Home

The novella Home is the second installment in Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti series, which follows the journey of Binti, a young Himba woman from Earth, as she navigates interstellar travel, identity transformation, and self-discovery. The series is a work of Africanfuturism, a term coined by Okorafor herself. Unlike Afrofuturism, a movement that explores African diasporic culture in relation to science and technology, Africanfuturism focuses specifically on a future based in Africa itself and its cultures, rather than the diaspora. Binti comes from a technologically advanced society in Africa, as the Himba people blend African cultural traditions, knowledge, and history with futuristic technologies.

In Binti, 16-year-old Binti leaves her Himba community on Earth to attend Oomza University, the first of her people to do so. This decision immediately positions her at the intersection of tradition and personal ambition, as the Himba people have always remained within their nation and limited their interaction with alien organisms. Binti is supposed to be her people’s next master harmonizer, as she has the ability to use mathematical meditation (called “treeing”) to access ancient knowledge, communicate with others, and dispel conflict. However, she refuses to accept this future, instead fleeing her family and friends to attend Oomza Uni.

On her journey to Oomza Uni aboard the ship Third Fish, Binti encounters the Meduse, a jellyfish-like alien species that has been feuding with humans for centuries. The Meduse attacks the Third Fish, killing everyone on board except for Binti and the pilot. Binti is saved by her edan, an ancient artifact that she found as an eight-year-old child in the desert near her home. Binti is stung in the aftermath of the attack, turning her hair into okuoko, a collection of sentient tentacles that mirror those of the Meduse people. She befriends Okwu, a Meduse, and establishes a peace agreement between the Meduse and her own people. Her actions allow both her and Okwu to attend Oomza University together, where Okwu begins studying weapons, and she begins studying mathematics.

Okorafor’s short story, “Sacred Fire,” was written after the series as an interlude between Binti and Home. It details Binti’s trauma as she is bullied by students at Oomza for befriending Okru and blamed by her villagers back home for what happened aboard the Third Fish. These experiences shape her emotional and moral decisions in Home, particularly her choice to return to Earth to assuage her feelings of being “unclean” because of her guilt over the massacre.

Most notably, Home examines Binti’s journey to reconcile her identity after the events of the first novella. Although born a Himba, Binti physically and emotionally becomes part Meduse after the events on the Third Fish. As Binti learns about her Enyi Zinariya ancestry in Home, it adds another layer of complexity to her identity, as she is now part of three different cultures. This novella explores Binti’s ongoing struggles with identity, familial duty, and cultural heritage, as well as her evolving place within a universe that constantly challenges the boundaries between cultural heritage and personal growth.