THE ISSUE OF LIBERATION IN AFROFUTURISM

In this thesis, the liberatory potential of Afrofuturism will be analyzed on the example of two Afrofuturist novels. It will be argued that a truly liberating future cannot be accomplished by merely altering representations, which is one of Afrofuturism‘s main aims, but by developing utopian visions of the future where violences of capitalism and heteronormativity have been overcome. The paper will argue that Nalo Hopkinson‘s novel Midnight Robber does not present a more liberated future, whilst Samuel Delany‘s novel Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders will be argued to represent a better and a more just future society.U ovom će se radu na primjeru dvaju romana analizirati potencijal afrofuturizma za oslobođenje. Pokazat će se da se istinski oslobađajuća budućnost ne može postići pukom promjenom reprezentacije, jednim od glavnih ciljeva afrofuturizma, već stvaranjem utopijskih vizija budućnosti u kojima su prevladana nasilja koja uzrokuju kapitalizam i heteronormativnost. Argumentirat će se da roman Midnight Robber Nalo Hopkinson ne predstavlja oslobođeniju budućnost, dok će se pokazati da roman Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders Samuela Delanyja prikazuje bolje, pravednije buduće društvo