Category: Post-reads

Post-reading reflections written by students after they have read and discussed a novel or article.

Being Black in America – A Real-Life Dystopia

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“Black to the Future” is an article in which Mark Dery introduces the concept of Afrofuturism as he attempts to look for science fiction that centers Black people and their stories. He begins by describing his understanding of Black science fiction.  He acknowledges that there are many black characters and, more Continue reading

Black to the Afro-Futurism

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Mark Dery’s “Black to the Future” addresses the racial ignorance present in sci-fi as it’s writers routinely address social problems but can’t see race while creating aliens. Dery provides “afro-futurism” as an allegorical response to this form of sci-fi. Afro-futurism is defined as science-fiction writers considering African-American themes and issues Continue reading

Saving Face for Science Fiction

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“Black to the Future” is an article that tackles Afrofuturism which is a term that focuses on African American themes and concerns and highlights them in terms of modern technoculture. The article goes on to try and figure out why there are so few African American science fiction writers even Continue reading

Hip-hop and Robots

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Mark Dery’s “Black to the future” interviewed authors to explore why there is a lack of Black authors in the science fiction genre. Dery explores the cultural, historical and socioeconomic aspects of Black life to explain the disconnect between the lack of authors compared to the growing number of Black Continue reading

Post-Read: Science Fiction Discourse by Black Writers: Reshaping the Genre and Society

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1. Dery’s “Black to the Future” is an essay that analyzes the question as to why so few African Americans have pursued science fiction as a genre of literary writing. The essay discusses how science fiction is a pulp genre excluded out of the American literary canon, essentially equating to Continue reading

The Influence of Fascism

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“Ur-fascism” is about the effect of ideologies such as fascism on people in Italy and breaking down the different aspects of fascism. The article breaks down Ur-Fascism into various aspects and beliefs associated with it. The major categories were xenophobia, elitism, heroism, and selective populism. The author focuses on what Continue reading

Is Fascism a dystopian concept?

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In the article “Ur Fascism”, Umberto Eco highlights the various aspects pertaining to fascism going into specific detail about how it came into existence and eventually evolved into a more general term over time. Eco argues that unlike other totalitarian governments whether it be Nazism or Stalinism, Fascism particularly that Continue reading

Understanding Ur-Fascism

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Umberto Eco describes his early years and what he remembers to be the Fascist regime. The passage explains that during their formative years, the young Italians are taught to do anything for their country. Dying for their country was the best (and most highly recommended answer). As the passage progresses Continue reading

Ur-Fascism in 1984

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Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco is an article about Eco’s personal experience with Italian fascism along with a synopsis of how it compares to German fascism and the general connotation of fascism. He talks about how his heroes considered of war heroes and how there was no peace without war. In Continue reading