Remote Control

Africanfuturism is a subgenre of speculative fiction first described by Nnedi Okorafor. She differentiated it from Afrofuturism, a cultural and artistic movement that centers societal and technological progress on diasporic Black identity, rooting it in Black history and culture in non-African settings.  Africanfuturism emphasizes the importance of Africa itself, shifting focus away from the African Diaspora and Western ideologies and onto African culture, history, and perspective. In literature, Okorafor’s Binti series (2015) is a leading example, following the life of Binti, who is accepted to an intergalactic university. Although the subgenre is still emerging, Nigerian British author Tade Thompson’s Wormwood trilogy (the first book of which is 2016’s Rosewater) is another example, while Nigerian science fiction writer Wole Talabi edited a collection of short stories in 2020 entitled Africanfuturism, featuring stories by Okorafor and others.

Okorafor’s Remote Control is grounded in a West African setting, a key component of Africanfuturism. The protagonist, Sankofa, travels throughout Ghana. She often speaks in the Twi language of Ghana, noting how she has to switch to English when speaking to the Americans she encounters. Additionally, she wears a traditional Ghanaian wrap and dons a hijab, emphasizing her connections to Ghanaian culture. The novella emphasizes the value of African land, as the central tension in the story exists between the technological corporation LifeGen and the Ghanaian people. When Sankofa returns to Wulugu after years away, she notes how it has been modernized by LifeGen, largely through Western tourism. Her final act in the novella—destroying the seeds planted by LifeGen—emphasizes the importance of casting off Western corruption and valuing the importance of African culture.

Sankofa herself embodies the importance of African identity, while her journey represents an appreciation and respect for Ghanaian culture. Her name means “to go back and get” in the Twi language and holds a symbolic meaning in the broader Akan culture. Specifically, the word “Sankofa” embodies the concept of pulling from the past to inform the present and the future. In this way, Sankofa stands at the crossroads between technological modernization and traditionalism. She destroys any technology that she touches, while also standing up to LifeGen and destroying their plans. When she leaves RoboTown, they are distraught at the failure of the robocop, but at the same time, they finally recognize the dangers of living a life that is entirely dependent on technology. 

Through Sankofa, the novella explores the importance of holding onto African tradition, culture, and language, a key component of Africanfuturism literature. Ultimately, Sankofa fuses the two parts of herself to finally find some semblance of peace, happiness, and belonging. She initially tries to cast off her power by refusing to use it, then tries to ignore it, then finally accepts it for what it is. In the end, she is a character who accepts her new power while also holding onto her traditional culture and humane values.