Seizing the Alterity of Futures

Lou Cornum

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This article contextualizes growing interest in futurity and minoritarian futures as connected to movements in speculative fiction, particularly Afrofuturism and Indigenous futurism, and the ways in which this genre reimagines both history and futures. These developments are read through two groundbreaking anthologies—Dark Matter, a collection of speculative fiction from the African diaspora, and Walking the Clouds, a collection of Indigenous science fiction—and the social conditions of their publication. Using the work of Walter Benjamin and his writing against the notion of progress in history, the article posits the shared grounds for a philosophy of history that disrupts the singular future of speculation-driven capitalism with alternative forms of speculative imagination.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)166-191
    Number of pages26
    JournalHistory of the Present
    Volume13
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Oct 1 2023

    Keywords

    • Afrofuturism
    • Indigenous futurism
    • KEYWORDS futurity
    • speculative fiction
    • Walter Benjamin

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • History

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