This item may be of interest to my students who are reading Binti in my class right now. I have other posts planned for this week on Afrofuturism and related subjects that have been in the works for over a year. This is my third semester and fifth class overall teaching Nnedi Okorafor's Hugo and Nebula award winning novella. Those awards are linked to Wiki pages to define them for those who do not know, but essentially, the Hugo is like the People's Choice award in science fiction and the Nebula is more like the Oscars, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
I gave a few remarks long after finishing my first read of Binti last year here at
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2018/02/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-965-2017.html
I read Binti back in March of 2017, but I have since read it a few times (maybe four?) as part of class prep.
I have read it both in the traditional sense of scanning the words on the page with my eyes and listening to the audio book, brilliantly by Robin Miles.
It was a breakthrough for me when I noticed that the story in Binti mirrors the archetypal hero's journey in most ways and proved to be a natural way to teach the book.
I like teaching it because of its depiction of African culture, some real and some fictional, the product of Okorafor's imagination. I like that the story focuses on a young African (Himba) woman, and I really like the archetypal hero's journey on which she embarks that changes her forever. The way Binti solves the problem presented by the story, the mysteries presented, the help she receives, and the overall tone of Okorafor's writing are just the kinds of things I want to share with students.
My students like that it is short, but I have had many inspired to go on an read the rest of the parts -- Binti: Home and Binti: The Night Masquerade as well as the new story in the collected Binti hard cover -- as well as sharing the parts with family members who have also enjoyed reading more.
Binti's story serves up a parable of overcoming adversity, perseverance, trusting help from allies in whatever from the help takes, and reconciling change that metaphorically reflects all major life change that we can all and should all relate to. It's the story of the process of individuation that Jung described. Binti's struggles both with her adversaries, as well as how she transforms her adversary, and her struggles with her own people (supposedly) are much like the struggles we all face with other as well with our "supposed" own kind.
It's just a great fucking book.
Also, maybe, I have a little crush on Nnedi Okorafor. And who wouldn't? She's smart, talented, funny, and cool. I like her Twitter feed.
Here's her site: http://nnedi.com/
https://twitter.com/Nnedi. There's also an Instagram and a Facebook, but you can find those on your own.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nnedi_Okorafor
There's more resources below plus previews of articles and reviews on Binti and Afrofuturism.
Please give me more.
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-sense-of-doubt-blog-post-1569-nnedi.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-sense-of-doubt-blog-post-1426.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-sense-of-doubt-blog-post-1258-neptune.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/06/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-1171-sod.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/06/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-1570-more.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/06/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-1172-sod.html
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-sense-of-doubt-blog-post-1778-2010.html
Although, I have hardly read all the Okorafor yet let alone the other writing that would qualify as Afrofuturism. Nnedi prefers AFRICAN futurism. I am trying to change my lexicon, too.
from GOOD READS
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25667918-binti
Binti (Binti #1)
by Nnedi Okorafor (Goodreads Author)
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself - but first she has to make it there, alive. (less)
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself - but first she has to make it there, alive. (less)
ebook, 96 pages
Published September 22nd 2015 by Tor.com
Original Title
Binti
ISBN
0765384469 (ISBN13: 9780765384461)
Edition Language
English
Series
Literary Awards
https://www.tor.com/2018/01/17/coming-home-nnedi-okorafors-binti-series/
Coming Home: Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti Series
Alex Browntwo excerpts....
I want SF that doesn’t just have queer, disabled, POC characters in the margins but as leads. Take every SF trope and run them through the perspectives and heritage of literally anyone else in the world but more straight white people. Give me stories of Haitian space opera, Diné cyberpunk, Iñupiat building robots, Quechua space exploration, Maasai virtual reality, Māori military SF, Laotian bioengineering. Feature a cast that’s queer, disabled, neurodiverse, fat, intersectional, everything. Give me versions of science fiction I’ve never seen before and let other voices, cultures, and beliefs take center stage. And for the love of Hera, let those stories be told by authors with those personal experiences.
This is a very roundabout way of saying how much I appreciate Nnedi Okorafor’s work. Binti the series and Binti the character both challenge the dominant narrative of who gets to be a hero in science fiction, what the future might become, and what victory looks like. In fiction and in her own world, Binti shatters stereotypes and tradition. She will not be what others have tried to make her, and neither will Okorafor’s series.
.... and .....
.... and .....
Okorafor expertly wields science fiction as a means of exploring the myriad complexities of cultural identity. What does it mean to be oppressed? What does it mean to be an oppressor? What does it mean to be both, or to be neither but trapped between each side? Are we who we say we are because of our traditions or because of how we choose to identify?
Binti is full of heart and emotion. It’s not a perfect series, but it’s a strong one. Sometimes the drama can get too heated, the action too frenetic, and the conceptual ideas too vague—I still don’t understand “treeing”—but it’s got a killer hook. Okorafor knows her genre and isn’t afraid to show off. There’s a reason this series (and her other works) are practically drowning in accolades and awards. I guarantee if there’s a fourth novella, I’ll be at my local bookstore the day it’s released.
While traveling to Oomza Uni, her ship is attacked by aliens known as the Meduse, a floating, jellyfish-like species that have no particular love for humans. After killing all of the passengers, Binti escapes to her room, where she is eventually able to talk down the invaders, negotiate her safety, and achieve peace between humanity and the Meduse — all before the ship arrives as the school.
For such a short book, there’s a lot in here. Okorafor has been writing some incredible novels that build deeply on her Nigerian heritage. Books like Who Fears Death and Lagoonboth tell stories that are radically different from what you typically find in the speculative fiction genre, and Binti is no exception, as it deftly explores questions about race and cultural identity through her titular character. Binti comes from a group of people called the Himba, who cover themselves from head to toe in a local clay, and Okorafor places her in a situation where various identities clash, making her an ideal person to solve the problem at hand: the murderous jellyfish aliens bent on killing her and her friends.
At the heart of these two Binti stories is an astonishingly good character, and Okorafor incorporates elements of Afrofuturism to a genre that often overlooks Africa, and it’s a welcome addition. Binti is a brave, ambitious woman stepping into a much wider world for the first time, and seeing the universe through her eyes makes for a fantastic adventure. Binti: Home builds on these themes of cultural identity and making one’s way in the world, making for a compelling journey.
https://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/nnedi-okorafor-binti/
Hello. I am Dina, and I am a book addict. I'm from Austria and, apart from reading, I enjoy movies, video games, thunderstorms, eternally bickering couples and anything made of chocolate.
#DIVERSIVERSE REVIEW: NNEDI OKORAFOR – BINTI
After a bit of a rocky start, I am now convinced that the Tor.com novella lineup is excellent and will continue to be so. Nnedi Okorafor hasn’t managed to capture me this much since Who Fears Death. Both her first contact story Lagoon and Who Fears Death’s quasi-prequel The Book of Phoenix were good books that somehow didn’t reach me emotionally. Now Binti was everything I had been missing from these two. A wonderful, wonderful story!
BINTIby Nnedi Okorafor
Published by: Tor.com, 2015
Ebook: 96 pages
Standalone Novella
My rating: 8,5/10
Ebook: 96 pages
Standalone Novella
My rating: 8,5/10
First sentence: I powered up the transporter and said a silent prayer.
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.
Binti is running away from home to follow her dream. She wants to study at the renowned Oomza University which happens to be on a different planet. So right from the start, I was invested in the story. Without knowing anything about Binti, I think everybody understands the feeling of wanting to escape your parents’ plans for you and follow your own way. Except if Binti really leaves, she knows she can never come back, so the stakes are pretty high.
On her way to Oomza University, Binti sticks out because of her appearance. The Himba people have such a rare supply of drinking water that they don’t waste it like other people do. For cleaning themselves, they use otjize, a paste made of red clay and oils – just look at the amazing book cover. The use and preparation of otjize is described beautifully, and I felt just as anxious as Binti when her pre-made supply threatened to run out. What little she has brought with her is her only real, tangible connection to her home – for the rest of the story, she will be on space ships or on a different planet. Having a piece of your home with you makes travelling a little easier.
When Binti meets the alien Meduse, she needs to act quickly and make smart decisions, not just to save her own life but also her future. I loved Binti’s character so, so much. Knowing what you want and going for it are two very different things and Binti is trying to keep her culture alive, even after being faced with things that change her world view, even her body.
My favorite part was probably the relationship that Binti builds with an essentially hostile alien race. She comes into it with prejudice – after all, the Meduse are known to have killed a lot of people – but her mind remains open enough for her to rethink and change her understanding of the Meduse and their motives. This doesn’t happen overnight, of course. Somebody has to make the first step, somebody has to trust the other enough to meet and talk without protection, without weapons. Binti wants to make things right and uses her mind, her kindness, and her empathy to do it. It’s not only a struggle to find common ground with the aliens, she also has to consider the cultural differences between herself and the humans in Oomza University. Binti is the only Himba to ever be accepted there, so to the people there, she may appear almost as alien as the Meduse.
I loved how Okorafor took a story that could have easily been a stale coming-of-age, woman-runs-away-from-home tale, and gave it a twist that puts the fate of an entire planet at risk. The language flows beautifully, the book is impossible to put down.
There is also a fair bit of world-building in these 96 pages. Binti’s people are highly skilled in mathematics, and Binti herself is the best among them (well, her and her father). This addition of maths and currents makes this an interesting science fiction world that made me want to explore it more. So maybe Nnedi Okorafor will follow in Paul Cornell’s footsteps and write us a sequel to her Tor.com novella – I’d be the first to buy it!
This is a very short novella that doesn’t waste a single word on unimportant stuff, but it packs a punch on every page. Really, everything about this was wonderful. Binti’s character, the connection she builds with the Meduse, her inner struggle about who she is and what it means when parts of her become suddenly different… Unsurprisingly, I read this in one sitting and ended up wanting more. In my opinion, this is by far the best thing Okorafor has written since Who Fears Death!
MY RATING: 8,5/10 – Excellent!
Second opinions:
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- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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