Liz Ng’ang’a, a London-based science journalist from Kenya, has turned her attention to Henrietta Rose-Innes’s prize-winning story, “Poison”, and the matter of African science fiction - although she labels Poison “fantasy” as opposed to “science fiction”. Her notes will surely prompt mutters from purist quarters that neither label applies.
While the subtle delineations separating these two sub-genres of “genre” fiction is a debate for another day (on which the folks over at Science Fiction & Fantasy South Africa (SFSA) can pronounce - although one handy distinction is: sci-fi can come true, as technology improves, but fantasy can’t) Ng’ang’a’s article does beg the question - where are the African sci-fi writers, and what are they publishing?
As it so happens, the most recent edition of Chimurenga - a double issue edited by Ntone Edjabe, one half of which was entitled Dr. Satan’s Echo Chamber - featured the genre in style.
And there’s the SFSA competition currently open (closes 30 September) for those exploring other galaxies that recently got a mention in various organs of the mass media. Here’s the Ng’ang’a piece that got us started:
I was surprised though to see in one instance Henrietta Rose-Innes’s winning story, Poison, described as science fiction. To my mind this work, though set around an explosion in a chemical factory, falls more within the fantasy realm.
Although they closely resemble, the two genres differ in that in science fiction the imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established laws of nature or scientific hypothesis, within the context of the story.
However, I wonder why science fiction has not taken root among African writers. During the early part of the 20th century, Africa was a popular setting for foreign science fiction writers.
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August 16th, 2008 @12:09 #
It can be argued that SF is a subgenre of fantasy, until such time that the "technology" in question becomes every day, in which case it can no longer be quantified as "science fiction".
Fantasy/sci-fi/horror writing is alive and well in Cape Town with the Adamastor Writers' Guild. The group boasts a number of published authors in the the above genres, who are currently working together to promote and improve these genres in South Africa.