Octavia Butler: Mother of Afrofuturism

Abstract

Critic Mark Dery coined the term “Afrofuturism” in 1992. It explores art, aesthetics, philosophy, and even politics through cultural perspectives of colour expressed in cinema, literature, and music. Afrofuturism is also an attitude, a specificity that goes a little beyond mere speculative fiction. Furthermore, from the very first moment, the feminine point of view becomes relevant. Octavia Butler, one of the first female writers to choose science fiction genre, was named “Mother of Afrofuturism” and “Queen Mother of Science Fiction.” She paved the way for many others in the difficult world of literature. Class, gender, power, and race appear in futuristic stories adapted to African American culture. Until her irruption into the literary universe the protagonists were always white, the authors as well. The main purpose of these lines is to demonstrate the Butler’s role in Afrofuturism. In order to obtain my objective, I am going to focus on some texts which I enumerate now: Lilith’s Brood, The Parable of the Sower, The Parable of the Talents, “Bloodchild,” and “The Book of Martha,” all of them translated into Spanish.