Postcolonial Speculative Fiction

Udide and friends in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon

“Even in the corners of palaces, spiders dwell” (258).

All quotes in bold with page number are from: Lagoon. Okorafor, Nnedi. New York: Sega Press, 2014.



Udide the spider, (spoiler alert!) the narrator of Lagoon, spins a tale that includes several Nigerian mythical characters that rise and make their presence known when the people, in the city Lagos, are in a fight for their life. Okorafor uses Nigeria’s ancestral deities to calm the city or to remove destructive citizens when futuristic characters disrupt Lagos Nigeria.

The following images depict Udide and friends through organisms that are a part of our global environment. Aside from Ijele, whose image has been constructed via Nigerian traditions, the rest are what I envisioned. The links to the resources are the character’s name highlighted in blue. The resources were chosen from diverse perspectives, such as, blogs, social media platforms, and commercial websites, to demonstrate that the characters are pervasive in modern cultures.
 

Udide the Spider (The Narrator):  “I am the spider. I see sound. I feel taste. I hear touch” (290).
“Nigerian story-spinning spider named Udide Okwanka. He is the supreme spider artist who toils beneath the ground, in the ekwuru (the spirit world). He possesses the power to gather fragments of any object and shape them into a new object” (Nnedi Okorafor).

Mami Wata (Udide’s cousin):  “You know what they say? That it is not the ocean that is attracted to this place. That it is Mami Wata” (235).
 “She is at once a nurturing mother; sexy mama; provider of riches; healer of physical and spiritual ills; and embodiment of dangers and desires, risks and challenges, dreams and aspirations, fears and forebodings. People are attracted to the seemingly endless possibilities she represents and, at the same time, frightened by her destructive potential” (Smithsonian: Natural Museum of African Art).
This Facebook page provides a glimpse on how
Mami Wata is relevant today.



Papa Legba (Udide’s cousin):  “It’s a great time to be in Africa” (211). 
 “Papa Legba (Elebga) is one of the most cherished spirits (Lwa) in New Orleans Voodoo an Haitian Vodou. He is the Gatekeeper, the Keeper of the Crossroads, and the window between our physical world and the spiritual world with which we hope to connect. If we have need to enter the spiritual realm or allow the spirits (Iwa) come to us, we must first get permission from Papa Legba” (Barefoot Witchery).

Anansi (Udide’s cousin):  “I know the one who wove the rhythm” (291).
 “Stories about a spider-god, Anansi or Ananse, were first told in Ghana by the Ashanti people. They were not written down but recounted from generation to generation. Gradually the stories grew and spread across Ghana and then all around West Africa. In Ghana they are called “Anansesem” meaning spider tales” (Myths and legends).

Ijele (Chief Masquerade):  “Holy shit, this was Ijele. The Chief of all Masquerades, Igbo royalty” (198).
 “In many communities in the state of Anambra in south-eastern Nigeria, celebrations, burial ceremonies and other special occasions during the dry season to evoke fertility and a bountiful harvest feature the performance of the Ijele masquerade” (Emeka Okafor).

The Road Monster named The Bone Collector (Okorafor invented character):  “I have always collected bones. I am the road” (206). 
“The Bone Collector is only sated when it consumes an alien, pointing to the impossibility of an indigenous solution to the issues raised by the text. Okorafor’s combination of these elements attempts to resolve the text‘s oil-based anxiety –“ (Gemma Field).

 
 
 

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  1. This is a very interesting take on the story. Walking through the West African spiritual traditions is something that I wish we had more time to do in class. One thing I would be interested in is how the Western influence changed the African spirituality depicted in the book. We know the colonial tradition of the African continent and it is inevitable that it had an influence on the spiritual tradition. Unfortunately, the African tradition of orality means that we may never know what that spirituality looked like before Western influence.
  2. Education is important when learning about different cultures, and I think this blog does a good job of educating the audience. I find it interesting how each Nigerian mythological character is explained with both words and images. As someone who has read the books, it was hard at times to get a visual of these characters even though they were mentioned. I think having the visuals adds an extra layer to the understanding because it gives the audience something to consider. Overall, the blog is fascinating because it can be used as a glossary while people read the works. It becomes a useful educational tool when looking at African speculative fiction and the ties that these works have to African folklore. Readers can start to understand the significance that Papa Legba or Anansi plays in the story based on the myth behind them.

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