Decolonising Speculative Fiction in South Africa
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#21 © NASA https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/iotd.html Decolonising Speculative Fiction Postcolonial Studies Association Newsletter June 2018 #21 Table of Contents Editors’ Introduction. Isabelle Hesse and Edward Powell. 4 Articles Living and Dying Countries: Ecocide, Consciousness & Agency in First 7 Nations Futurism. Mykaela Saunders. Indian Fantasy Fiction in English and the Post-Millennial Moment. E. Dawson 10 Varughese. ‘Runaway Cyclone,’ Or: The First Bengali Science Fiction Story. Christin Hoene. 13 ‘Now I prefer to get to the heart of the matter, to not use metaphor’: Hassan Blasim and Iraqi Science Fiction. Sinéad Murphy. 16 Filipino Futures: An Introduction to Philippine Science Fiction. Vida Cruz. 19 Cultural Heritage, Future Vision. Mark Bould. 23 Speculative Liberty ‘with a Slant’: Decolonizing Sovereignty through Irony in Vizenor’s Treaty Shirts. Cathy Covell Waegner. 25 Decolonising Speculative Fiction in South Africa. Alan Muller. 30 The Twisted Mirror: The Postcolonial in Dean Francis Alfar’s ‘L’ Aquilone Du 33 Estrellas.’ Roy Tristan Agustin. PSA Funding Reports A Brief Report on the PSA Convention 2017. Sibendu Chakraborty. 36 On Zapatismo and the Technological Character of Technology. Rodrigo Liceaga Mendoza. 38 PSA Newsletter #21 June 2018 2 2 #21 Table of Contents Book Reviews Genre Fiction of New India: Post-Millennial Receptions of “Weird” Narratives, by 40 E. Dawson Varughese. Reviewed by Sambuddha Jash. So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan. Reviewed by Andrew Stones. 42 Iraq+100: Stories From a Century After the Invasion, edited by Hassan Blasim. Reviewed by Annie Webster. 44 Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, edited by Grace L. Dillon. Reviewed by Rebecca Macklin. 46 PSA News CFP Next PSA Newsletter (#22) 48 PSA Membership 49 Notes 50 PSA Newsletter #21 June 2018 3 3 Editors’ Introduction Isabelle Hesse and Edward Powell We are very excited to write Okorafor won the World recovering histories of SF the editorial for our first special Fantasy Award for her 2010 beyond its hegemonic issue of the PSA newsletter – novel Who Fears Death: look Eurowestern branch, while also Decolonising Speculative out for HBO’s forthcoming reinventing the genre itself by Fiction. We had a fantastic adaptation, to be produced by drawing upon other cultural response to our CFP and George R.R. Martin. The resources and historical received a number of great success of Marvel’s 2018 film experiences; and a subsequent contributions that explore the adaptation of The Black Panther reactionary pushback from the topic of decolonising was unexpected but hugely dominant group. This will speculative fiction (SF) – what encouraging, as Afrofuturism sound all too familiar to that means, how it is happening, found mainstream appeal.[2] scholars of postcolonial and why it should be of interest literature and culture. to postcolonial“Vivamus critics. porta And yet, the producers of Star est sed est.” Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) But there are more SF, of course, isn’t written only were met with thousands of fundamental reasons why the by white people: this has been accusations of promoting decolonisation of SF might be the case ever since the genre’s ‘white genocide’, simply for of particular interest to emergence during the height of casting John Boyega and Lupita postcolonial studies. Consider European imperialism. All too N’yongo in starring roles.[3] Graham Huggan’s description often, though, the history of Meanwhile, the Hugo Awards of the field’s ‘capacity to white SF has overshadowed have faced ‘concerted undertake a critical exploration those of African SF, of South campaigns’ against nominations of the territorial imperatives of Asian SF, of South American SF, that are ‘overtly to the Left’.[4] colonialism, and its frequently and of the many Indigenous SFs. More generally, white SF speculative consideration of remains overrepresented in alternatives to these Beginning with Nalo Hopkinson literature, while in film, imperatives’.[5] The term and Uppinder Mehan’s ground- television, and other visual ‘postcolonialism’ itself – so breaking anthology So Long media, white protagonists maligned for misrepresenting Been Dreaming (2002) the last continue to dominate. the neocolonial present – is twenty-five years have seen speculative, invoking a increasing attention among The reduction of literary possibility that remains academics, cultural history to the contributions of unrealized. Like SF, then, gatekeepers, and mainstream whites; the subsequent postcolonialism is concerned metropolitan audiences to SF overrepresentation of white not just with how the world written from beyond the small voices and imaginations, past currently is, but also what it space of white Euro- and present; a group of writers could be like. America.[1] 2011 saw a notable and critics contesting this milestone, when Nigerian- overrepresentation by Meanwhile, as Okorafor has American author Nnedi noted, SF ‘carries the potential to change the world. Literally. PSA Newsletter #21 June 2018 It has changed the world’ [6]. 4 4 Many of the world-changing technologies developed over Editors’ Introduction Isabelle Hesse anandd Edward Powell to change the world. Literally. have engaged with notions of Olukotun’s novel After the Flare It has changed the world’ [6]. ecocide, consciousness, and (2017) presents a vision of the Many of the world-changing agency. future rooted in Nigerian technologies developed over cultural heritage. the last century were E. Dawson Varughese inspired by SF. The genre has examines SF in India, with Cathy Covell Waegner’s shaped the future, by shaping particular focus on the post- contribution turns to what we imagine the future to millennial novel and its Indigenous SF in a Native be, or what we want it to be – relationship with Indian American context, with a and thus, by extension, the mythology and fantasy. specific focus on irony in Treaty Utopian desires that drive Shirts, Gerald Vizenor’s technological innovation and Christin Hoene’s article speculative novel on the social change. Decolonising SF explores how the first Bengali fortunes of the Constitution of ensures that the futures the SF work – Jagadish Chandra the White Earth Nation genre helps produce aren’t Bose’s short story (CWEN). marked by a grossly unequal ‘Niruddesher Kahini’ (‘Runaway distribution of political, Cyclone’) – brings together Alan Muller considers how economic, and cultural power science fiction and magical the last year has seen SF in that favours whites. realism. South Africa becoming less white; and Roy Tristan The contributions to this Sinéad Murphy considers Agustin examines Dean special issue take up the theme how Iraqi SF images the future Francis Alfar’s short story ‘L’ of decolonising SF in various through the example of a Aquilone Du Estrellas’ (‘The ways: some recover the recent anthology edited by Kite of Stars’) in light of histories of SF beyond its white Hassan Blasim – Iraq+100: postcolonial theory. Eurowestern branch; while Stories from a Century After the The book review section others consider what futures Invasion (2015) – which is also includes reviews of both and alternative presents Indian, reviewed by Annie Webster in general theoretical works as African, Filipino, and Indigenous the book review section of this well as creative anthologies. SF imagine, and how they differ newsletter. Sambuddha Jash’s discussion to those imagined by focuses on E. Dawson Eurowestern writers. Vida Cruz gives us an Varughese’s Genre Fiction of overview of the state of New India: Post-Millenial Mykaela Saunders’s article Philippine science fiction, with a Receptions of “Weird” Narratives gives an overview of SF in an particular focus on its post- (Routledge, 2016), followed by Australian Indigenous context, colonial and post-imperial three reviews of recent and discusses how recent texts history; while Mark Bould anthologies in the field: have engaged with notions of discusses how Nigerian- Andrew Stones shares his ecocide, consciousness, and American Deji Bryce thoughts on Nalo Hopkinson agency. Olukotun’s novel After the Flare and Uppinder Mehan’s So Long PSA Newsletter #21 (2017) presents a vision of the 5 June 2018 Been Dreaming: Postcolonial E. Dawson Varughese future rooted in Nigerian 5 Science Fiction and Fantasy examines SF in India, with cultural heritage. (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004); and Uppinder Mehan’s So Long Beyond (2013); We See a Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Different Frontier: A Postcolonial Literary Inquiry (2016). Science Fiction and Fantasy Speculative Fiction Anthology [2] Milena Mikael-Debass, ‘How (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004); (2013); and Iraq + 100: Stories “Black Panther” is Bringing Annie Webster discusses from a Century After the Invasion Afrofuturism into the th Hassan Blasim’s Iraq+100 (2015). Jessica Langer’s Mainstream’, Vice News, 7 (Comma Press, 2015); and Postcolonialism and Science February 2018 Rebecca Macklin reads Fiction (2009) was an early [https://news.vice.com/en_us/ar Grace Dillon’s Walking the engagement with empire and ticle/437d9j/how-black-panther- Clouds: An Anthology of race in contemporary SF in film, is-bringing-afrofuturism-into- Indigenous Science Fiction literature, and videogames; the-mainstream] (University of Arizona Press, around the same time, John [3] Ira Madison III, ‘Some 2012) for us. Finally, this issue Rieder’s Colonialism and the White Guys Are Boycotting