Beyond Afrofuturism
Extrapolation guest editors Lisa Yaszek and Isiah Lavender III seek original essays by scholars and artists who are interested in the question of what might co-exist with—or lie beyond—Afrofuturism. Ever since Mark Dery introduced the term in 1993, “Afrofuturism” has been one of the primary ways artists, scholars, and fans alike have discussed contemporary speculative fiction by people of the African diaspora. But as students of genre history know well, every two to three decades there is a sea change as the science fiction community redefines the thematic and stylistic concerns of “good” science fiction, and, in doing so, paves the way for new modes of speculative storytelling. As the term “Afrofuturism” nears its quarter-century of use, it is natural to ask: is Afrofuturism a “colored wave” within science fiction history, much like the New Wave or cyberpunk, or might its multigenre status provide some kind of energy that transcends (and transforms) science fiction history as we know it? What is Afrofuturism today, and is it the only—or the best—way to describe black speculative cultural practices across the globe? What might co-exist with—or lie beyond—Afrofuturism? Topics to explore might include, but are not limited to:
Afro-pessimism vs. Afrofuturism
Whites and Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism 2.0 and beyond
Replacing Afrofuturism; or, the death of Afrofuturism
Afrodiasporic versus African speculative art
Black speculative cultural practices across the globe
Inner city future projections as alternate scientific and social spaces
The promises and perils of trans-identities and/or spaces (national, racial, historical, temporal, cultural, social, physical, sexual, and/or psychological)
Disability studies and racial futures
Black futures in aural media (jazz, electronica, hip hop, and opera)
Black futures in visual media (TV, film, comics, painting, photography, sculpture, and digital art)
Afrofuturism’s impact on other ethnic futurisms like Indigenous Futurism and LatinX Futurism etc.
The editors invite submissions that respond to the focus of the issue and also welcome general inquiries about a particular topic’s suitability. Please submit 250 word abstracts, a working bibliography, and a brief CV electronically as MS Word attachments to Isiah Lavender III at isiahl@lsu.edu and to Lisa Yaszek at lisa.yaszek@lmc.gatech.edu by January 31, 2018.
Accepted articles should be between 5000 and 8500 words in length, including “Works Cited,” and prepared in MLA style, and forwarded as MS Word attachments.