“Para sobreviver, deixe o passado ensinar”: Identidades Diaspóricas e Afrofuturismo em A Parábola do Semeador e A Parábola dos Talentos, de Octavia Butler e Binti, de Nnedi Okorafor

Abstract

Under the scope of discussions concerning Black literature, Afrofuturism emerges as a movement characterized by the centrality given to works authored by Black writers about the future of Black individuals. Coined by Mark Dery in 1994, the movement has been expanding as it gains academic recognition. From this perspective, Afrofuturism is grounded in the premise of a technological future, permeated by critiques of the present that engage with the past. In this sense, interpretations regarding a potential "predictive" role of Afrofuturism are important in envisioning a world where Black people occupy a prominent position. Through dystopian and utopian contexts, one questions the possibilities of futures and investigates the pathways to imagine a future that could be worse than the historical adversities faced by Black populations, such as colonialism and racism. Filled with critiques that go through the climatic situation and the sociopolitical chaos, Afrofuturism emerges as a movement of reflections about the act of dreaming. In this bias, this study examines the concepts surrounding the Afrofuturist movement, seeking to reflect on its historical foundations and its initial seeds, such as the Harlem Renaissance, leading up to the current landscape of Afrofuturist literature. In addition, it addresses issues related to ancestry, utopia, and the dystopian genre. In this context, it seeks to establish a comparison between the Earthseed duology, composed of the books Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998) written by Octavia Butler, and the Binti trilogy (2015, 2017, and 2018) written by Nnedi Okorafor. Through the intertwining of the novels, the study reflects on the female protagonism embodied by Lauren Oya Olamina and Binti Ekeopara Zuzu Dambu Kaipka Medusa Enyi Zinariya New Fish of Namibe. Furthermore, it examines how the Earthseed religion functions as a guiding thread in the Parables novels, paralleling the central role that ancestry and fantasy play in understanding Binti. Both narratives feature characters who transcend identity barriers and stereotypes in diasporic contexts, thus, discussing the importance of the imagined futures provided by Afrofuturist dreams.