The Ancient Future: A Decolonial Odyssey of African Womanhood in Nnedi Okorafor's Comic Book Shuri (Vols. 1&2)

Document Type : Original Article

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Humanities department, College of Language and communication, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Egypt.

10.21608/ttaip.2024.429934

Abstract

Nnedi Okorafor's Shuri (2019) offers a compelling exploration of African womanhood, blending the frameworks of Africana Womanism and Afrofuturism to challenge traditional societal norms and stereotypes about African women. This paper argues that as an African superheroine, Shuri disrupts reductive narratives and envisions a decolonial future where African women reclaim agency, power, and identity. While Okorafor differentiates her term "Africanfuturism" from "Afrofuturism", this study acknowledges that the fictional Wakanda originated in the imagination of white American creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and examines how Okorafor reinvents this world through an Africana lens. Shuri’s narrative illustrates the interconnected struggles of African women on the continent and in the diaspora, as both face systemic imperial, patriarchal, and racial oppression. By situating Africana Womanism within an Afrofuturistic framework, this paper highlights the transformative potential of speculative storytelling to subvert Eurocentric notions of African identity, womanhood, and futurity. Besides, the study underscores the importance of the imaginative resistance and the role of technology and cultural heritage in redefining African womanhood in a postcolonial context.

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