Futurism and the African Imagination

Dike Okoro is Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Humanities Department at Harris Stowe State University, USA. He is the author of Lupenga Mphande; Ecocritical Poet/Political Activist (2021). Okoro is a Senior Research Fellow at Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation.

"Dike Okoro is a part of a contemporary wave of scholarship on the emerging field of Afrofuturism studies. He is one of a few people in the world who is an accomplished scholar in Afrofuturist studies that focuses on African futurism. In a short time, his scholarship is required reading for scholars interested in linking Afrofuturism and phenomena from the African continent. For these reasons and more, Dike Okoro's work is currently at the vanguard of scholarship in contemporary Afrofuturist studies."Reynaldo Anderson, Editor, The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+ Design "The book Futurism and the African Imagination in Literature and Other Arts is a critical exploration of the emerging novel ways by which African writers and artists apprehend time, space and experience through experimental narrative forms fused with traditional dramatic performances as well as speculative revolutionary painting among other forms of art. [....The book aims to] debunk western stereotypes that undermine African literary imagination through the deployment of an approach that emphasizes the limitless power and potency of black imagination. This approach which is identified as Afro (futurism) is aimed at providing fresh insights on African narratives which fuse elements of fiction, fantasy historical fiction, science fiction and magical realism tore-imagine Africa’s future while authenticating the historicity of her humanity through their artistic vision." The Nation, reviewed by Bernard Dickson, Department of English, University of Uyo, Nigeria

• Part I: Origins/Present Manifestations in Literature 1. Futuristic Themes and Science Fiction in Modern African Literature 2. Objects Want to Have a Purpose: Animate Materiality, Space, and Identity in African Women Science Fiction 3. A Narrative of Resistance in the Face of Stasis 4. Elechi Amadi: The Paradox of a Great Teacher who Objects to Teaching 5. The Poet as Philosopher 6. The Metaphor of Change in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman 7. The Art of Writing and the Writer’s World: An Interview with Lauren Beukes 8. Futuristic Themes in Modern African Poetry Part II: Further Manifestations: Theories, Literature and Performance 9. Mazisi Kunene and the New African Movement 10. The Greatness of Mazisi Kunene and the Influence of Zulu Cosmology 11. Visual Dissidence and Postcolonial Tunisian Film 12. My Writing, My Influences! A Niger Delta Writer’s Reflection on Arts, Politics and Society 13. African Fiction and the Prison Experience: An Interview with Benjamin Kwakye 14. Afrobeat Poetry and the African Imagination 15. The Story of Akorshi Litong Mystical Dance: A Bette-Bendi Cultural Production 16. A Conversation between Patricia Jabbeh Wesley and Dike Okoro Part III: Inferences in Other Arts 17. A Conversation with Bruce Onobrakeya