Can Technology Replicate Human Connection?

I really enjoyed this week's readings by Nnedi Okorafor! In all honesty, I was looking to briefly skim the readings but found myself too engrossed and spent a while reading both of her assigned works closely. In Mother of Invention, I was taken by her perspective on motherhood and human connection in a futuristic world. Interestingly, the main character, Anwuli, is left behind by her human support networks: Her fiance revealed that he had a wife and children, her parents have cut her off, and she is an outcast in her community for being an alleged homewrecker. Despite this, she finds solace in Obi 3 – her smart  house. However, the house does not care for Anwuli entirely on its own accord. Anwuli has to “feed the machine”, making the AI house a reflection of her. Obi 3 can anticipate what she needs because Anwuli knowingly and unknowingly gives the machine details about herself. In many ways, Obi 3 mothers Anwuli, learning from how she was protecting and caring for her baby as she carries it. On one hand, the house becomes a parent to Anwuli and serves as a safe haven, protecting her even in the grimmest moments of the storm. On the other hand, since the house is a reflection of Anwuli, she is indirectly mothering and caring for herself. In a bittersweet way, Anwuli is learning to provide herself with the care she is seeking through others. 

The Black Pages was an enthralling piece of Africanfuturism. I was captivated by the themes of historical knowledge and the non-linear structure of time. We talked briefly in class about African cosmologies and how they often utilize a non-linear view of time and history. An example we discussed was the ancestor. Although they are “dead”, they remain contemporary, affecting their families and influencing the present moment. I also appreciated her interweaving of traditional myths (like the djinn) with modern technologies. This adaptation of myth and technology allowed for a dialogue between the past and present that was relevant to modern readers.