Africanist Fantasy: Supporting Real-World Progressivism through Fantasy Fiction

Abstract

This project consists of two parts. The first part is a survey of the evolution of Black representation in Fantasy fiction. This section is broken down into three chapters that will work in conjunction with peer-reviewed articles to consider theories about the history involved with the creation of the Afrofuturist philosophy, as well as the creation of a subgenre I refer to as Africanist fantasy. The second part will consist of two chapters analyzing primary source material to show how these texts engage with the theories analyzed in Part 1 and to support the argument that Africanist fantasy is a genre worthy of being considered scholarly. Primary source material includes The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin as well as Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.