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Emily Maguire
Afrofuturism is understood as encompassing critical, narratival, aesthetic, and activist practices that, in the words of Ytasha Womak, "redefine culture and notions of blackness for today and the future." While the Caribbean might seem a natural site for Afrofuturist cultural exploration, until recently, few works of Hispanophone Caribbean literature had been identified as belonging to this subgenre. That situation changed with the publication of Prietopunk: antología de afrofuturismo caribeño (2022), which announces itself as the first Spanish-language anthology of Caribbean Afrofuturism. This article explores the collection's articulation of Afrofuturism through an analysis of four of its stories: Rafael Acevedo's "La orisha 2034 es tremenda máquina," Erick Mota's "En candela con Ochosi," Aníbal Hernández Medina's translation of Junot Díaz's "Monstro," and Gretchen López Ayala's "Crioulo." It argues that these stories present a specifically Caribbean futurism, one that, while it may not center explicitly on Black imaginaries, reveals an Antillean desire to engage the future possible in a way that highlights the importance of African-derived cultural elements, explores the region's complex racial dynamics, and underscores the weight of Caribbean histories.
