Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
Nnedi Okorafor: HIstórias de ficção científica que imaginam uma futura África
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
de uma família tradicional,
university in the galaxy,
universidade da galáxia,
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
da minha trilogia "Binti":
and said a silent prayer.
e fiz uma prece em silêncio.
to do if it didn't work.
do que fazer se ele não funcionasse.
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
ou, mais provavelmente, um grão de areia,
I had to restart it over and over
era necessário reiniciá-lo várias vezes
please not now," I thought.
and I held my breath.
e segurei minha respiração.
como um amuleto,
slowly rose from the sand.
the baggage-lifting force.
para levantar a bagagem.
to the shuttle on time.
with my index finger and knelt down,
com meu dedo indicador e me ajoelhei,
red clay into it.
de cheiro doce nele.
along the dark desert road.
pela estrada escura e deserta.
I would make it there on time.
eu chegaria a tempo.
I paused and shut my eyes.
was pressing on my shoulders.
repousava em meus ombros.
part of myself for the first time
de mim mesma pela primeira vez
and they had no clue.
e ninguém fazia a menor ideia.
except for my younger sister and brother,
exceto meu irmão e minha irmã mais novos,
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
que eu faria algo assim.
what I'd done and where I was going,
o que eu havia feito e para onde ia,
would growl to each other
rosnariam um para o outro
to set foot in their home again.
minha entrada em casa.
who lived down the road
que viviam na mesma rua
the entire bloodline.
toda nossa linhagem.
to the transporter,
dos tornozelos balançaram ruidosamente,
around each ankle jingled noisily,
funcionava melhor quando eu não o tocava.
when I didn't touch it.
sweat forming on my brow.
o suor se formando na minha testa.
sitting atop the force field a shove.
grandes sobre o campo de força.
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
e respirei novamente com alívio.
estava do meu lado".
num futuro distante na África,
of the Himba ethnic group.
do grupo étnico Himba.
into a university on another planet,
de um outro planeta,
of her people in her veins,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
e até pelo solo na própria pele,
she becomes not other, but more.
ela se torna não outro, mas mais.
and then becoming more
e então se tornar mais
a different type of science fiction.
de um tipo diferente de ficção científica.
clássica e afro-futurismo fica mais clara
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
mais inteligentes da Terra.
intelligent creatures on earth.
from a different evolutionary line,
veio de uma linha evolucionária diferente,
of various forms of science fiction.
das várias formas da ficção científica.
societies, social issues,
e questões sociais,
o que há dentro do nosso planeta.
what's within our planet.
and most effective forms
melhores e mais efetivas
has the same ancestral bloodline,
tem a mesma linhagem ancestral,
science fiction,
de Isaac Asimov, Júlio Verne,
Robert Heinlein, etc.
Robert Heinlein, etc.
wrote science fiction?
escrevesse ficção científica?
read much science fiction.
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
e que veem alienígenas como os outros.
who looked like me in those narratives.
parecido comigo nessas narrativas.
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
educação com extraterrestres.
para escrever essa história
a line of classic space opera narratives,
de óperas espaciais clássicas,
leave the planet on her own terms.
africana deixar o planeta a seu modo.
had different ancestors,
tinha ancestrais diferentes:
Nigerian immigrant parents
of classic science fiction.
científica clássica.
that led me to write science fiction.
que me levou a escrever ficção científica.
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
para a Nigéria no fim dos anos 1990.
with my family since I was very young.
para a Nigéria desde muito pequena.
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
que escrevi teve lugar na Nigéria.
realismo mágico e fantasia,
cosmologies and spiritualities.
tradicionais da África Ocidental.
the role of technology in Nigeria:
da tecnologia na Nigéria:
to my cousin's desktop computer
ao computador do meu primo,
was always going on and off.
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
a maioria dos nigerianos via como normal.
gave birth to stories.
gerando histórias.
a Lagos, na Nigéria?
from my novel, "Lagoon."
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
ao grande caos que reinava em Lagos,
aparelhos portáteis, recarregáveis,
had portable, chargeable,
communicating, connected devices,
tuitantes, comunicantes e conectados,
and posted online in some way,
era gravado e postado on-line,
is connected like a spider's web.
está conectado como uma teia de aranha.
dominated every international news source,
dominaram as notícias internacionais,
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
sociais, círculo, pirâmide e trapézio.
past, present and future.
do passado, do presente e do futuro.
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
e ancestrais que viviam em Lagos.
of the people of Lagos.
do povo de Lagos.
the supreme spider artist,
a suprema aranha-artista,
beneath the city of Lagos,
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
de extraterrestres vindo a Lagos.
who was the size of a house
que era do tamanho de uma casa
the past, present and future
o passado, o presente e o futuro,
and be a part of the story.
africano flui profundo,
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
que vai inspirar.
science fiction can be a will to power.
pode significar um desejo de poder.
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