Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2018 Darker Matters: Racial Theorizing through Alternate History, Transhistorical Black Bodies, and Towards a Literature of Black Mecha in the Science Fiction Novels of Steven Barnes Alexander Dumas J. Brickler IV Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DARKER MATTERS: RACIAL THEORIZING THROUGH ALTERNATE HISTORY, TRANSHISTORICAL BLACK BODIES, AND TOWARDS A LITERATURE OF BLACK MECHA IN THE SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS OF STEVEN BARNES By ALEXANDER DUMAS J. BRICKLER IV A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Alexander Dumas J. Brickler IV defended this dissertation on April 16, 2018. The members of the supervisory committee were: Jerrilyn McGregory Professor Directing Dissertation Delia Poey University Representative Maxine Montgomery Committee Member Candace Ward Committee Member Dennis Moore Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost, I have to give thanks to the Most High. My odyssey through graduate school was indeed a long night of the soul, and without mustard-seed/mountain-moving faith, this journey would have been stymied a long time before now. Profound thanks to my utterly phenomenal dissertation committee as well, and my chair, Dr. Jerrilyn McGregory, especially. From the moment I first perused the syllabus of her class on folkloric and speculative traditions of Black authors, I knew I was going to have a fantastic experience working with her. And I was right! It has been nothing short of phenomenal. Whether discussing Black literature, women in hip hop, or zombies, the academic and personal validation of my “Blerd” (Black nerd) tendencies that I got from her has made my time at Florida State immeasurably better. And the other members of my committee are likewise deserving of thanks. Sincere appreciation to Drs. Maxine Montgomery, Dennis Moore, Candace Ward, for being such compelling influences on my academic and professional development. I have fond memories of classes with each of them, and their willingness to not simply teach, but to share opportunities for personal and professional development. It was in Dr. Moore’s American Literature reading group that I first had the opportunity to speak on Afrofuturism in an academic setting. Dr. Ward’s Caribbean literature classes were instrumental in providing a deeper sense of what Diaspora means. And Dr. Montgomery’s Toni Morrison seminar remains legendary in my mind. Additional thanks to Dr. Delia Poey as the university representative on my committee. Her insights throughout the prelims process proved to be invaluable, and I sincerely appreciated her willingness to be a part of my doctoral journey. iii Special thanks to the man himself, Steven Barnes, for taking time to speak with me directly on February 3, 2018. The fact that he was willing to carve an hour out of his remarkably busy schedule producing works of fiction and coordinating webinars on Afrofuturism with Tananarive Due to share his wisdom about things both literary and health related was deeply appreciated. Insofar as this project is dedicated to understanding and investigating depictions of Black masculinity, I would be remiss in not thanking the various Black men in my life who have served as mentors, role-models, and dispensers of various forms of paternal wisdom. Deepest and most sincere thanks to my Morehouse College cross-country/track and field coach, Willie Hill; to my mentor and major professor at Florida A&M University, Dr. David H. Jackson Jr.; to my father- in-law, Cecil Rolle; to my grandfathers, David Petty and, Dr. Alexander Brickler, II; my host of uncles; and most of all, to my father, Dr. A. J. Brickler, III. Each of these were vital in my education and instilling in me a strong sense of selfhood, social awareness, and desire towards that loftiest of ideals: to be a good and decent man. Additional thanks must be directed toward Drs. Jocelyn Jackson, Augstine Konneh, Daniel Klenbort, and my various other professors, classmates, and track and field teammates at Morehouse College. The proverb that defines the experiences at the institution is that “Morehouse holds a crown above her student’s head that she challenges them to grow tall enough to wear.” I hope that, by standing atop this tome of a dissertation at least, I will have finally met that intellectual, moral, and spiritual height requirement. Thanks also to everyone in Minneapolis. A big thank you to the entire faculty in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures: Drs. Joe Allen, Maki Isaka, Simona Sawney, Michael Molasky, and all the rest; likewise to my colleagues: Jesse, Mike, Devon, Farrah, Blair, and everyone else. Further thanks to the faculty in the African American Studies Department: iv Drs. Keletso Atkins, Rose Brewer, Yuichiro Onishi, and everyone else. Further, further thanks to my friends, colleagues, and associates in the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association (BGAPSA). Thanks to my dear friends in the University’s Office of Equity and Diversity’s Community of Scholars Program. And very, very special thanks to Dr. Karla Padron—friend, mentor, and scholar/activist par excellence—who knows better than anyone that I absolutely would not have made it at the U for as long as I did without her! Big thanks to everyone at FAMU. Everyone I had the pleasure to meet and work with there was as much a direct mentor as a teacher, and I grew tremendously as a scholar there. Thanks to basically the entire History Department: Drs. Darius Young, Reginald Ellis, Kyle Eidahl, Titus Brown, Ameenah Shakir, and Will Guzman. Thanks to my friends and mentors in the English Department as well: Drs. April McCray, Naima Ford, and Natalie King-Pedroso. And huge thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Dawson at the Meek-Eaton Southeastern Regional Black Archives, who has believed in me, since I was a high school volunteer there. Finally, a big thanks to Mrs. Althemese Barnes and the various folks I met and worked with at the John G. Riley House and Museum through my internship there as a student at FAMU. Finally, assorted thanks to friends and family from all over the country (and the world, I suppose). My church family at Trinity United Presbyterian. My KCP International Japanese Language School friends and colleagues. To the various family (and “family”) members who never stopped believing in me: Alana and Aidan, Christy, Jeff and Sarah, Mikayla, Sakinah, Adam and Courtney (and little Cora!), Mimmo and Sarah, Jonathan and Taneika, and Jake, Preston, and Maya. To my aunties and uncles. To Courtney, Melanie, Adam and the rest of my in-laws. To my grandparents (who both keep me humble and lift me up!). v And special thanks to my Brothers and Sistahs at FSU, where having a critical mass of Black graduate students was absolutely vital to this process. Kenny, Tyreek, Cocoa, Yolanda, Kendra, Candace, and Janelle, none of this would have been possible without you all, and I love the bond that we have! Penultimately, thank you so much to my Mama, Mildred, and to my brother David. I love you both, and your lifelong support has meant the world, and look! I just about made it! Lastly, and most importantly, more thanks than is possible to convey in the written word to my wife, Jenifer. Doc, I love you, and thanks for helping me to realize this dream. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ viii 1. FOUNDATIONS OF STEVEN BARNES’S AFROFUTURIST SPACETIME SOMATIC ....1 2. TO FLIP THE SCRIPT: LION’S BLOOD , ALTERNATE HISTORY, AND NARRATIVES OF COUNTERMEMORY IN THE CREATION OF SACETIMES FOR BLACK AMERICAN BODIES .........................................................................................................................................33 3. ETERNAL DARKNESS: NARRATING THE TRANSHISTORICAL BLACK BODY IN BLOOD BROTHERS .....................................................................................................................81 4. APOCALYPSE NOW: IRON SHADOWS AND AFROASIAN BODIES AS HISTORICAL TEXTS .........................................................................................................................................108 5. SOUL IN THE SHELL: THE AUBRY KNIGHT TRILOGY, BLACK MECHA, AND CYBERPUNK INVESTIGATIONS OF TECHNOLOGICAL BLACK BODIES AS SITES OF RECURSIVE HISTORICAL ENACTION .................................................................................134 6. PANAFRICA FOREVER: FIREDANCE, BLACK PANTHER, AND BLACK MECHA’S AFROASIAN AFROFUTURISM ...............................................................................................179 APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................213 References ....................................................................................................................................223 Biographical Sketch .....................................................................................................................231 vii ABSTRACT This