Afrofuturism, artistic and
cultural movement that is based on the wedding of African diasporic themes with modern
technology and elements of science fiction and fantasy. The term is generally credited to
cultural historian Mark Dery who introduced it in 1993. Afrofuturism draws on traditional
African imagery and mythology and reimagines it in the context of contemporary society. The
works of novelists Samuel R. Delany and Octavia Butler, artists Jean-Michel
Basquiat and photographer Renee Cox, musicians like Sun Ra
, George Clinton , and Janelle Monáe, and comic book and film
characters like Black Panther all reflect different aspects of this movement. In 2016, the
Center for Afrofuturist Studies was established in Iowa City, Ia., as a place for artists to
explore and create new works in the style.
See Y. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture
(2013), R. Anderson and C.E. Jones, eds., Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of
Astro-Blackness (2015); I. Lavender III and L. Yaszek, eds., Literary
Afrofuturism in the Twenty-First Century (2020); W. Sites, Sun Ra's Chicago:
Afrofuturism and the City (2020).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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