TIL Black Americans were developing the Afro-Futurism/Black Sci-Fi genre of literature as early as the mid-19th century. Titles such as 'Blake' (1859), 'Iola Leroy' (1892), 'Imperium In Imperio (1899)
TIL Black Americans were developing the Afro-Futurism/Black Sci-Fi genre of literature as early as the mid-19th century. Titles such as 'Blake' (1859), 'Iola Leroy' (1892), 'Imperium In Imperio (1899)
So looking up the Blake story it’s not really sci-fi at all?
At best it’s maybe alt-history, except if I wrote a story about the next few months that doesn’t mean I’m telling an alternative history.
Edit: Lola Leroy is set during American civil war, so I guess it’s historical when looking back a few decades?
And Imperum in Imperio is set in the period it’s written.
Feels like calling any of those titles Science Fiction is a lot of a stretch. Might as well say the DaVinci Code is SciFi at that point.
You might be right about these not being sci-fi, but sci-fi can take place in the period in which it was written. Alternative history plus sci-fi can definitely be a thing. Or writing sci-fi that's supposed to take place in just a few years.
Speculative fiction is generally a better term to avoid quibbling over details. The speculative step is the important defining thing in any case.
So looking up the Blake story it’s not really sci-fi at all?
You should edit the wikipedia entry then, because it disagrees with you.
"Samuel R. Delany described it as "about as close to an SF-style alternate history novel as you can get.
Further, while it incorporates elements of the fugitive slave narrative, Blake's narrator is also a scientist, whose focus on data collection and research stand in repudiation of the racial science of the day.[10] In fact, this reflects one of Delany's major themes: that Africa and its contributions to science and math were foundational to the Western world.[12]"
Because one author says so does not make it so.
Considering we're talking about the era of the belief in Drapetomania, I'd say a slave revolt followed by an attempt by black people to take over Cuba would be considered sci-fi by a lot of readers.
Edit: Also, sci-fi wasn't really a thing in 1862.
Black Panther the movie actually borrowed some art elements from Afrofuturism. Although it's not very pronounced.
It's literally afrofuturism
Isn't it set in the present?
If you're into sci-fi and Afro-futurism I really enjoyed Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus (written a couple years ago; cool to see what a long history it's building on)
I feel like a certain poster here is conveniently and transparently overlooking the word "DEVELOPING" in the title.
I notice the wikipedia article is still un-edited, too. Put your money where your mouth is if you're so confident.