Postcolonial Speculative Fiction

The Colonization of Bodies in Okorafor's "The Popular Mechanic" and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

             "The Popular Mechanic," from Nnedi Okorafor's Kabu-Kabu, is a petro-speculative short story set in the near future about a Nigerian family who suffers from the impacts of American colonization in their homeland. The Nigerian government, whose country is rich in oil, sells its products to American oil companies and invests the income in the pockets of the officials instead of dispersing it throughout the country. This leads to the strict regulation of oil and destruction of the Nigerian economy, leaving locals desperate for income and oil. Anya, a medical student and the only child of the family in the story, is raised by her mother and her father ("Papa") who is physically impaired for the majority of her childhood due to an oil accident that left him with severe burns and an amputated arm. The accident was a product of American oil companies' presence in Nigeria; because of their control of every oil source in the area, the cost of oil was raised astronomically. Nigerians could no longer afford to buy oil which left mechanics like Papa, who relied on oil to provide for their families, desperate for it. The news of a pipeline bursting was a miracle to the locals, and once they got wind of it they raced to the source with buckets and bottles in hand. Papa was among this crowd, but one afternoon things went horribly wrong: someone lit a cigarette in the midst of all of the oil causing a major explosion and many deaths. Papa survived with a few severe burns and the loss of an arm. Under the guise of "paying reparations," American scientists travelled to Nigeria and gave Papa a mechanical arm, but once he came home from the surgery, it's clear that more had changed than just his physical capabilities. Anya says, "As time progressed, she saw her father smile less and less. These days, he was in 'one of his moods' quite often. Volunteering his body to the American scientists had been the biggest mistake of his life." This story is a major petro-speculative moment in Kabu-Kabu because it shows how on a national level, oil rigging destroyed Nigeria's entire economy and on an individual level, how it permanently affected the quality of life of the Nigerian people.

Economic Imperialism's role in "The Popular Mechanic"

         While “The Popular Mechanic” heavily focuses on the effects of American oil companies pillaging the African continent and the role that their own governments play in this problem, it also makes readers think about the colonization of African bodies. Papa becomes less human and empathetic as he ages with his mechanical arm, and becomes angrier towards his family and careless with his actions. Anya states that, "The Americans came by once in a while to see how he was doing and type his words into their portables. The side effects of the transplant were well noted. Periods of delusion, paranoia, and mild incontinence were all on the list. They couldn’t explain any of them. Anya was sure that none of the results from her father’s experience—from the delusions to the incontinence—would reach the American newspapers or scientific journals." Her father and the other victims that the Americans "helped" are then revealed to have only been what was essentially a guinea pig experiment. After the scientists had run their tests and gotten their data, the same company sought out American volunteers for cybernetic arms, ones that were better and had less side effects than the ones the Nigerians were given. This shows that even though the enslaving of Africans was supposed to have ended with the Thirteenth Amendment, Americans have continued to colonize them through economic imperialism, which is exemplified in "The Popular Mechanic." Through the colonization of African resources, oil companies gained control of not only their land, but the inhabitants as well. When Americans reach out to provide charity to the native people, as they do with Papa and his mechanical arm, they are not actually "helping" because they are the root cause of the problem.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: A Historical Example of Body Colonization

         Even though “The Popular Mechanic”is a fictional story, this matter has been seen throughout history and one of the most horrifying examples of this is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. This study began in 1932 and was continued for forty years by the Public Health Service in America; "the study initially involved 600 black men–399 with syphilis, 201 who did not" (CDC). These men were either infected with the disease or received aggressive, ineffective treatments; when penicillin was offered as a syphilis treatment in the 1940s, these men were not offered the option to be treated with penicillin and were also not allowed to leave the study. It was later revealed that these men also were never told about the experiment. They were told that they would receive healthcare, food and more if they agreed to the testing, which was an offer that seemed too good to be true for a black man in the early twentieth century. This blatant and inhumane treatment was not brought to the public eye until 1972; throughout the 1970s, there were court settlements that paid back those affected and their families, but it was not until May 16th, 1997 when a formal apology was issued by President Bill Clinton.

American Colonization of African Bodies in both texts

            The fictional example of Papa in Okorafor's “The Popular Mechanic” and the very real history of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study both focus on the colonization of the bodies of Africans and those of African descent. The concept of economic imperialism is what allowed white Americans to colonize the bodies of both the Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims and Papa in Okorafor's story. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims offered their bodies and ultimately their lives for food security, health care, and (appallingly) burial insurance. For white Americans, these would have been the basic essentials in life, but because the test subjects were of African descent and lived in an era where they were seen as inferior, they had to choose between struggling in poverty or subjecting their bodies to unknown governmental tests. They had no right to question or decline what the Public Health Service did to them because as black men, they had no voice. In "The Popular Mechanic," Papa becomes a half-human, half-techno hybrid because he was offered free treatment and the opportunity to be whole again. In turn, he traded any surety that he would remain the same person or even a guarantee that the arm would not cause harm. By the end of the story it's almost like there are moments when the arm begins to take over him. In both of these examples, black men's bodies are colonized by white Americans out of a desire to use them as guinea pigs for medical research instead of purely altruistic intentions, which is how they originally portrayed themselves. In her text, Okorafor is almost reminding readers that economic imperialism and the colonization of black/African bodies is still a reality. Even though "The Popular Mechanic" is fictional, the experiences of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims and other similar cases are very much factual aspects of American history.

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  1. This subject of colonization of bodies is a tuff nut to swallow, but I wonder is this any different than the current argument on why we should open our southern border? When media presents a pro open border platform it is because we need agricultural workers. So, I think, is it we just need bodies that are willing to collect our fruits and vegetables? Who cares about their conditions of survival, opportunities, or ability to become a member of society? As long as they stay in this one sector so Americans can keep up their gluten free high fiber ways. Is the hidden intent for an open border a new way to colonize a different people? Do not mistake my sarcasm for apathy. Consider fair treatment for people who are viewed as other by the majority of Americans.
  2. This is a very valid connection to make! I hadn't thought about comparing it to modern issues, but I definitely think you're right about people wanting open borders for the wrong reasons. If you look at any of the local farms in this area, all of the workers appear to be of Central-American heritage. Every so often large groups of them get on a bus to go to Walmart and get the essentials for their families, but other than that it really seems like all these people do is work all day to barely get by. The commodification of bodies is still very real, and much closer to our community than I originally realized.

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