The Black Imagination, Science Fiction, Futurism and the Speculative

The Black Imagination, Science Fiction, Futurism and the Speculative is a critical collection that covers a broad spectrum of works (literary and cinematic) and issues from a range of writers, directors, and artists who claim the sci-fi, spec fic, Afro-futurist genres. This anthology extends the discursive boundaries of science fiction by examining iconic writers like Octavia Butler, Walter Mosley, and Nalo Hopkinson through the lens of ecofeminist veganism, post-9/11 racial geopolitics and the effect of the computer database on human voice and agency. Contributors expand what the field characterizes as speculative fiction by examining for the first time the vampire tropes present in Audre Lorde's poetry and by tracing her influence on the horror fiction of Jewelle Gomez. The collection moves beyond exploration of literary fiction to study the Afro-futurist representations of Blacks in comic books, in the Star Trek franchise, in African films, and in blockbuster films like Independence Dray, I Robot, and I am Legend.