Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti

African Science Fiction and the Reimagined Black Girl

Bibliographic Data

ID22124184
AuthorsJanet Rosemarie Seow (0000-0002-9213-6946, York University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Pages56-69
Publication date2022-04-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Childhood Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2371-4107 • E-ISSN: 2371-4115
PublisherUniversity of Victoria Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18357/jcs202220356
OpenAlexW4223638397
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti unsettles harmful depictions of Black childhood and reconceptualizes the role of young Black females in racialized communities with an acute awareness of the challenges they encounter in the realworld. Using the speculative form of Binti as an allegory for the present, this article turns to the character of Binti to highlight ways to overcome obstacles of exclusion and otherness. Inspiration is found in how Okorafor utilizes Africanfuturism as a framework that artfully integrates and retains African Indigenous cultures in a technologically advanced world. Additionally, childhood studies informs how this article examines the impact of Africanfuturism as a defamiliarizing strategy to address normalized (Western, white) childhood and notions of futurity for Black children and youth

Aesthetics · Allegory · Art · Biology · Developmental psychology · Girl · Indigenous · Literature · Sociology · Visual arts · Child Development and Digital Technology · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis · Ecology

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