Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
Nnedi Okorafor: Storie di fantascienza che immaginano una futura Africa
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
di famiglia tradizionale
university in the galaxy,
più prestigiosa della galassia,
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
della mia trilogia di romanzi "Binti":
and said a silent prayer.
e ho recitato una preghiera silenziosa.
to do if it didn't work.
se non avesse funzionato.
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
più probabilmente, un granello di sabbia,
I had to restart it over and over
dovevo continuare a riaccenderlo
please not now," I thought.
and I held my breath.
io trattenni il respiro.
slowly rose from the sand.
e lentamente emerse dalla sabbia.
sollevò i bagagli.
the baggage-lifting force.
to the shuttle on time.
e mi inginocchiai,
with my index finger and knelt down,
red clay into it.
dal sapore dolciastro.
along the dark desert road.
sulla cupa strada desertica.
I would make it there on time.
sarei arrivata in tempo.
I paused and shut my eyes.
e chiusi gli occhi.
was pressing on my shoulders.
il peso di tutta la mia vita.
part of myself for the first time
and they had no clue.
e loro non avevano idea.
except for my younger sister and brother,
tutti più vecchi di me,
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
non avrebbero mai immaginato
what I'd done and where I was going,
che avevo fatto e dove andavo,
would growl to each other
avrebbero brontolato
to set foot in their home again.
rimesso piede a casa.
who lived down the road
che vivevano in fondo alla strada
the entire bloodline.
l'intera famiglia.
to the transporter,
al trasportatore,
around each ankle jingled noisily,
intorno alla caviglia tintinnavano,
when I didn't touch it.
funzionava meglio se non lo toccavo.
sweat forming on my brow.
con il sudore sulla fronte.
sitting atop the force field a shove.
in cima al campo di forza.
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
e tirai un sospiro di sollievo.
era dalla mia parte.
of the Himba ethnic group.
del gruppo etnico Himba.
into a university on another planet,
su un altro pianeta
of her people in her veins,
del suo popolo nelle vene,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
anche della terra sulla pelle,
she becomes not other, but more.
non diventa un'altra, ma di più.
and then becoming more
e poi diventare, di più
dell'Afrofuturismo,
a different type of science fiction.
un diverso tipo di fantascienza.
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
tra fantascienza classica e Afrofuturismo
intelligent creatures on earth.
più intelligenti della Terra.
from a different evolutionary line,
si è evoluta lungo linee diverse,
of various forms of science fiction.
di varie forme di fantascienza.
societies, social issues,
what's within our planet.
cosa c'è all'interno del nostro pianeta.
and most effective forms
più grandi e più efficaci
has the same ancestral bloodline,
ha le stesse origini ancestrali,
science fiction,
Robert Heinlein, etc.
Robert Heinlein, ecc.
wrote science fiction?
scrivesse fantascienza?
read much science fiction.
molta fantascienza.
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
colonizzazione
who looked like me in those narratives.
in quei racconti.
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
per farsi istruire dagli extraterrestri.
a line of classic space opera narratives,
dei racconti classici sullo spazio,
leave the planet on her own terms.
lasciare il pianeta a modo suo.
had different ancestors,
Nigerian immigrant parents
nigeriani immigrati
of classic science fiction.
that led me to write science fiction.
mi hanno portata a scrivere fantascienza.
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
in Nigeria alla fine degli anni '90.
with my family since I was very young.
con la mia famiglia da piccola.
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
si svolgeva in Nigeria.
di realismo magico e fantasy,
cosmologies and spiritualities.
dell'Africa Occidentale.
the role of technology in Nigeria:
della tecnologia in Nigeria:
e i cellulari nel villaggio,
to my cousin's desktop computer
al computer di mio cugino
was always going on and off.
mi rendeva abbastanza diversa
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
che molti nigeriani consideravano normali.
gave birth to stories.
ha dato vita a queste storie.
arrivassero a Lagos, in Nigeria?
from my novel, "Lagoon."
del mio romanzo, "Lagoon".
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
del grande casino a Lagos,
had portable, chargeable,
aveva apparecchi portatili, ricaricabili,
communicating, connected devices,
tweettavano, comunicavano,
and posted online in some way,
veniva registrato e pubblicato online,
is connected like a spider's web.
come una ragnatela.
dominated every international news source,
dominavano ogni fonte di informazione,
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
circoli, piramidi e trapezi.
del cosmo terrestre.
past, present and future.
tutti interconnessi.
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
che risiedono a Lagos.
of the people of Lagos.
della gente di Lagos.
the supreme spider artist,
la suprema artista ragno,
beneath the city of Lagos,
sotto la città di Lagos,
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
di un arrivo extraterrestre a Lagos.
who was the size of a house
della dimensione di una casa
the past, present and future
il presente e il futuro,
and be a part of the story.
e di prendere parte alla storia.
è profondo
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
le idee e i cambiamenti socio-politici
science fiction can be a will to power.
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