The enthralling Mota's plots and characters reflect the ongoing negotiation of Cuban national identity at the dawn of the twenty-first century to a world that feels like a post-apocalyptic future. This integration of Afro-Cuban mythology also challenges traditional Western narratives: He never justifies the choice and instead presents a universe where diverse ontologies and knowledge systems coexist. It is a liberating and subversive political project, but still full of conflicts.
Mundo Fantástico
When your body stops being evidence of your humanity
Today I will discuss four stories written by people who don't remember much about the world before the fall of the Berlin Wall where the body is an ethical and technological focus: "Chunga Maya" by Alejandro Martín Rojas (1984), "Dulce" by Iris Rosales Valdés (1984), "Mulas" (Mules) by Dennis Mourdoch Morán (1985), and "Ojos de cocodrilo" (Cocodrile Eyes) by Malena Salazar Maciá (1988).
Seven Hundred Eighteen Words Apropos of “Anxiety Loops”
In “Blacceleration Then and Now," Professor Tavia Nyong'o proposes exploring "Black fabulation as a mode of dwelling within disaster," since we already are in the apocalypse. From the get-go, it is not complicated to deduce that for him, bad readings of science fiction equal disaster. As a prime subject for state-sponsored techno-vigilance (victim) and language teacher (victimizer), I concur.
Cuando tu cuerpo deja de ser evidencia de tu humanidad
Les presento cuatro relatos escritos por personas que no recuerdan mucho del mundo antes de la caída del Muro de Berlín, recogidos en la antología Prietopunk. Antología de afrofuturismo caribeño (2022). En “Chunga Maya” de Alejandro Martín Rojas, “Dulce” de Iris Rosales Valdés, “Mulas” de Dennis Mourdoch, y “Ojos de cocodrilo” de Malena Salazar Maciá, el cuerpo es foco ético y tecnológico.
De cómo un cubano predijo el fin de la monogamia leyendo a Engels (2.0)
Este ensayo analiza el rol de la telepatía como elemento desestabilizador de la moral y las buenas costumbres en la novela cubana Espiral de Agustín de Rojas (1982) y discute las implicaciones de las propuestas especulativas del autor a nivel sentimental y social. Propongo que Rojas crea un escenario fantástico donde las personas pueden elegir compartir directamente su identidad, su intimidad y su ideología para confrontar los límites de la moral socialista al uso en la década de 1970 (la estalinista).
El Manifiesto Mundano Afrofuturista 2013
The undersigned, being alternately pissed off and bored, need a means of speculation and asserting a different set of values with which to re-imagine the future. In looking for a new framework for black diasporic artistic production, we are temporarily united in the following actions.
Bitácora de viaje 