Introduction to Afrofuturistic Fiction
Although postmodernism has given much significance to time, Afrofuturistic fiction has woven time into the very cycles of human life treating it as non-linear and fluid. In fact, time moves in every direction. It treats all of its manifestations as one lived experience that a person is aware of and that is present. Niama Safia Sandy’s assertion given as a quote, too, points to the same thing that every moment is the present moment and the ‘now’ moment. It means that there is no past, present, or future. Some Afrofuturistic fiction too treat time in the same way and show that it is one of the hallmarks of Afrofuturistic literature. Long Division, “Speech Sounds” and Parable of the Sorrow, examples of Afrofuturistic fiction , treat time as if it is present and this present represents the ‘now’ moment.
Long Division: An Example of Afrofuturistic Fiction
If this issue of time is taken in Long Division by Kiese Layman, an example of Afrofuturistic fiction, it seems that the same problem occurs with the presentation of time. The first thing is that City, the narrator of the novel, is living in the present which is his ‘now’ movement, but he wants to travel in the future with his beloved Shalaya Crump. Although he does not travel in the future and is still in the ‘now’ moment. Therefore, his fantasy of time travel with Shalaya Crump is not just a fantasy but a reality for him, for he is aware of it. Although it seems a feminine quality of making male partner realize the reality of time as she tells City asking him, “City, I could love you if you helped me change the future dot-dot-dot in a special way” (Layman 20). However, the real City narrates that she always means 1986 or 1990 which is the conundrum of the time whether it is present or past. However, both are certain and aware of it that they are in the ‘now’ moment and living in the non-linear timebound world. It is quite interesting that when City wants to talk about love, she immediately cuts him short saying “I’ am talking about the future” (22). Even two of the MCQs given to City at Hamer for punishment contain the same reference that “Past, present and future exist within you” (16). This ‘now’ moment is present in “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler, too, which is another example of Afrofuturistic fiction.
Case of “Speech Sounds” as Afrofuturistic Fiction
The story “Speech Sounds”also presents this ‘now’ moment of its female character, Rye. In fact, as a teacher of history, she has lost her past in her present moment as she cannot record anything now, but she is still present to see the history such as the incident of the bus driver, Obsidian, and the children. Even if he is able to write or read, this record is meaningless as it would stay with her in the present or ‘now’ moment, and nobody would be able to read it. However, as a professor, she also knows that if a society is to move forward, it should have to work in linear time and not in a non-linear and fluid time where only the ‘now’ moment is important. Therefore, her elation skyrockets when she finds that the children know the language and she can speak too. That is where she thinks that speech sounds can make a future for her in the shape of children to let her escape from this ‘now’ moment. This moment is interestingly captured by a female in Parable of the Sorrow as well.
Although the setting is of the near future California, Butler has woven the thematic strand of the present time into the future time as well as into the past time to bring her readers close to the ‘now’ moment of Lauren Olmina whose current concern is survival. The other issues of religion, environment, and communalism are not the issues of the current region; they are the issues of time and that is the ‘now’ moment as they are happening now. Lauren’s conversation with Joe about the future “You can’t read the future” and then (Butler 47) her dialog of surprise about Donner that he is just a “symbol of the past for us to hold on to as we’re pushed into future” (48). Even why, what, and wherefore of God asked later about Earthseed is part of the time that it does not seem linear and that it is fluid.
Themes in Afrofuturistic Fiction
In short, Afrofuturistic fiction shows time fluid. All the times, past, present and future are bound in the ‘now’ moment. Long Division shows this ‘now’ moment of City through his beloved while Rye in “Speech Sounds” sees this moment through the speech of the children. On the other hand, Lauren sees this moment when talking to Joe and Donner. In short, time’s fluidity becomes a great theme of this type of fiction.
Works Cited
- Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sorrow. New York: ASPECT, 2000.
- . —. “Speech Sounds.” UNL. n. d. https://www.unl.edu/english/docs/englishweek17/engl200-speechsounds.pdf. Accessed 13 May. 2019.
- Layman, Kiese. Long Division. Chicago: BOLDEN, 2013.
Relevant Questions about Issue of Time in Afrofuturistic Fiction
- How do “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler and “Long Division” by Kiese Laymon use Afrofuturistic fiction to explore and redefine the concept of time, particularly in the context of African and African diaspora cultures?
- In Afrofuturistic fiction, such as “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler and “Long Division” by Kiese Laymon, how is the manipulation of time used as a narrative device to address historical trauma, cultural continuity, and the impact of colonialism and slavery?
- What role does the concept of “time travel” or temporal displacement play in Afrofuturistic fiction as seen in works like “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler and “Long Division” by Kiese Laymon, and how does it allow authors to envision alternative pasts, presents, and futures for marginalized communities?
