Beyond the Problem: Afrofuturism as an Alternative to Realistic Fiction About Black Girls

Contemporary scholars who analyze literature including Black female protagonists consistently center contemporary realistic fiction, urban fiction, and historical fiction. However, centering these genres limits conversations to what readers know of the historic past or the troubled present. Future possibilities are ignored. Since current research recognizes the unbounded nature of Black girl identities, it makes sense to broaden the boundaries of literary content analyses to include complex, multidimensional, and multilayered genres of literature. The purpose of this chapter, then, is to illuminate how Afrofuturism can expand representations of Black girlhood by eliminating the boundaries of realism.