Black Sci-Fi/Spec Fic Primer–W. E. B. DuBois

W. E. B. Dubois (1868-1963)

Yes most of us are familiar with DuBois, whether we know him generally because we encountered The Souls of Black Folk somewhere along our educational journey or we have a more intimate knowledge of his life and work for African American socio-economic equality.  Most folks don’t know, however, that DuBois frequently wrote fiction and that those short stories were often of the speculative variety.

DuBois’s speculative titles include “Jesus Christ in Texas” (1920) and “The Comet” (1920) among others.  The stories deal with the same sorts of issues that he tackled in his non-fiction writings, which (very generally, so all of you DuBois scholars don’t lambaste me for my summary of his efforts) questioned the belief systems and the social structures that were/are the foundation for racism and racial inequality.

“The Comet,” for instance, imagines what would happen if there were only two people left on the planet–a black man and a white woman–asking this question: what if all of the infrastructure that props up segregation is torn away, so that people of different races have to encounter each other as human beings–as men and women.  Anybody familiar with the “strange fruit”, which so frequently hung from southern boughs during the early part of the 20th century, immediately understands how dangerous a proposition that might be.

For some samples of DuBois’s speculative offerings, check out Dark Matter:  A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and Dark Matter:  Reading the Bones as a starting point.

Black Sci-Fi/Spec Fic Primer

The first group of authors that I am going to share began publishing more than a century ago.  I bet that’s unexpected.  They were contemporaries and well known for their literary contributions–though not, perhaps, as much for their speculative efforts.

Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932) was known for fiction that explored the nuances of postbellum African American experience with a particular focus on the efficacy of  Reconstruction in providing solutions to the various inequalities that were the legacy of slavery.

He published The Conjure Woman in 1899.  The book, a series of loosely associated short stories, focuses on Uncle Julius McAdoo efforts to dupe and manipulate his northern-born, white employers.  The tales are short and funny, and Uncle Julius is no Uncle Remus–if you catch my drift.  His stories combine a good bit of “cunjuhring,” “root wuk,”  “goophering” and a whole lot socio-political commentary on black life in the era immediately following Reconstruction–all of the things that we love about good speculative fiction today.  The book also has quite a healthy dose of dialect–that nineteenth century dialect which Chesnutt employed with unparalleled mastery and to great effect–so be prepared to wade in and be amused and amazed.

Pauline Hopkins (1859-1930) was well-known for her fictional representations of middle class black women and black families and the very different challenges that they faced in the aftermath of the Civil War and as a result of the ways that slavery undermined both identities and institutions within black communities.  Hopkins, through her writing, was an advocate for black women becoming involved in the political process as a way of reclaiming some measure of freedom that slavery denied them.

Her novel Of One Blood, or The Hidden Self was published in a serialized version beginning in 1902 and ending in 1903.  The novel begins on a stormy Boston night, in the living quarters of Reuel Briggs, a mysticism scholar of mysterious ethnic origins (for those of you that aren’t familiar with the nineteeth century lingo, that means he is a mulatto).   From there, Hopkins concocts a tale of stunning intricacy that includes Oriental (don’t worry, when talking about Hopkins, that term is appropriate) mesmerism, ancient, mystical, and hidden African kingdoms, and metaphysical globetrotting.  How’s that for a novel published at the beginning of the twentieth century.   In addition, this book has all of the action and adventure and romance that you could want.  There’s even a leopard (so now you understand why I love this book).  Find out whether Reuel is tragic or not and check out this book.

Black Sci-Fi/Spec Fic Primer: Your Introduction to the World of Black Speculative Lit

Speculative fiction is a rose known by many other names: science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, dystopian…the list goes on, with each genre producing unique and wonderful blooms (if you will permit me to carry the metaphor through to its conclusion).  What each of these, and the many other genres that fall under the umbrella of speculative literature, have in common is that all such books imagine worlds that do not quite exist, but might–whether in some near future, some recent past, or some alternate dimension in the present.  In that lies the appeal of the genre for black writers; the space that it offers to imagine things differently and to tell a different kind of story.  Whatever you call it and whichever genre you prefer, there is something in the black (here, I am going with black, rather than African American, because some of the authors that I will name are not American) canon for you.

The idea for this “Primer” came from my recent experiences and conversations about being an author of speculative fiction.  In my travels, I have met many who believe that black authors are new to the game of speculative fiction.  They name recent authors that have had success:  Octavia Butler, Tananarive Due, L. A. Banks are frequently mentioned as favorites.   But too often that knowledge does not stretch beyond a contemporary few, which leads to misconceptions about the African American presence and impact on the world of speculative fiction.

So every Saturday, I am going to take you to school.  This primer is about excavation.  I will bring, in each blog, titles and authors that represent the depth and the breadth of the black tradition in speculative fiction.  This column will be primarily chronological–going from some of the earliest examples of black speculative fiction and moving into the present. Of course, the past is so important to understanding the present. If, however, I happen upon something that lies outside of the chronology, I won’t let that stop me from bringing it to you.   Many of the writers that I will mention over the next few weeks did not write speculative fiction exclusively.  Some of them may have only written one work in the genre.  Still, their contribution adds to the canon of black speculative fiction and, frequently, informs the fiction being produced today.

So, sit back, relax, and let the priming begin.  It’s time to get your speculative mind right.