts to reveal and expose past facts that could be changed for a better future? Such questions are behind this dissertation.