The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel: The Intersection of Science Fiction and African Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel: The Intersection of Science Fiction and African Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon Andrea Serrano Serrano © Andrea Serrano Serrano, 2020 Abstract: Lagoon (2014) by Nnedi Okorafor is an Afrofuturistic science fiction novel which fuses cyberculture, race issues, ecologism, and alien invasions. When Ayodele, an extra-terrestrial be- ing, lands on planet Earth, Anthony, Agu and Adaora will be forced to cooperate towards the goal of building a postpetroleum, more democratic and egalitarian Nigeria. Science fiction works as a vehicle for environmental critique. Lagoon engages in an ecocritical debate, as it denounces an- thropocentric attitudes that permeate cultural representations, animal exploitation and the petro- state of Nigeria. Afrofuturism and postcolonial ecocriticism interact in Lagoon, an example of an- ticolonial environmentalism exposing the dangers of pollution in the Niger Delta region. Okora- for’s work also decentres the human subject, as it includes animal and spiritual narrators as well as humanoid beings. Keywords: Lagoon, Nnedi Okorafor, ecocriticism, postcolonial literature, Afrofuturism, science fiction by black authors Lagoon (2014) written by Nnedi Okorafor from outer space in order to build a utopi- (a Nigerian-American author born in an, post-petroleum Nigeria. 1974 who currently lives in New York) is The aim of this article is to explore an Afrofuturistic novel and a rich and why non-mimetic postcolonial literature complex text where science fiction meets is still quite unknown and marginalized African folklore and horror intertwines in literary studies and by readers. African with environmental concerns. The three or Afro-diasporic writers are only now be- protagonists—Adaora, Agu and Antho- ginning to gain popularity and success ny—embark on an adventure that will re- amongst the general public. However, sci- quire them to save the polluted coast of ence fiction is still a predominantly white Lagos and cooperate with the visitors Western genre and non-Western people REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 39 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021
REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
may be often othered and reduced to a studies and ecocriticism is essential to
stereotype in these works. It is imperative read it.
to decolonize fantasy literature and this is The following analysis is divided into
why black writers are beginning to trans- three main sections. Firstly, I focus on the
form the rigid parameters of speculative main controversies regarding black sci-
fiction by creating literary works that are ence fiction and postcolonial ecocriticism.
more inclusive and diverse. Afrofuturism Secondly, I show how Lagoon elaborates a
is the flourishing movement that recon- critique of petro-culture in Nigeria and
siders the way African peoples have been the country’s reliance on oil, considering
depicted in mainstream science fiction the alternatives and the solutions for the
works, while promoting content created future that this text presents. Finally, the
by black artists. last sections deal with the deconstruction
Another objective of this article is to of anthropocentrism, as this novel cele-
analyse how environmental concerns are brates non-human forms of life—and this
tackled from a non-Western perspective includes animals, the air, the soil and
in this novel. Ecological devastation, pol- even aliens.
lution and droughts are often the conse-
quence of centuries of colonialism in the
Global South. I study here how Lagoon 1. The Emergence of Black Science
portrays a powerful image of the damage Fiction
inflicted on the communities and the ma-
rine ecosystems of the Niger Delta, while 1.1. Afrofuturism
at the same time paying attention to how
it articulates a critique of the neo-colonial Lagoon is an Afrofuturistic novel that re-
dynamics that are still perpetuated in the volves around the idea of an alien invasion
current capitalist world order. Ecocriti- in Nigeria. Mark Derry coined the word
cism but also Braidotti’s post-humanism “AfroFuturism” in an essay written in 1993
constitute the theoretical framework of (Nelson, 2018: 2635) and this refers to a
this article, which also addresses how an- cultural movement that explores the inter-
thropocentric values and human excep- sections between race, speculative fiction,
tionalism are revisited and interrogated blackness, technology and the future.
in the novel. Ytasha Womack states that it is more than
The hypothesis I defend here is that just a literary current: Afrofuturism is a
science fiction can be used as a valid vehi- political movement, a cultural revolution
cle for an environmental critique, as that impregnates all sorts of artistic mani-
Okorafor does. The tropes of speculative festations and it aims to “redefine culture
fiction serve to articulate a counterhege- and notions of blackness for today and the
monic discourse that questions anthropo- future” (2013: 9). Moreover, Womack em-
centric values, the commodification of an- phasises the heterogeneous nature of the
imal life, and Nigeria’s utter dependence movement, since it “combines elements of
on oil (arguably, one of the consequences science fiction, historical fiction, specula-
of neo-colonialism). Lagoon seeks to re- tive fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and
valorise the human-nature relationship magic realism with non-Western beliefs”
within the context of a technological soci- (2013: 9). Hence, it is “a total reenvisioning
ety which is why bearing in mind the in- of the past and speculation of the future
tersection of science fiction, postcolonial rife with cultural critiques” (9).
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 40 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021
REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
Another aspect Womack highlights is sues of race, such as Richard Morgan in
the stereotyped presence of black people his novel Black Man (2008).
in mainstream works of speculative fic- Burnett discusses how the colonial
tion. This is probably due to the miscon- gaze is present in science fiction as well.
ception that Africans or African Ameri- This scholar claims that these narratives
cans dislike science fiction, that it is only “often engage in the othering of indige-
successful in North America, Europe and nous people to the point where the latter
Australia, and that there is no such thing become nonhuman” (2015: 134). Thus, na-
as an African geek culture. Bryce provides tives are presented as exotic, opposed,
an illustrative example: when author remote and alien (quite literally). Moreo-
Nick Wood tried to publish his novel The ver, it is not unusual to find that even
Stone Chameleons in South Africa, the when such novels attempt to critique co-
publisher replied that “black people don’t lonialism, they promote in fact “the prob-
read science fiction” (“South African SF”, lematic assumptions underlying the colo-
2012, cited in Bryce, 2019: 3). According- nial project” (Burnett, 2015: 134). Burnett
ly, there are few examples of black pro- mentions The War of the Worlds (1897) as
tagonists in canonical science fiction films an example of this (2015: 134), as H. G.
or novels and, whenever they appear, Wells supported the eugenics movement
their depiction tends to be simplistic and and some readings of the text suggest he
full of clichés. Womack mentions “the si- might be in fact defending these beliefs.
lent, mystical type” (2013: 7) or the “scary These issues are only a few of the con-
witch doctor” (2013: 7); these fictional fig- troversies the genre of science fiction pre-
ures are closely related to African and pa- sents: it often was a predominantly white,
gan mythology, the unknown, witchcraft, middle-class, male, straight narrative
occultism and magic (some of these fig- genre rather than a platform for counter-
ures certainly resemble shamans). It is hegemonic discourse (Burnett, 2015: 137).
deeply problematic that even in fantasy However, Afrofuturist writers are chang-
literature—a genre in which everything is ing these preconceived notions and they
possible, where “cuddly space animals, are exploring the new realities of a post-
talking apes, and time machines” (Wom- colonial—or neo-colonial—situation in the
ack, 2013: 7) are acceptable—the reader- African countries in their works. They are
ship cannot bear the idea of “a person of reversing preconceptions about Africa and
non-Euro descent a hundred years into its peoples: they want to reintegrate black
the future” (7). These examples show that people into the discussion of modern sci-
non-realist fiction can also be embedded ence, technological advances and cyber-
in colonial patterns of thought and that it culture (Womack, 2013: 17). Therefore,
can reproduce the same racial stereotypes writers such as Okorafor are contributing
as any other narrative genre. However, it to the diversification of this literary genre
needs to be acknowledged that modern by including varied characters (social out-
science fiction is more diverse and there casts, women, members of the LGBT+
are white authors, such as Ursula K. Le community) and engaging in debates
Guin, who have introduced fully devel- about the role of black people when it
oped black characters that are not mere comes to scientific advances and the fu-
archetypes—Genli Ai in The Left Hand of ture. For instance, the protagonist of La-
Darkness (1969) is a good example. Other goon, Adaora, is a marine biologist with
white writers have shown interest in is- an impressive career as an academic and
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 41 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021
REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
a scientist. Hence, Afrofuturist artists are lenged dominant narratives, in other
trying to deconstruct the idea of Africa— words, to write back. This was no doubt a
and its people—as a backward and primi- necessary effort for it was—and still is—
tive continent, not related to progress, important to analyse and examine the co-
technoculture or the future. As Burnett lonial (and neo-colonial) violence that is
says; “our imagined futures cannot be ex- perpetuated in today’s world.
clusively white and Western, with people Some African artists still think today
of color absent or peripheral, either way that science fiction has not come to Africa
written out of humanity’s future and yet because it fails to fulfil the require-
past” (2015: 135). ments of the readers or spectators. The
following quotation is the opinion of the
Nigerian film director Tchidi Chikere:
1.2. The Postcolonial Novel and Sci-
ence Fiction Science fiction will come here when it is
relevant to the people of Africa. Right now,
Much of Anglophone African literature Africans are bothered about issues of bad
leadership, the food crisis in East Africa,
has been mainly social realist; the publi-
refugees in the Congo, militants here in
cation in 1958 of Things Fall Apart
Nigeria. Africans are bothered about roads,
shaped the postcolonial literary landscape electricity, water wars, famine, etc, not
(Bryce, 2019: 2). Hence, it could be argued spacecrafts and spaceships. Only stories
that black science fiction has also been that explore these everyday realities are
overlooked by postcolonial scholars, even considered relevant to us for now. (in
those specializing in African literature. Okorafor, 2014b: online)
Novels dealing with the traumatic his-
tory of African countries, the violence exe- This statement is perfectly reasonable,
cuted by colonizers, religious issues, iden- but it has some limitations that must be
tity, wars and so on have received much acknowledged. In the first place, the film
scholarly attention. As Bryce puts it, “the director is defending that there are genres
paradigms of postcolonial theory—writing which are praiseworthy because they deal
back, hybridity, mimicry, center and pe- with serious issues, like political crises or
riphery, etc.—have tended to privilege wars in the continent, and do not pay at-
explicitly national narratives and con- tention to banalities like “spacecrafts and
cepts of identity-construction” (2019: 2). spaceships.” This assumption is shared by
Another academic, Alondra Nelson, em- many authors, who believe they cannot
phasises that a tradition of social realism write science fiction if they want to be
has been encouraged and fostered by Af- taken seriously: Okorafor herself notes
rodiasporic artists and scholars in order that “many African writers still dismiss
to be taken seriously (2018: 2637). She genre fiction like science fiction and fan-
further argues that they “feared that to tasy as ‘childish’ or ‘amateur’” (2014b:
stop keeping things real was to lose the online). In fact, science fiction can be ethi-
ability to recognize and protest the very cally committed as well. Speculative fic-
inequities in the social world” (2637). Af- tion has the power to build sophisticated
rican or Afrodiasporic authors believed it and complex metaphors of current socio-
was their duty to tell their truth, to un- political crises; it is a genre rich in sym-
mask the crimes perpetuated by the colo- bolism. An apparent simple story of an al-
nisers, to articulate a discourse that chal- ien invasion or intergalactic wars could be
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 42 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
questioning gender constructs, it could be tems are intrinsic to African modes of
articulating an anticolonial critique or it speculative storytelling” (Bryce, 2019: 3).
could be challenging the essence of hu- Traditional African mythologies contain
manness. The allegories can be more supernatural elements and this could cer-
complex in speculative fiction narratives tainly be the seed for non-realist litera-
and thus the underlying critique could be tures. Henceforth, Bryce implies that “fu-
more opaque to the reader. Nnedi Okora- turism has been a strain in African
for shares this line of thinking: “Aside writing from its inception” (2019: 1).
from generating innovative ideas, science Bryce’s theory is plausible and it would
fiction also triggers both a distancing and contradict the preconception that fantasy
associating effect. This makes it an excel- literature is a Western invention. In fact,
lent vehicle for approaching taboo and so- the insertion of elements of African my-
cially-relevant yet overdone topics in new thology is a device which Okorafor uses in
ways. Oh, and these narratives are a lot of Lagoon: Ijele’s apparition in a café near
fun, too” (Okorafor, 2014b: online, empha- Bar Beach or the presence of the Haitian
sis added). Finally, Okorafor highlights spirit Legba (the god of crossroads) both
the recreational purpose of science fiction, constitute horror episodes in the novel.
making a literary genre which aims at Furthermore, Adaora’s husband makes
providing entertainment is also laudable. constant allusions to witchcraft and he
Because of the insistence on consider- accuses his wife of being a marine witch.
ing the colonial past, any futuristic think- The intersection between elements of Af-
ing has been erased from mainstream rican folklore and science fiction is hence
postcolonial literature. Nelson mentions made explicit in Lagoon but from an Afri-
that this “cultural environment” was “of- can point of view.
ten hostile to speculation, experimenta-
tion, and abstraction” (2018: 2637).
Henceforth, it could be said that science 1.3. Postcolonial Ecocriticism and
fiction and fantasy literature have been Science Fiction
neglected both by authors and by post-
colonial scholars. Nelson also points out Lagoon is a complex, multi-layered novel
the need to speculate about the future: that combines different narrative genres
“futurism is a necessary complement to and critical perspectives. I focus next on
realism” because otherwise “the reality the ecological disasters portrayed in the
of oppression without utopianism will novel and the relationships between hu-
surely lead to nihilism” (2018: 2637). mans and nature, therefore a brief review
Thus, it is important to acknowledge the of the evolution of environmental thought
extremely violent situations the coun- and ecocriticism is fundamental.
tries of the Global South have experi- Scholars have introduced the notions
enced for centuries as a product of their of first-wave and second-wave ecocriti-
colonial past, but imagining what a fu- cism, which differ considerably. On the
ture, more advanced society might look one hand, first-wave ecocritics embrace
like is also much needed. mimetic representations of nature and fo-
It has now been suggested that traces cus on achieving “a clear, unmediated re-
of non-realist literature could be found in flection of the natural world and to give
indigenous cosmologies and beliefs: voice to nature” (Caminero-Santangelo,
“myth, orality, and indigenous belief sys- 2014a: 10). First-wave ecocriticism con-
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 43 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
siders the relationship between humans literature can “unwittingly justify the vio-
and the non-human, the connection with lence done to indigenous peoples, cul-
the natural world and the depiction of tures, forms of knowledge, and places
wilderness within a particular text. This through an imperialism working in the
theoretical approach is very much apoliti- name of objective science” (Caminero-
cal, as it leaves the social aspects aside. Santangelo, 2014a: 10).
Consequently, some scholars have shown Therefore, any ‘objective’ writing on
how problematic this is, as it “can lead to the environment in the African continent
an uncritical approach to Western science would be overlooking the ecological disas-
and its claims of scientific objectivity” ters caused by the West: poverty, health
(Caminero-Santangelo, 2014a: 10). In risks and social injustice. African narra-
fact, Caminero-Santangelo reminds us tives are ideological and political; they do
that behind the colonization of Africa not aim at impartiality and neutrality be-
there was a scientific justification (2014a: cause this aesthetic position would simply
10).1 Postcolonial ecocritics highlight the be negationist. These writers want to
flaws and limitations of this perspective, unmask the power dynamics working in
while sharing the main postulates— the exploitation of African resources, the
revalorization of the non-human, concern unequal distribution of wealth and the
for pollution and global warming. consequences this has on the population;
On the other hand, second-wave eco- they are politically committed and they
critics focus on decentring ecocriticism in- articulate counterhegemonic discourses.
stead. The role of imperialism in trans- In this sense, postcolonial ecocriticism is
forming traditional economies, similar to eco-Marxism and social ecology,
ecosystems, livelihoods and the nature of since these theoretical approaches under-
the African continent cannot be denied. stand that ecological disasters are not
The imperial project did not only cause caused by anthropocentric attitudes ex-
the destruction of the socio-cultural struc- clusively; they are attributed to capital-
tures, but it also altered the physical en- istic forms of exploitation and domination
vironment and the natural landscapes (Garrad, 2004: 28).
(and these consequences are still very Nevertheless, this taxonomy has re-
present). Hence, a theoretical position ceived serious criticism. Some scholars ob-
that favours objective environmentalist ject to this distinction as it implies the ex-
————— istence of a hierarchy; it suggests that
1 Environmentalist discourses sometimes
postcolonial ecocriticism is a secondary
run parallel to colonial history. Environmental phenomenon, thus rather marginal and
historians argue that dominant Western nar- peripheral. First-wave ecocriticism ap-
ratives have tended to portray Africans as in- pears unmarked and universal if this cat-
capable of understanding and taking care of egorization is taken into account. Post-
their biodiversity and thus “suggesting that colonial ecocritics argue that, on the
environmentalist efforts in Africa need to be contrary, African writers have actively
conceived and led by non-Africans” (Caminero- created an imaginary of nature and that
Santangelo, 2014a: 10). This has caused the
their contributions are not derived from
removal of entire communities in order to cre-
ate spaces of wilderness; these measures were
American and European representations
executed by those from the West—who had a (Caminero-Santangelo, 2014a: 12). Nige-
supposedly proper environmental sensibility rian writers such as Niyi Osundari, Ta-
(13). nure Ojaide, Helon Habila are conscious
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 44 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
of “the ecological implications of man’s publication of Anglophone 20th century
exploitative tendencies on earth’s re- science-fiction proper began in the USA
sources” (Edebor, 2017: 43), thus proving through pulp magazines, which were in-
that this is not only a Western concern expensive periodicals aimed at the masses
and that they are actively involved in this (Attebery, 2003: 32). However, Lagoon
global social movement. These examples proves that a science fiction novel can ar-
show that the distinction between “first- ticulate a subversive, sophisticated dis-
wave” and “second-wave” criticism seems course which is critical with the legacies
to rely on the centre-periphery opposition; of colonialism and deeply concerned with
therefore proving that it is essential to ecological issues. Environmental science
decentre ecocriticism. Chengyi Coral Wu fiction thus engages in discussions about
(2016: 6) prefers to use the word “rhi- sustainability, pollution, or climate
zomatic” to refer to environmental criti- change always paying attention to the
cism, as it was an extended phenomenon role of imperial exploitation in defining
which took root in several parts of the the current socio-economic landscape of
world. African ecocriticism, she insists, Africa. This makes it as relevant or more
was not a “derivative development” of than mimetic fiction.
Anglo-American scholarship (7) but an Mackey (2018) makes an interesting
independent creation. contribution, as the scholar says science
Lagoon is a hybrid text where science fiction can serve as an antidote to passivi-
fiction, environmental critique and post- ty; it can offer new perspectives on the
colonialism are intermingled. Mackey us- consequences of environmental devasta-
es the term “environmental science fic- tion in a few years’ time. It serves as a
tion” (2018: 530) to refer to stories in pedagogical tool: “Providing readers and
which all those elements come together, viewers with a glimpse of possible fu-
acknowledging the contribution of “Af- tures, the extrapolative nature of the gen-
rodiasporic, African, and Indigenous and re lends itself to critical ecological peda-
Aboriginal futurisms […] in widespread gogy” (531). Thus, it is “a catalyst for
cultural debates about humanity’s re- environmental change” (530). Okorafor
sponsibility toward the environment” also believes in the intrinsic value of
(530). These narratives explore the ways speculative fiction for, as she writes,
by which humans can reconnect with the “[s]cience fiction carries the potential to
non-human elements of the universe al- change the world” (Okorafor, 2014b:
ways through a postcolonial lens. “Locat- online).
ed in the interstices of environmental and
postcolonial science fictions,” Mackey
writes, “these narratives can, at the very 2. “Oceanic Futurism:” Lagoon and
least, serve as antidotes to complacency the Coalescence of Petro-Fiction and
in light of the uneven planetary distribu- Science Fiction
tion of resources or despair in the face of
environmental devastation” (530). In the Lagoon’s target for its environmental cri-
past, science fiction was regarded as a tique are the ecological disasters and the
light, non-serious genre, fitted only for social inequalities in the Niger Delta re-
the lower classes and those who consume gion that have been exposed and analysed
popular culture. In fact, despite the Brit- by Rob Nixon. He explains that Nigeria
ish scientific romances by H.G. Wells the depends largely on oil for its economic
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 45 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
survival and that the corporation Shell is sequences and irreversible dangers on the
the most important foreign stakeholder environment, the communities and other
(Nixon, 2013: 106). Nixon adds that the living beings, namely animals and sea
distribution of oil revenue is extremely creatures.
unequal since “85 percent of oil wealth Unlike Oil on Water, Lagoon is a non-
goes to a mere 1 percent of the popula- mimetic narrative, but that does not
tion” (2013: 106). Moreover, the ecological mean it ignores the social injustices and
devastation affects the minorities who environmental degradation in Lagos. In
live in the Delta, as they lack political fact, there is in the novel a clear ethical
representation and thus Government pro- positioning and it expresses a deep anxie-
tection and proper rights. The extremely ty about the future of Nigeria, the hu-
polluted landscape in the regions inhabit- mans that live in the most polluted re-
ed by the Ogoni people are described as gions and the marine species. Lagoon
follows: “Ogoni air had been fouled by the contains many episodes in which a cri-
flaring of natural gas, their croplands tique of the environmental situation in
scarred by oil spills, their drinking and Nigeria is made explicit. Okorafor de-
fishing waters poisoned” (Nixon, 2013: nounces the pollution of the water in the
108). The traditional subsistence econo- Niger Delta region from the very first
mies have been destabilised and de- chapter. The novel focuses on the marine
stroyed systematically; the delta commu- animals, who are even more fragile and
nities lack the most basic human needs vulnerable to this situation because they
and their survival depends entirely on do not have a voice. The character
them; it is a life-or-death struggle. through which the action is focalized is in
Edebor (2017: 43) mentions the grow- fact an angry swordfish that aims to de-
ing consciousness and interest of African stroy one of the oil pipelines: “She knows
authors such as Sophia Obi-Apoko and where she is going. She is aiming for the
Ogochukwu Promise or the poets Niyi thing that looks like a giant dead snake”
Osundare and Tanure Ojaide regarding (Okorafor, 2014a: 3).2 The motive behind
environmental degradation. These writers this action is revenge, the swordfish has
thus show their concern for the prospects experienced the harmful effects of water
for the future if no effective change is pollution and she has decided to fight
made and the exploitation of the natural back: “They brought the stench of dry-
resources goes on in a region that is one of ness, […] and made the world bleed black
the most polluted on earth and “would ooze that left poison rainbows on the wa-
take thirty years and one billion dollars to ter’s surface. […] Inhaling them stings
clean up” (Caminero-Santagnelo, 2014b: and burns her gills” (3, emphasis added).
137). This scholar analyses Helon The descriptions are enigmatic and the
Habila’s Oil on Water (2010), a novel author is successful in creating a lethar-
which provides a perceptive insight into gic, oceanic-like atmosphere; however,
the severely damaged Niger Delta region this excerpt is not simply a fantastic in-
and the violence-ridden country of Nige- terlude, it contains a powerful social
ria. The problems that plague the African commentary. A striking example of this is
nation seem endless: “mass deaths, dislo- the insistence on the word they to signal
cation, sicknesses, avoidable accidents, —————
serious violence” (Edebor, 2017: 45). Oil 2 Henceforth all quotations from the novel
on Water also draws attention to the con- will be indicated by the page number only.
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 46 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
the difference between the sea animals are willing to help humans; Ayodele tells
(we) and the humans, especially those the Nigerian president they “do not want
who own oil companies and are responsi- to rule, colonize, conquer or take” (220).
ble for the ecological catastrophe. By the They settle in the ocean and they cleanse
end of the novel, Adaora manages to it: “the ocean water just outside Lagos,
speak to the swordfish: “I heard its voice Nigeria, is now so clean that a cup of its
in my head” (261). Then she adds that it salty-sweet goodness will heal the worst
“spoke like a member of that group human illnesses […]. It is more alive than
Greenpeace” (262), with a fully articulate it has been in centuries and it is teeming
discourse. with aliens and monsters” (6, original em-
There are more passages in the novel phasis). Melody Jue comments that the
which focus on petro-culture and the aliens are an antidote to dependence on
damages caused by it. When Kola, the fossil fuels (2017: 173). The key to renew-
daughter of Adaora, speaks to Ayodele al lies in mutual cooperation; Lagoon cel-
she emphasises the destruction of the ebrates interspecies connection—from the
natural environment: “My mother says smallest animals to aliens, the ocean and
the waters are dirty and dead because of even breathing air—in order to regener-
oil companies” (68). Edebor also notes the ate the natural landscape. Ayodele
failure of the Governments to “ensure acknowledges that “It is a matter of con-
regulation and prosecution of environ- necting and communicating” (220).
mental polluters” (2017: 42). According to The aliens are willing to help the hu-
Nixon, Shell and other companies argue mans (in exchange for a home) and,
that these are Nigerian internal affairs thanks to their lessons, Nigeria is finally
and they cannot intervene; then, “under marching “towards a maturing democra-
cover of deference for national sovereign- cy” (277). The president feels his country
ty, they continue to act as ethical absen- will be mighty and he says so when he
tees” (2013: 107). addresses the nation: “For the first time
Ayodele, the alien from beyond the since we cast off the shackles of colonial-
stars, is able to understand the ocean an- ism, over a half-century ago, since we
imals and communicate with them. The rolled through decades of corruption and
extra-terrestrial being carries their mes- internal struggle, we have reached the
sage to humans: “It’s the people of the tipping point. And here in Lagos, we have
waters […]. They are tired of boats and passed it […]” (277). The prospects for the
human beings” (240). The marine species future are positive, Okorafor imagines a
revolt and they threaten to destroy the oil utopian society which finds peace after
companies’ technology: “All the offshore decades of conflict. This is accomplished
drilling facilities would be destroyed by by a total integration of the diverse
the people of the water. […] Oil could no groups of people and races who conform
longer be Nigeria’s top commodity” (273). this futuristic Nigeria. The president en-
Jue mentions that a process of renewal is courages a solidarity that transcends spe-
necessary, though nobody is really acting: cies: “People of Lagos […], look at your
“Lagoon recognizes that the key to La- neighbour. See his race, tribe, or his alien
gos’s survival is a clean ocean, purged of blood. And call him brother” (278). The
leaky oil-drilling operations” (2017: 173). general outlook of the novel is a positive
The interesting twist this science- one; ecological reparation is possible
fiction narrative presents is that aliens thanks to the technology of the aliens:
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 47 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
“the land would be pure and […] crops and diasporic imaginations after the Mid-
would grow as they never had before. Ex- dle Passage come together (2017: 176-
tinct creatures would return” (279). Jue 177). In fact, the enslavement of millions
mentions that “Okorafor’s oceanic Afrofu- of Africans finds its echo in the current
turism leads to a utopian politics of the situation; Western countries still exert
possible”, thus this “petrofiction” consti- their influence on the former colonies.
tutes a portrait of what a post-petroleum The paradigms have changed (the Atlan-
Nigeria could look like (2017: 175) if only tic slave trade is a past abomination), but
the Government were willing to diversify the Nigerian economy still depends on
the economy and rely on other natural re- North American, Western European and
sources other than oil. The ending is not East Asian multinational corporations.
fatalistic or grim; fantasy literature has The ocean thus offers enormous creative
the power to imagine better futures, even possibilities and it becomes highly sym-
if this is not close to reality. Afrofuturism bolic for these authors as a model for re-
has the power to envision a different fu- generation.
ture and Lagoon conceives an idealistic The oceanic imagery Okorafor creates
future where the destruction of the envi- in Lagoon is very powerful; the novel is a
ronment, species, habitats and livelihoods celebration of the diversity of sea life. For
in the Niger Delta is no longer a painful example, Adaora is taken into the depths
reality.3 of the sea and afterwards she recalls the
The danger inflicted upon the natural magical, almost surreal atmosphere:
environment, and especially upon the
ocean, can only be understood if we see In the surrounding glowing water had been
the notion of respect for the sea as an in- a riot of bright yellow butterfly fish, clown
tegral part of Nigerian culture in this dis- fish, sea bass, eels, shrimps, urchins, star-
cussion. The significance of the sea in La- fish, sharks, stingrays, swordfish, barracu-
goon is in line with broader and da, a bit of everything local; some from the
increasing interest for the ocean as a deep, some from the shallows. She’d never
space for rethinking environmental imag- seen such a thriving coral community in
inaries—mainly focused on terrestrial any of her drives off the coast of Lagos. (53)
spaces—, epistemologies and theoretical
frameworks (Buell, 1998; Cohen 2012, This is a mesmerising and vivid ma-
cited in Jue: 2017, 176). Alaimo (2019) rine scene; colours, shapes and creatures
uses the term blue humanities to refer to come together in a vertiginous spiral of
the environmental orientation of oceanic ocean life. This scene suggests the sublim-
scholarship. Jue also notes that the ocean ity of the sea; it is enigmatic in its huge-
is a recurrent element in Afrofuturism; it ness.
is a space where traditional cosmologies Lagoon praises the ocean: its water,
fluidity, floods, dynamism. Melody Jue
————— (2017) uses the word “Oceanic Futurism”
3 Eutopias convey momentary relief from
to describe this particular genre in which
the calamities that surround us. In our coro-
the water becomes a fundamental ele-
navirus times, it is surprising to observe the
increasing consumption of dystopian movies
ment. The love, awe, admiration for water
and series in successful online platforms. The and the belief in the purifying powers of
fact that some audiences crave for this sort of the sea impregnate this novel. The sea is
fiction is perplexing. presented as a magical space, an unfath-
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 48 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
omable place: “The sea always takes more The city exerts its fascination upon
than it gives. / Right now, as I weave, the Adaora: “Lagos was riddled with corrup-
sea roils and boils with life” (228, empha- tion but she couldn’t imagine living any-
sis in original). It also has healing powers where else. And its ocean life was fasci-
and it is the source of life: “The cure for nating. And problematic. It needed her”
anything is salt water—sweat, tears, or (64, emphasis added). Adaora feels the
the sea” (epigraph). The paratext is thus moral need to remain in the main city of
important because it gives clues to the Nigeria because she wants to contribute
reader; in this case emphasising the rele- to the reparation and further improve-
vance of the ocean in this literary work. ment of the severely damaged marine
Furthermore, Adaora repeats the phrase ecosystem. Thus Lagos, its waters and its
“aman iman” on several occasions, a say- ocean life captivates its inhabitants, and
ing in the Tuareg language Tamashek even the visitor from outer space.
that means “water is life” (12).
Another example of the centrality of
water in Lagoon is the initial name 3. Deconstructing Anthropocentrism
Adaora thinks of for the extraterrestrial
being the first time they encounter her: The following sections will examine how
immediately, she thinks of the name the notion of anthropocentrism is chal-
“Miri”, but then the biologist dismisses it lenged and revisited in the novel. Okora-
because “[t]he name needed to be more for’s work disputes the hierarchical model
subtle than the Igbo word for ‘water’” (18). that places (white) man at the centre of
This clarification makes us think that the the universe. Lagoon’s purpose is to ques-
novel is written for an American reader- tion the anthropocentric vision that dom-
ship rather than a Nigerian one, as they inates Western epistemologies and cul-
would have known this information. tural representations. Rosi Braidotti
Okorafor was born in the United States (2013a: 13) confronts the model of the
from Nigerian parents and she currently classical and universal Man, “the meas-
lives in New York, so her readers are ure of all things” and the Vitruvian man
mainly American, a point that must be (who has become the emblem of European
noted even though the author is here em- humanist thinking). She argues that this
phasizing her Nigerian heritage. fixed paradigm has determined Western
The title of the novel itself is very re- philosophy. Braidotti further adds that
vealing. The author tells us in a note at this cultural logic excludes alternative
the beginning of the narrative that the subjectivities; non-human entities (ani-
story takes place in the capital of Nigeria, mals, plants, the physical environment),
Lagos, a “city [that] takes its name from as well as racialized and sexualized bod-
the Portuguese word for ‘lagoon’” in plural ies categorized as the “other” (2013a: 15).
(epigraph). The author notes that the Por- Braidotti expresses this idea as follows:
tuguese landed in Lagos in the 15th centu- “the women’s rights movement; the anti-
ry and “[a]pparently, they could not come racism and de-colonization movements;
up with a more creative name” (epigraph). the anti-nuclear and pro-environment
The irony contained in the remark pre- movements are the voices of the structur-
sents an anticolonial positioning. Fur- al Others of modernity. They inevitably
thermore, there is an inherent energy to mark the crisis of the former humanist
Lagos, a chaotic yet unescapable force. ‘centre’ or dominant subject-position […]”
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 49 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
(2013a: 37). Braidotti’s post-humanism is, Nigerian-American author has recently
thus, a theory that displaces Europe, the published:
unmarked category of Man, from the cen-
tre of Humanism, and which advocates a
plural, more ethical philosophy which di-
rectly confronts human exceptionalism.
Ayodele summarises perfectly the dif-
ficulties of decentring the human subject
by stating that “human beings have a
hard time relating to that which does not
resemble them” (67). However, one of the
main postulates of ecocriticism is precise-
ly this one: the need to acknowledge and
revalorize the literary depictions of other
terrestrial beings, the earth, the wilder-
ness, that is to say, the non-human. La-
goon constitutes a celebration of all living
beings; human and non-human creatures
connect in it, even aliens and spiritual de-
ities from West-African folklore. The nov-
el is thus a call for total integration, and
this expands to plants, foreign creatures
from other parts of the cosmos, inanimate
beings, and even the earth we tread on.
The amalgam of beings that populate
the pages of the narrative is extraordi- Fig. 1 @nnediokorafor. LaGuardia’s front cover.
nary, and it makes the literary work ec- Instagram, April 12, 2020,
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4j5OclEqW/
lectic and diverse. The range of individu-
als who appear goes from science fiction
characters—aliens, monsters who look The image shows people and aliens
like Star Wars creatures (251)—to hu- attending a demonstration: they are
mans and animals that inhabit this holding banners with powerful messages,
planet. Jue adds that this novel “does not appealing to the rights of non-human
precategorize the other—aliens, under- populations. Alien beings and Nigerian
water cities, monstrous sea creatures, women—there is even one who is preg-
indigenous deities—ahead of time, into nant, which is an allusion to the fight for
the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or reproductive rights and personal auton-
the folkloric” (2017: 175) instead “it cul- omy—are marching together. They are
tivates a practice of listening to the oth- taking part in a protest against the op-
er” (2017: 175) in order to work together pressions and inequalities these minori-
towards the goal of cleansing the ocean ties experience in their daily lives.
and making it habitable. The desire and Again, the symbiosis of science fiction,
ambition to include all forms of life can environmental ethics and anticolonial
also be seen in Okorafor’s other produc- thought is made explicit.
tions. The following image is the front
cover of LaGuardia, a graphic story the
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 50 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
3.1. Decentering the Human Subject: ria—animals, plant and spirit.” Their ex-
Narratological Devices periences are no longer marginal or pe-
ripheral and they take part in the events.
In Lagoon there are three chapters writ- The novel is divided into three main sec-
ten from the point of view of animals. tions or acts (“Welcome”, “Awakening”
Thus, non-human narrators—a bat, a and “Symbiosis”). At the beginning of
spider and a swordfish—offer new per- each part there is a chapter narrated by
spectives on how they see, experience and an animal. The first chapter is the one
connect with the outside world. In a note featuring the swordfish, which has been
at the end of the novel the author men- examined above. The marine creatures
tions that in first contact narratives, al- have a fundamental role in the novel as
iens initially interact with humans. La- they rebel against the oil companies’ in-
goon reverses the parameters of frastructures that are poisoning their
mainstream science fiction novels, as the habitat: they want the water to be clean,
extraterrestrial beings communicate with “for sea life… which meant toxic for mod-
sea creatures in the first place. The visi- ern, civilized, meat-eating, clean-water-
tors from beyond the stars make no dis- drinking human beings” (248, original el-
tinction between the diverse forms of life lipsis). Humans have taken possession of
and they decide to interact with the ani- natural goods, they have dominated other
mals first. The note also adds that most of species (provoking the extinction of count-
the planet—around 70% of the surface of less creatures) and exploited resources,
the Earth—is covered by oceans, rivers, but in Lagoon the inhabitants of the seas
lakes and so on. Hence, although humans have the opportunity to fight back and re-
populate land surfaces, there is life be- gain that which had always been theirs.
yond our cities, countries and civiliza- Hence, the introduction of the voice of the
tions. The focus is no longer on humans swordfish allows for a critique of the dom-
but rather on marine species and the deep inating nature of human enterprises.
waters of the Atlantic, “the people of the The other two narrators that open Act
waters” (240). In fact, it is important to IIand III are a tarantula and a bat. The
note that Lagoon’s innovation is two-fold. readers are able to experience their lives
On the one hand, as noted the aliens con- and struggles because they are given an
tact marine animals—and not humans— opportunity to see the world through their
in the first place. On the other hand, the lenses. The bat can communicate with
extra-terrestrial beings do not land in a other members of her species using ultra-
cosmopolitan, “advanced,” European sonic squeaks and echolocation. The read-
country, but they do so in a country from er learns that “[s]he has no words for col-
the Global South. Thus, the action takes or because she is a bat and bats do not see
place in Nigeria and not in Tokyo, Los colors” (224), but they can perceive
Angeles or London (Jue, 2017: 175) or any sounds in a different way; a sound can be
other city of the rich North. “visceral, thick, but not quite substantial”
There are multiple subjectivities that (223). The human senses, our system of
appear on the pages of Lagoon. Okorafor communication (language), the way we
gives animals a voice, a space within the categorize the world and the meaning we
myriad of stories that conform this novel. attribute to sounds, words and sentences
In fact, the work is dedicated to “the di- are being interrogated. We take these
verse and dynamic people of Lagos, Nige- concepts and our understanding of the
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 51 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
universe for granted but these interludes However, there are some parts written
offer a new prism, a different perspective using the first person and they are visual-
on everyday events. ly distinct from the others because these
Moreover, the narrator praises the parts are in italics. In chapter 44 the
lives of these beings, no matter how mi- reader becomes aware of who is narrating
nuscule, insignificant and apparently an- this tale: “I am Udide, the narrator, the
noying. The readers are told that the spi- story weaver, the Great Spider” (228, em-
der has lost a leg in an accident, and that phasis in original). The Igbo deity has
this was a “blow to his identity” (120). been weaving and carefully layering the
Thus, the seven-limbed tarantula has a different parts and pieces of the story: “I
sense of being, just as humans do. Be- spin the story. This is the story I’ve spun”
sides, both these animals meet tragic des- (291).
tinies: Adaora’s car crushes the spider un- This literary strategy creates a poly-
intentionally and the bat is killed by the phonic effect; the different stories, voices,
Nigerian President’s plane. These epi- echoes, visions and perspectives overlap
sodes show that these lives are disposable in the “great tapestry” (292) which Udide
because animals are only a commodity for Okwanka weaves non-stop. The spider
humans: we consume animal products, we seems to be an omniscient force, a divine
keep them as pets, we trade and sell them creature who is aware of everything be-
and we destroy them non-chalantly. cause it has been part of this universe
Braidotti emphases this point: “In ad- from the beginning: “I know it all because
vanced capitalism, animals […] have been I created it all” (291). The deity knows the
turned into tradable disposable bodies, stories of everybody: “I’ve knitted their
inscribed in a global market of post- stories and watched them knit their own
anthropocentric exploitation” (2013b: 70). crude webs” (291). The narrator addresses
Okorafor is therefore revalorising the the reader to ask jokingly if we wish to
naturalized other stating that these bod- know what happens to Chris, Agu,
ies, these lives are equally important. Adaora, Anthony, Kola and the others.
Another narratological device Okorafor However, the god-spider cannot solve this
uses in order to decentre human subjec- mystery because it “feels the press of other
tivity and give voice to other entities is stories” (292). Udide Okwanka seems to
exemplified by the fact that the narrator establish a continuum, there is no end
of the story is the Igbo deity Udide and no beginning because the stories of
Okwanka—the spiritual dimension of the the people of Nigeria are part of the same
novel is worth noting. All the chapters are tapestry, they are rather cyclical than
narrated in the third person: there is a lineal. Therefore, Lagoon seems to be like
heterodiegetic narrator who knows all the a palimpsest: new texts dialogue with
details regarding the plot and this is Udi- former texts, all stories are imbricated
de Okwanka. It seems to hover above the and interconnected, the voices of the
story, but it is not involved in the main characters overlap.
action. The narrator is an internal- The notion of weaving, transforming
focaliser because it adopts the perspective and rewriting stories continually reso-
of the different characters this novel con- nates with ancient story-telling rites and
tains—sometimes it explains the events ceremonies typical of West African re-
from the point of view of the swordfish, gions. Anansi is a mythical creature that
Adaora, the prostitute Fisayo and so on. takes the form of a spider and is thought
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 52 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
to know all the stories. The parallels with tion follow. Another example of a spiritual
Udide Okwanka are obvious for “Anansi entity that provokes chaos in the middle
is my cousin” (292, idem). The Akan- of Lagos is Legba, the god of crossroads.
speaking people in Ghana have a rich oral The Ghanaian singer’s protégé (see sec-
culture; there is an art form, called An- tion 4.2.), is waiting “on the corner of a
ansesem, which consists of telling stories busy intersection” (211) after a concert,
accompanied by a musical performance when he witnesses an anarchic and tu-
(Sutherland, 1999: V). However, these multuous scene: there is a deafening noise
folktales are not rigidly composed, story- that makes windows shatter and traffic
tellers can introduce some variations to go wild. The young man cannot contain
prove their artistry and they also accept his excitement for “Legba, the god of the
contributions and suggestions from the crossroads was alive and well in the coun-
audience; therefore, “stories in the tradi- try of his origin” (214). These are chapters
tion are under constant revision for re- narrated by minor characters who only
newal and development” (Sutherland, appear once in the novel, but they rein-
1999: VI). The idea of composing a story force the idea that Afrofuturism has its
with multiple voices in Lagoon certainly roots in African myths and cosmologies,
takes its inspiration from West African as Bryce (2019) suggests. Moreover, they
communal traditions. Hence, Okorafor exemplify the scope of characters that ap-
adopts certain elements of African com- pear in this narrative, which is not only
munities and their storytelling events: reduced to animals and humans but even
while in the West there is a “strong indi- includes the divine.
vidualistic ideology of […] (literate) histo-
riography” (Tonkin, 1992, cited in Ok-
pewho, 2003: 227), in oral cultures the 3.2. The Limits between Human and
creation of a new text is a shared experi- Non-human
ence and the limits between individual
and collective memory are interrogated Adaora’s mutation illustrates the ques-
(Tonkin, 1992, cited in Okpewho, 2003: tioning of the constructed hierarchy that
227). places the human subject as “the measure
The spiritual component in Lagoon is of all things” (Braidotti, 2013a: 13) since
relevant, as other deities from African her hybrid body blurs the lines between
and Nigerian systems of beliefs appear in human and non-human entities. Braidotti
this story. Science fiction and traditional argues that posthumanism is a brand of
myths are intertwined; Okorafor draws vital materialism and thus “contests the
on traditional cosmologies to create pow- arrogance of anthropocentrism and the
erful episodes of terror. African mytholo- ‘exceptionalism’ of the Human as a tran-
gy, horror and speculative fiction are in- scendental category” (2013: 66). There-
termixed. For instance, a huge creature fore, Lagoon interrogates and redefines
makes its entrance in a cybercafé where a the categorization of the animal as the
man involved in the well-known Nigerian “much cherished other of Anthropos”
internet scam 419 is involved. The pro- (Braidotti, 2013b: 68). This is exemplified
tagonist of the chapter is busy working on by the transformative process that
his manipulative plan when Ijele, “[t]he Adaora experiences at the end of the nov-
Chief of all Masquerades” (199) comes el when she is about to meet the Elders:
through the door. Mayhem and destruc- “Her legs were no longer legs. This part of
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 53 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021REFLEXIONES
The Rise of the Afrofuturistic Novel:
The Intersection of Science Fiction and African
Environmentalism in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon
her body had become the body of a giant identities, which are “contradictory, par-
metallic blue fish” (251). She relates how tial, and strategic” (1985: 72). Therefore,
she is suddenly able to breathe inside the the hybrid being Adaora transforms into
water because “she didn’t have lungs an- is representative of fractured identities
ymore… she had gills” (250, original ellip- that resist fixed labels. This new being
ses). The marine biologist becomes “half embodies in-betweenness, fluidity and
fish and half human” (261). Adaora be- fragmentation.
comes then a hybrid creature who inhab- There are other bizarre, human-
its multiple spaces at the same time as looking characters in the novel, which al-
she is located in the interstices. The pro- so fluctuate between the limits of human-
tagonist embodies this heterogeneity and ness. Adaora explains that at one moment
seemingly diametric contradictions. The she sees “five humanoid figures that re-
point, though, is that this mutation “com- minded her of something out of Star
plicates any comfortable distinction be- Wars” (251). The monsters represent the
tween human and non-human beings” symbiosis of human features, science fic-
(Mackey, 2018: 534). Her fusion with an- tion classic movie characters and the cy-
other species destabilises the accepted di- borg. Another example of these mixed
chotomy between human and animals. monsters are the aliens that come out of
Although Adaora explains that she the water to populate the Nigerian city;
was born “with webbed feet and hands” they look like humans save for the
(257) which the doctors had to separate strangeness that surrounds them. This is
surgically and that she did not need to the reaction of a man when he encounters
learn to swim because she was a natural one of these impostors: “She looked so
at it, she only becomes half fish and half normal. Except… […] There was a flicker
human once the aliens come to Earth. of oddness about her […]” (205). These
Hence, the biologist undergoes this physi- figures destroy any sense of familiarity;
cal transformation when the extraterres- they combine a human appearance with
trial beings land; their presence and their something alien and undecipherable,
technology are a catalyst for this altera- something that cannot be fully grasped.
tion in Adaora’s body. Therefore, the Ni- Their indefiniteness and ambiguity are
gerian-American author uses science fic- deeply disturbing but also attractive.
tion tropes to question the dualistic The three main human characters of
opposition between animals and humans. this Afrofuturistic novel have some sort of
Science fiction and ecocriticism are in- supernatural power, something that dif-
termingled once more. Adaora’s “strange ferentiates them from the general popula-
naked mermaid body” (256) could also be tion. Anthony Dey Craze’s power is that
read as the fusion of technology with the he feels an energy coming from the earth.
human subject, which resonates with the He is able to establish a connection with
idea of the cyborg developed in “A Cyborg inert matter, the cosmos, other species; it
Manifesto.” Donna Haraway (1985) states is what he calls a “rhythm.” The Ghana-
that the cyborg destroys dualities— ian singer recalls an episode from his in-
animal and machine, body and mind— fancy; he had a bitter argument with
with its mere existence, and it appears some relatives and he felt the anger in-
“where the boundary between human and vading his chest, a strange force fighting
animal is transgressed” (1985: 68). The to emerge from his entrails: “Then that
cyborg is also the emblem of postmodern which was building up within him, hum-
REVISTA HÉLICE: Volumen VI, n.º 2 54 OTOÑO-INVIERNO 2020-2021You can also read
