Nnedi Okorafor: Noor as Noir, Cyborg Hybridity, Identity, and Disability

Abstract

Nnedi Okorafor’s Noor (2021) is an Africanfuturist exploration of the female cyborg body that parallels the ecological damage that out-of-control corporate capitalism is doing to the earth. This essay briefly summarizes the development of the noir cyborg through fiction, film, and feminist scholarship and then looks for further insight via Black feminist disability scholars Sami Schalk, Nirmala Ervelles, and Theri Alyce Pickens. It concludes with an exploration of Okorafor’s vision for ecologically healthy technological advancement along with ideas regarding human collaboration for peaceful change via sociologists Margaret Mead, adrienne maree brown, Deirdre Byrne, and John Paul Lederach.