Gendered Ecologies and Black Feminist Futures in Ibi Zoboi’s “The Farming of Gods,” Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi, and Wangechi Mutu’s The End of Eating Everything

Authors

Amanda Renee Rico, Texas A&M UniversityFollow

Abstract

This paper addresses how the works of three female authors and artists from various parts of Africa and the Diaspora — Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu, The End of eating Everything by Wangechi Mutu, and “The Farming of the Gods” by Ibi Zoboi — imagine a black feminist future through ecological imagery. My argument is twofold: first, I take my cue from Mutu’s assertion that imaginative forms of world-building must connect systemic corruption to consumptive practices. Second, I claim such Afrofuturist works use geographical spaces marked by ecological abuse (poisonous spores, pustules, desert landscapes), displacement (discarded objects) and violence (human limbs) to negotiate the symbolic and material “marking” of black female bodies. Ultimately, I read these works as meditations on new forms of transnational communities that not only survive but thrive in the 21st century and beyond.

Recommended Citation

Rico, Amanda Renee (2017) "Gendered Ecologies and Black Feminist Futures in Ibi Zoboi’s “The Farming of Gods,” Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi, and Wangechi Mutu’s The End of Eating Everything," Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies: Vol. 18: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/wagadu/vol18/iss1/4