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DA 1 Eva Okonofua 0608434 DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Postkoloniale Speculative Fiction und Afrika. Intersektionen und Interaktionen bei Nnedi Okorafor“ Verfasserin Eva-Maria Okonofua angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2013 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 390 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Afrikanistik Betreuer: emer.o.Prof. Dr. Norbert Cyffer Danksagung Ich möchte mich an dieser Stelle bei allen bedanken, die mich während der Anfertigung dieser Diplomarbeit unterstützt und motiviert haben. Ganz besonders gilt dieser Dank emer.o.Prof. Dr. Norbert Cyffer und Dr. Anni Gottschlig-Ogidan, die meine Arbeit und somit auch mich betreut haben. Vielen Dank für die Geduld und Motivation. Ein herzli- cher Dank gilt meinen Freundinnen und Freunden, meinem Mann, meinem Vater und meinen Geschwistern, die mir immer zuversichtlich zur Seite gestanden sind und mich unterstützt und angespornt haben. Inhaltsverzeichnis 2 Inhaltsverzeichnis Inhaltsverzeichnis ........................................................................................................... 2 1 Einleitung ............................................................................................................. 4 2 Was ist Speculative Fiction? ............................................................................. 10 2.1 Science Fiction .................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Fantasy ................................................................................................................. 17 2.3 Utopie, Dystopie, alternative Welten und Cyberpunk ......................................... 18 2.4 Magischer Realismus ........................................................................................... 19 3 Speculative Fiction und Afrika ......................................................................... 21 3.1 Speculative Fiction aus Afrika ............................................................................ 22 3.2 Länderüberblick ................................................................................................... 25 3.3 Sonderfall Südafrika ............................................................................................ 29 3.4 Dystopische Literatur und Alternativweltgeschichten ........................................ 30 3.5 Afrofuturismus - Speculative Fiction der afrikanischen Diaspora ...................... 32 4 Speculative Fiction und (Post-)Kolonialismus ................................................ 37 4.1 Kolonialismus und Speculative Fiction ............................................................... 38 4.2 Das kritische Potential postkolonialer Speculative Fiction ................................. 44 5 Intersektionen und Interaktionen postkolonialer Speculative Fiction bei Nnedi Okorafor .................................................................................................. 49 5.1 Nnedi Okorafor - Biographie ............................................................................... 49 5.2 Zahrah the Windseeker , The Shadow Speaker , Who Fears Death und Akata Witch .................................................................................................................... 51 5.3 Unterdrückung und Widerstand in Form und Text ............................................. 55 5.3.1 Formen der Unterdrückung im Text .................................................................... 56 5.3.2 Widerstand durch Aneignung .............................................................................. 58 5.3.3 Widerstand durch Intertextualität ........................................................................ 59 5.4 Geschlecht und Körper ........................................................................................ 62 5.4.1 Mädchen- und Frauenrollen ................................................................................ 63 5.4.2 Weibliche Beschneidung in Who Fears Death ................................................... 65 5.5 Wissen und Wissensvermittlung ......................................................................... 67 5.5.1 Technologie als Element der Science Fiction ..................................................... 68 5.5.2 Sprache und Wissensvermittlung ........................................................................ 70 5.6 Speculative Fiction und "Otherness" ................................................................... 76 5.6.1 Das Konzept des "Anderen" in Speculative Fiction ............................................ 77 Inhaltsverzeichnis 3 5.6.2 Der Umgang mit "Otherness" bei Nnedi Okorafor .............................................. 78 6 Zusammenfassung und Schlussfolgerungen ................................................... 82 Literaturverzeichnis ..................................................................................................... 87 Anhang .......................................................................................................................... 93 A.1 Abstract Deutsch ..................................................................................................... 93 A.2 Abstract Englisch .................................................................................................... 93 A.3 Lebenslauf ............................................................................................................... 94 1 Einleitung 4 1. Einleitung „Isn’t realist fiction enough?” entgegnete die nigerianische Autorin Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie auf Uppinder Mehans Frage nach nigerianischer Speculative Fiction 1 jenseits von Amos Tutuola oder Ben Okri während eines Interviews 2010 2. Tatsächlich scheint spekulative Literatur, also Science Fiction, Fantasy, Cyberpunk u.ä., auf den ersten Blick nicht zu Afrika zu passen, das lange Zeit als geschichtsloser Kontinent ohne Zukunft betrachtet wurde und dessen Bevölkerung regelmäßig von humanitären Kata- strophen, Bürgerkriegen und Hungersnöten heimgesucht wird. Die amerikanisch- nigerianische Schriftstellerin Nnedi Okorafor wagt es dennoch: In Zahrah the Wind- seeker , The Shadow Speaker , Who Fears Death und Akata Witch verbindet sie Konzep- te der Speculative Fiction mit afrikanischen und postkolonialen Themen. Um das Verhältnis zwischen Speculative Fiction und Afrika zu verstehen, ist es zu- nächst notwendig, die koloniale Vergangenheit zu betrachten. Wesentliche Konzepte des Kolonialismus waren der oder die Andere und das fremde Land („the other/the stranger“ und „the strange land“). Konstruierte Gegensätze (Kolonisatoren-Kolonisierte, zivilisiert-wild, entwickelt-unterentwickelt, rational-emotional,…) dienten zur Definie- rung der eigenen Identität. Kolonialismus sei in Bezug auf Science Fiction „part of the genre’s texture, a persistent, important component of its displaced ref- erences to history, its engagement in ideological production and its construction of the possible and the imaginable“ (Rieder 2008: 15). Im Postkolonialismus werden kulturellen Dimensionen des Imperialismus und Kolonia- lismus analysiert und Äußerungen von Erfahrungen wie Unterdrückung, Widerstand, Geschlecht, Migration etc. in post-kolonialen Kontexten untersucht. Imperialismus und Kolonialismus werden dabei als integraler Bestandteil westlicher Geschichte und Kultur verstanden. Diese fundamentalen Konzepte stellen auch die zentralen Mythen der Speculative Fiction, wie „the other/the stranger/the alien“ (im doppelten Sinne!) oder „the strange land“ (in diesem Fall Planeten, Sonnensysteme, Parallelwelten o.ä.). Wie im Kolonialismus werden unbekannte Welten im Kampf um Ressourcen gewaltsam erobert und der Widerstand geht dabei von einem unbekannten Gegenüber aus. Specu- lative Fiction, die oft in anderen Welten und noch öfter in der Zukunft spielt, ist auch 1 Im Deutschen wird Speculative Fiction häufig mit Fantastik/Phantastik übersetzt. Um Verwechslungen mit dem Genre Fantasy zu vermeiden, bleibe ich bei Speculative Fiction. 2 Mehan, Uppinder (2011): Introduction to Focus: The Other Sci-Fi. In: American Book Review 32 (2), 3. 1 Einleitung 5 immer ein Abbild gegenwärtiger Verhältnisse. Marginalisierte Menschen spielen häufig keine oder eine untergeordnete Rolle. John Rieder nennt das in der Einleitung zu Colo- nialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction „the critical potential of science fiction“ (Rieder 2008: 13): Science Fiction entmystifiziere zwar die koloniale Betrachtungs- weise nicht oder nur teilweise, könne aber dazu beitragen, den Blick wieder zurück auf die Kolonisatoren zu bringen. In diesem Spannungsfeld könne eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem diskursiven Rahmen von wissenschaftlicher Wahrheit, Moralvorstellungen und kultureller Hegemonie stattfinden (Rieder 2008: 10). Die Begriffe Science Fiction, Fantasy und andere verwandte Genres, die unter dem Konzept Speculative Fiction zusammengefasst sind, werden in den folgenden Kapiteln näher erklärt. Der Begriff Speculative Fiction wurde deshalb gewählt, weil Nnedi Oko- rafors Texte Elemente verschiedener spekulativer Genre enthalten. Dabei gilt es zu beachten, dass über ein Genre zu sprechen bedeutet, über das System dieses Genre zu sprechen. Um ein Genre zu verstehen, müsse man sich die Praktiken ansehen, die die Ähnlichkeiten dieser Texte hervorrufen und die Motive hinter diesen Praktiken hinter- fragen (Rieder 2008: 18). Postkoloniale Literatur ist Literatur, die akademisch hoch geschätzt wird und die Anspielungen und Wissen über bestimmte Dinge voraussetzt. Die akademische Ausei- nandersetzung
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