Eshun states “It is never a matter of forgetting what it took so long to remember. Rather, the vigilance that is necessary to indict imperial modernity must be extended into the field of the future.” Science Fiction serves as a voice for marginalized groups and a sense of hope for its readers. The importance of cultural and personal identity is embedded in Science Fiction as authors from a variety of backgrounds attempt to define not only what it means to be human, but also what it means to be human years from now.
Science Fiction authors are responsible for envisioning a future, whether it’s a connected future where current social issues have been addressed and fixed, or dystopian future where current social issues are the center of discussion. It’s this latter vision that fascinates me. It is more important to focus on the bridge between our present and an envisioned future.
How have issues changed over time? How have they evolved?
Eshun believes that “looking back at the genre, it becomes apparent that Science Fiction was never concerned with the future, but rather with engineering feedback between it’s preferred future and it’s becoming present”. This “feedback” is one of the most important aspects of Afro-futurism.
In Nisi Shawl’s Deep End, we are offered a vision of another world. A world where downloaded beings exist to colonize and create a new, beautiful world. Within this expedition to create, we are also offered a glimpse at the separation of body and mind. Personal and cultural identity has disintegrated. Shawl states, “ Normally she avoided the mirror, but not this morning. She’d studied her face, noting the narrow nose, the light, stubby lashes around eyes, an indeterminate color she guess could be called grey. Whose face had this been? A senators? A favorite secretary’s? Hers, for now, but for how long?” It is within this separation from body and mind that we realize that perhaps racial discrimination has tapered off, and instead class issues have become the central issue. But how does this affect cultural identity? Has cultural history been erased?
The AI controls the action on the ship, and in doing so, Shawl is creating a world where AI is responsible for creating and caring for the human condition. The doctor isn’t unreasonable, it’s mechanical. It presents itself in human form, but in reality it is nothing more then digits and parts. Shawl hints at the lack of care from the AI through Wayna’s nerve condition, offering the idea that we, at our core, are only genetic material made to reproduce. In this future, we aren’t seen by what makes us unique culturally, but what makes us unique genetically.
The AI’s control over the human body is the central issue in Deep End and the true message comes in the climax. Shawl speaks through Wayna and states, “Together to do what? To bear our enemies’ children, that’s what, we nothing but a bunch of glorified mammies, girl, don’t you get it? Remote control units for their immortality investments, protection for their previous genetic material. Cheaper than your average AI, no benefits, no union, no personnel manager. Mammies”.
Much like Eshun’s article, Shawl is mapping out a possible alternative for the world. Perhaps, a warning for us to hold on to our personal identity as our society embraces technology more and more. Eshun’s article speaks on the importance of fighting for your cultural identity, what makes you special, and Shawl’s story presents us with a world stripped of it’s cultural identity and focused on class division.
Question: What is the central issue of Deep End? What is Shawl trying to say in her story? How can you use Eshun’s article to identify what’s important in Shawl’s story?
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