The memory of mythmaking: Transgenerational trauma and disability as a collective experience in Afrofuturist storytelling

<p>This project closely examines the relationship between transgenerational trauma, disability, and myth, particularly within Black speculative fiction, Afrofuturism, and Africanfuturism. Through the lenses of critical race theory, trauma theory, disability studies, and feminist theory, I will closely analyze how myth functions across five Black speculative fiction novels. I argue that disability appears as a common thread throughout each of these novels as a unique part of Black history and experience. Disability culture specifically offers community interdependence, a rejection of body and mind binaries, and a rejection of hierarchies in the pursuit of accessibility. I further demonstrate how myth centers racial and disability justice, as myth contains both cultural memory and serves as a communal storytelling experience.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.available

2021

Author dc:creator

• Tapley, Jessica

Contributors dc:contributor

• Christine Neufeld, Ph.D.
• Robin Lucy, Ph.D.

• Afrofuturism
• disability
• feminism
• flying African
• speculative fiction
• trauma
• Other English Language and Literature

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1085

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2467