Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
Nnedi Okorafor: Science Fiction über ein Afrika der Zukunft
Nnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults. Full bio
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from a traditional family
traditioneller Herkunft
university in the galaxy,
der Galaxie angenommen wird,
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
aus meiner "Binti"-Novellen-Trilogie:
and said a silent prayer.
und betete leise.
to do if it didn't work.
wenn es nicht funktionierte?
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
konnte einen Kurzschluss verursachen.
I had to restart it over and over
neustarten, damit er funktionierte.
please not now," I thought.
bitte nicht jetzt", dachte ich.
and I held my breath.
und ich hielt den Atem an.
wie ein Gebetsstein.
slowly rose from the sand.
langsam vom Sand.
the baggage-lifting force.
genug Kraft fürs Gepäck auf.
to the shuttle on time.
with my index finger and knelt down,
Otjize von der Stirn und bückte mich,
den süß-duftenden, roten Lehm hinein.
red clay into it.
along the dark desert road.
entlang der Wüstenstraße vor mir.
I would make it there on time.
konnte ich es schaffen.
I paused and shut my eyes.
und schloss die Augen.
was pressing on my shoulders.
lastete auf meinen Schultern.
part of myself for the first time
trotzte ich meinem traditionellen Ich.
and they had no clue.
und sie hatten keine Ahnung.
except for my younger sister and brother,
außer einer Schwester und einem Bruder,
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
dass ich so etwas tue.
what I'd done and where I was going,
und wohin ich gegangen war,
would growl to each other
würden meine Eltern grummeln,
to set foot in their home again.
ihr Haus betreten dürfte.
who lived down the road
the entire bloodline.
skandalisiert hätte.
to the transporter,
around each ankle jingled noisily,
an meinen Knöcheln klimperten laut,
when I didn't touch it.
ließ ich ihn am besten in Ruhe.
sweat forming on my brow.
Schweiß perlte auf meiner Augenbraue.
sitting atop the force field a shove.
auf dem Stärkefeld zu verschieben.
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
und ich atmete erleichtert auf.
of the Himba ethnic group.
und stammt aus dem Volk der Himba.
into a university on another planet,
hat sie angenommen
of her people in her veins,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
Gebräuchen und sogar ihrem Herkunftsland,
she becomes not other, but more.
wird sie nicht "anders", sondern "mehr".
and then becoming more
und des Mehrwerdens
a different type of science fiction.
von Science Fiction.
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
und Afrofuturismus
mit der Oktopusanalogie.
zu den intelligentesten Tieren der Welt.
intelligent creatures on earth.
from a different evolutionary line,
einer anderen Evolutionslinie,
of various forms of science fiction.
von Science Fiction gilt dasselbe.
societies, social issues,
Gesellschaften, soziale Probleme,
what's within our planet.
unseres Planeten passiert.
and most effective forms
der effektivsten Formen
has the same ancestral bloodline,
kommt aus der gleichen Stammeslinie,
science fiction,
Robert Heinlein, etc.
Robert Heinlein, usw.
wrote science fiction?
Science Fiction schreibt?
read much science fiction.
viel Science Fiction.
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
in denen Ausländer "anders" waren.
who looked like me in those narratives.
sah so aus wie ich.
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
von Aliens ausbilden zu lassen.
a line of classic space opera narratives,
Weltraum-Erzählungen zu folgen,
leave the planet on her own terms.
den Planeten verlässt, weil sie es will.
had different ancestors,
hat andere Vorfahren,
Nigerian immigrant parents
of classic science fiction.
that led me to write science fiction.
die mich Science Fiction schreiben ließ.
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
in Nigeria in den späten 90ern.
with my family since I was very young.
reisten wir immer wieder nach Nigeria.
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
spielte auch in Nigeria.
magischen Realismus und Fantasy,
und Spiritualität der Igbo
cosmologies and spiritualities.
the role of technology in Nigeria:
die Technologie in Nigeria spielte:
to my cousin's desktop computer
am Computer meines Cousins,
was always going on and off.
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
die für Nigerianer normal waren.
gave birth to stories.
in Nigeria, kämen?
from my novel, "Lagoon."
aus meinem Roman "Lagune".
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
das sich in Lagos ereignete,
had portable, chargeable,
tragbare, aufladbare,
communicating, connected devices,
kommunizierende, verknüpfte Geräte hatten,
and posted online in some way,
und auf irgendeine Art online gepostet,
is connected like a spider's web.
ist wie ein Spinnennetz verbunden.
dominated every international news source,
internationale Nachrichtenquelle,
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
Kreise, Pyramiden und Trapeze.
des erdigen Kosmos.
past, present and future.
von Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft.
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
und Ahnen, die in Lagos lebten.
of the people of Lagos.
der Menschen in Lagos.
the supreme spider artist,
des höchsten Spinnenkünstlers.
beneath the city of Lagos,
unter der Stadt Lagos,
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
die nach Lagos kommen.
who was the size of a house
the past, present and future
Gegenwart und Zukunft.
and be a part of the story.
an der Geschichte teilnehmen.
Science Fiction tief im Blut,
sich hervorzuwagen,
die neuen Technologien vor,
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
Veränderungen, die sie inspirieren wird.
science fiction can be a will to power.
Science Fiction der Wille zur Macht sein.
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