Abstract
N. K. Jemisin dreams up an Afrofuturist feminist counter-history of utopia in both The Killing Moon (2012) and The Shadowed Sun (2012). Comprising the Dreamblood Duology, the novels are set in an alternate ancient Egypt in which the inhabitants live in the peaceful but rigidly hierarchal city-state of Gujaareh. This chapter analyzes the novels’ illustration of critical utopia, while also engaging Afrofuturism’s role in challenging notions of ideal pasts or futures. Like other critical utopias, the Dreamblood Duology pushes the boundaries of the utopian literature genre and questions the notion of a “perfect” society, in this case by privileging the experience of the most marginalized people to highlight disparities and offer a way forward that may make the society more just for all.
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Morris, S.M. (2019). Dreaming of Afrofuturism, Epic Fantasy, and Utopia in N. K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood Duology. In: Ventura, P., Chan, E. (eds) Race and Utopian Desire in American Literature and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19470-3_15
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