Death of the author
Nnedi Okorafor’s newest novel, Death of the Author, is an africanfuturist story about a writer named Zelu, who uses a wheelchair due to an accident in her childhood and after years of failed attempts, suddenly becomes world-famous overnight after writing a book about robots and artificial intelligence. The book centres on Zelu, who is stubborn and determined, yet plagued by guilt and a lack of self-esteem. With the aid of this protagonist, the novel is able to critically examine the book industry, portray complicated family dynamics, illustrate how burdensome ableism is, and even provide glimpses into the fictional robot novel. The novel in a novel portrays storytelling as an ability unique to humankind, but also cleverly asks: who is actually writing whose story? Thematically, the novel instantly appealed to me, and whilst reading I did not think it was in any way overloaded despite the broad spectrum of content. Okorafor’s writing style is nimble, futuristic and creative.
As the focus of the novel is placed so strongly on Zelu, I found that the framework sometimes seemed a little narrow despite the thematic diversity. Zelu is embedded in her big, loud, Nigerian family. Her parents and siblings live in Chicago, as does she, and they often get together. Yet her many family members remain rather flat in their depiction: they patronise Zelu and are afraid for her, which they often express through reprimands or cool renunciation. This is especially clear when Zelu is given so-called Exos – a new prosthetic technology which should enable her to walk – by an MIT professor, as her parents and siblings are so sceptical that they leave her completely alone in this process. The fear that she, a Black disabled woman, would allow herself to become a white professor’s guinea pig is certainly justified, but even after Zelu has been successfully using the Exos for years and sees them as enriching her life, her family continues to reject her. Zelu often seems alone in her openness for newness and unconventionality. She experiences headwinds and setbacks, but perseveres in her search for more freedom.
Zelu’s character traits predestine her to write science fiction. Her fictive fans defend this often misjudged genre as important and to be taken seriously: in science fiction, the nature of humankind can be questioned, the gaze can be widened and visions of the future can be developed. Okorafor thus depicts similar experiences in the novel to those that she herself has with this genre in the real world.
I enjoyed the tempo in Death of the Author and the constant light intensity level. There is no moment in which the novel is boring, but it is also not too full of sensational events and plot twists. Rather, it asks subtle questions: why do people not take the climate crisis seriously when it could (or will) be their downfall? How (un)critically can and should people engage with technological innovations? Which human characteristics shape robots and artificial intelligence? What are the consequences?
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