Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
نيدي أوكورافور: قصص الخيال العلمي التي تصوّر مستقبل إفريقيا
Nnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
from a traditional family
university in the galaxy,
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
"بنتي"، وهي رواية صغيرة:
and said a silent prayer.
to do if it didn't work.
سأفعل إن لم يفلح الأمر.
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
I had to restart it over and over
علي إعادة تشغيلها مرة بعد مرة
please not now," I thought.
and I held my breath.
الناقلة في الرمال.
slowly rose from the sand.
من الرمال التي علقت فيها.
the baggage-lifting force.
من إنتاج قوة الدفع اللازمة.
to the shuttle on time.
في الوقت المحدد.
with my index finger and knelt down,
red clay into it.
المملوء برائحة العرق.
along the dark desert road.
على طريق الصحراء المظلم.
I would make it there on time.
إن استمرت وسيلة النقل تعمل.
I paused and shut my eyes.
was pressing on my shoulders.
part of myself for the first time
في داخلي لأول مرة
and they had no clue.
ولم يكن لعائلتي أدنى فكرة.
except for my younger sister and brother,
عدا أخي وأختي الصغيرين،
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
ولو بعد مليون سنة.
what I'd done and where I was going,
وإلى أين كنت ذاهبةً،
would growl to each other
to set foot in their home again.
قدماي منزلهما مجددًا.
who lived down the road
الذين يعيشون في نهاية الشارع
the entire bloodline.
to the transporter,
around each ankle jingled noisily,
حول كاحليَّ بشكل مزعج،
when I didn't touch it.
الناقلة بدون أن ألمسها.
sweat forming on my brow.
والعرق يملؤ جبهتي.
sitting atop the force field a shove.
الموضوعتين في أعلى مجال للقوة ودفعتهما.
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
of the Himba ethnic group.
into a university on another planet,
of her people in her veins,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
وحتي أرضهم كما يبدو على جلدها،
she becomes not other, but more.
"بنتي" الكثير إليها بدلا من تغييرها.
and then becoming more
في الحركة المستقبلية الأفريقية،
a different type of science fiction.
نوعًا مختلفًا من الخيال العلمي.
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
الكلاسيكي والمستقبلية الأفريقية بدقة،
intelligent creatures on earth.
على كوكب الأرض.
from a different evolutionary line,
من سلالة متطورة أُخرى،
of various forms of science fiction.
أشكال الخيال العلمي الأخرى.
societies, social issues,
والاجتماعية، ومشاكلها،
what's within our planet.
and most effective forms
أشكال الكتابة السياسية
السؤال "ماذا لو؟"
has the same ancestral bloodline,
كله من سلالة واحدة،
science fiction,
Robert Heinlein, etc.
و(روبرت هاينلاين)، إلخ.
wrote science fiction?
من أصول نيجيرية قصة خيال علمي؟
read much science fiction.
الخيال العلمي في نشأتي.
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
ورؤية الأجانب على أنهم آخرون.
who looked like me in those narratives.
من شخصيات الحكاية.
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
علي يد المخلوقات الفضائية.
a line of classic space opera narratives,
(أوبرا الفضاء) الكلاسيكة،
leave the planet on her own terms.
عن الكوكب بخاطرها.
had different ancestors,
إلى سلالة مختلفة،
Nigerian immigrant parents
نيجيريين مهاجرين،
of classic science fiction.
that led me to write science fiction.
دفعني لكتابة الخيال العلمي.
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
إلى نيجيريا في أواخر التسعينات.
with my family since I was very young.
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
عن الواقعية السحرية والفنتازيا
cosmologies and spiritualities.
المعهودة في أفريقيا الغربية.
the role of technology in Nigeria:
الخلوية في القرية،
to my cousin's desktop computer
عمي موصل بمولد صغير
was always going on and off.
بما يكفي من الغرابة
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
النيجيريون أنها طبيعية.
gave birth to stories.
إلى لاغوس في نيجيريا؟
from my novel, "Lagoon."
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
للفوضى الحاصلة في لاغوس،
في قارة أفريقيا هنا.
had portable, chargeable,
أجهزة نقالة تُشحن
communicating, connected devices,
and posted online in some way,
على الإنترنت بطريقة ما،
is connected like a spider's web.
ببعضه كشبكة العنكبوت.
dominated every international news source,
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
التواصل الاجتماعية وأي أشكال أخرى.
عن الكون الملطخ بالوحل.
past, present and future.
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
of the people of Lagos.
the supreme spider artist,
beneath the city of Lagos,
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
إلى مدينة لاغوس.
who was the size of a house
الذي بلغ حجمه حجم منزلٍ
the past, present and future
and be a part of the story.
الخيال العلمي الأفريقي،
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
تكنولوجية، وسياسية اجتماعية، وفكرية.
science fiction can be a will to power.
بالنسبة للأفارقة، هو إرادة القوة.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nnedi Okorafor - Science fiction writerNnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults.
Why you should listen
Nnedi Okorafor is an award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism. Born in the US to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor is known for weaving African cultures into creative settings and memorable characters. Her books include Lagoon (a British Science Fiction Association Award finalist for best novel), Who Fears Death (a World Fantasy Award winner for best novel), Kabu Kabu (a Publisher's Weekly best book for Fall 2013), Akata Witch (an Amazon.com best book of the year), Zahrah the Windseeker (winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature) and The Shadow Speaker (a CBS Parallax Award winner).
Her 2016 novel The Book of Phoenix is an Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist, while the first book in the Binti Trilogy won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella. Her children’s book Chicken in the Kitchen won an Africana Book Award. The final installment of the Binti Trilogy, titled The Night Masquerade, will be released in September 2017, and the sequel to Akata Witch (titled Akata Warrior) is was published in October 2017. Meanwhile, her book Who Fears Death has been optioned by HBO, with Game of Thrones' George R.R. Martin as executive producer.
Okorafor is a full professor at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY).
Nnedi Okorafor | Speaker | TED.com