Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
ンネディ・オコラフォー: 未来のアフリカを想像するSF
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
伝統的な家族の娘が
university in the galaxy,
大学に入学を認められたら
決心をしたら?
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
一節を読みます
and said a silent prayer.
無言で祈った
to do if it didn't work.
まったく分からない
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
もし入り込んだら
I had to restart it over and over
何度も何度も 再起動して
please not now," I thought.
お願いだから」 私は祈った
and I held my breath.
固唾を呑んで見守る私
平たくて黒い ちっぽけな機械は
slowly rose from the sand.
ゆっくり立ち上がる
the baggage-lifting force.
荷物を持ち上げる力を出した
to the shuttle on time.
with my index finger and knelt down,
人差し指で拭って膝をつき
red clay into it.
地面に擦りつけた
along the dark desert road.
10分ほど歩くことになる
I would make it there on time.
遅れずに着くだろう
I paused and shut my eyes.
目をつぶる
was pressing on my shoulders.
両肩に重くのしかかっていた
part of myself for the first time
私は逆らおうとしていた
and they had no clue.
誰にも気づかれはしない
except for my younger sister and brother,
妹と弟を除いて 皆 私より年上だが
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
両親は露ほども想像しなかったろう
what I'd done and where I was going,
皆が知る頃には
would growl to each other
to set foot in their home again.
もう二度と戻らないと悟って
who lived down the road
4人のおばと2人のおじは
the entire bloodline.
傷つけたことかと
to the transporter,
トランスポーターに言い
around each ankle jingled noisily,
うるさく鳴ったけれど
地面を踏みつけた
when I didn't touch it.
手を触れないのが一番だ
sweat forming on my brow.
額に汗が浮かぶ
sitting atop the force field a shove.
2つの大きなスーツケースを押してみる
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
私はほっとため息をつく
遠い未来のアフリカ
of the Himba ethnic group.
数学の天才です
into a university on another planet,
入学を認められ
of her people in her veins,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
皮膚に染みついたまま
she becomes not other, but more.
「別の何か」ではなく 「より多く」になります
and then becoming more
「より多く」になるという観念は
核心の1つです
a different type of science fiction.
別のタイプのSFです
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
違いを説明するには
intelligent creatures on earth.
最も知能の発達した生物の1つです
from a different evolutionary line,
別の系統から進化したもので
of various forms of science fiction.
同じことが言えます
societies, social issues,
社会問題のこと
what's within our planet.
地球でのこと
and most effective forms
表現形式となるのは
「もしこうだったなら?」
has the same ancestral bloodline,
同じ祖先を持つわけではなく
science fiction,
中心になるのは白人男性という
ジュール・ヴェルヌ
Robert Heinlein, etc.
ロバート・ハインラインだけではないのです
wrote science fiction?
SFを書いたらどうなるか?
read much science fiction.
私はあまりSFを読みませんでした
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
外来者を異質と見なす物語です
who looked like me in those narratives.
そこには見当たりませんでした
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
ビンティは地球を去ります
a line of classic space opera narratives,
たどって得たのではなく
leave the planet on her own terms.
見たいという欲求から生まれました
had different ancestors,
古典的なSFとは違い
Nigerian immigrant parents
両親のもとに生まれ
of classic science fiction.
that led me to write science fiction.
私に流れるナイジェリア人の血です
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
家族で訪れたナイジェリアでの経験です
with my family since I was very young.
家族とナイジェリアへ旅しました
発想を得たのです
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
ナイジェリアが舞台です
マジック・リアリズムとファンタジーが主で
cosmologies and spiritualities.
宇宙観や スピリチュアリティへの愛でした
the role of technology in Nigeria:
気づくようになりました
ケーブルテレビや携帯電話
「ナイジェリアからの手紙」詐欺集団
to my cousin's desktop computer
つながっている小型の発電機―
was always going on and off.
不安定だからですけど
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
とても興味深く思えました
gave birth to stories.
やがて物語が生まれました
開け始めたのです
エイリアンが来たら?
from my novel, "Lagoon."
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
まさにそこから始まったのだ
アフリカの ここで
had portable, chargeable,
充電して携帯できる装置―
communicating, connected devices,
通信できる 接続された装置を持っていたから
and posted online in some way,
いかにしてか 何らかの形でオンラインに
is connected like a spider's web.
クモの巣のようにつながっている
dominated every international news source,
世界に配信されるニュースの大方を占めた
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
円と ピラミッドと 台形の建物
懐かしい記憶の中に
past, present and future.
過去 現在 未来の中に
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
力強い精霊たちの中に
of the people of Lagos.
心の中に
the supreme spider artist,
ウディデの言葉です
beneath the city of Lagos,
耳をすませ 見解を述べ
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
who was the size of a house
家ほどの大きさがあり
the past, present and future
物語を織り上げているのですが
and be a part of the story.
物語の一部となる決意を固めます
ウディデのように
いつでも姿を現します
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
社会政治的変化の源となります
science fiction can be a will to power.
力への意思となり得るのです
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