Mar 29, 2024  
Undergraduate Catalog 2022-2023 
    
Undergraduate Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ENGL 3214 - Afrofuturism


Credits: 3

Afrofuturism, as a movement in literature, music, film, and visual art, features futuristic or speculative fiction themes and incorporates elements of African and African diasporic history and culture. Afrofuturism in literature includes genres such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction. These fictions may illustrate dystopia, utopia, apocalyptic existence, time travel and alternate realities, which are deemed as speculative. However, some African and African diasporic writers draw upon lived experiences and beliefs or historical observations. What is often viewed as supernatural might actually be regarded as reality from a cultural perspective. This course will explore how Black writers such as Octavia Butler, Tomi Adeyemi, Walter Mosley, Colson Whitehead, and Nalo Hopkinson, depict struggles and dilemmas of Black people, while reflecting on, interrogating, revising events of the past; and constructing alternative futures. Connections will also be made between the literary works of these authors and contemporary Black cinematic pieces such as Get Out and Black Panther.

Prerequisite(s): ENGL 2140  and ENGL 2220  or ENGL 2105  with a grade of “C” or better, or permission from the instructor