{"title":"Dystopian Futures: Ugandan Science Fiction and Post-Apocalypse Contagions","authors":"E. Nabutanyi","doi":"10.25159/1753-5387/10413","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Uganda, like most countries on the African continent, has in the recent past grappled with existential pandemics such as AIDS, Marburg disease, cholera, Ebola, and currently the Covid-19 pandemic. All the above-mentioned disease outbreaks have often unleashed unimaginable suffering on Uganda’s population. This is perhaps why Ugandan scholars and public intellectuals—especially its writers such as Mary Karooro Okurut, Moses Isegawa, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Austin Ejeit—have used fiction to offer insights into the various contours of these contagions. For example, in their interrogation of one of the worst pandemics to hit the Ugandan society—AIDS—a host of writers have centred a cautionary tale motif and verisimilitude to show how behavioural change can effectively combat disease outbreaks. This article builds on this substantial Ugandan archive of plague writing by focusing on one genre of Ugandan writing—science fiction—that has not received much critical attention for its exploration of pandemics. I explore how Dilman Dila’s “A Leafy Man,” “Where Rivers Go to Die” and “The Taking of Oleng” use science fiction tropes to proffer insights in contemporary Ugandan plagues. I argue that Dila uses science fiction to effectively delineate the causes of, how to cope with and the myths that circulate about these catastrophic occurrences in the Ugandan public sphere.\nOpsomming\nSoos die meeste lande op die Afrika-vasteland het Uganda onlangs met eksistensiële pandemies soos vigs, Marburg, cholera en ebola geworstel, benewens die huidige Covid-19-pandemie. Al die bogenoemde siekte-uitbrekings het dikwels ondenkbare lyding vir Uganda se bevolking meegebring. Dalk is dit die rede waarom Ugandese vakkundiges en openbare intellektuele—veral skrywers soos Mary Karooro Okurut, Moses Isegawa, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, en Austin Ejeit—fiksie gebruik het om insig in die verskillende kontoere van hierdie besmettings te bied. Byvoorbeeld, in hul ondersoeke oor een van die ergste pandemies wat die Ugandese samelewing getref het, naamlik vigs, het vele skrywers ’n waarskuwende verhaalmotief en skynwaarheid die middelpunt gemaak om te wys hoe gedragsverandering die uitbreking van siektes doeltreffend kan bekamp. Hierdie artikel bou voort op dié omvattende Ugandese argief van skryfwerk oor siektes, deur te fokus op een genre van Ugandese skryfwerk—wetenskapsfiksie—wat nie veel kritiese aandag gekry het vir die bestudering van pandemies nie. Ek ondersoek hoe\nDilman Dila se “A Leafy Man,” “Where Rivers Go to Die” en “The Taking of Oleng” wetenskapsfiksie-stylfigure gebruik om insig oor hedendaagse Ugandese plae te bied. Ek voer aan dat Dila wetenskapsfiksie gebruik om ’n doeltreffende beeld te skep van die oorsake van hierdie katastrofiese verskynsels wat in die Ugandese openbare sfeer sirkuleer, hoe om dit te hanteer en die mites daaromtrent.","PeriodicalId":43700,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Literary Studies","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Literary Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1092","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.25159/1753-5387/10413","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Uganda, like most countries on the African continent, has in the recent past grappled with existential pandemics such as AIDS, Marburg disease, cholera, Ebola, and currently the Covid-19 pandemic. All the above-mentioned disease outbreaks have often unleashed unimaginable suffering on Uganda’s population. This is perhaps why Ugandan scholars and public intellectuals—especially its writers such as Mary Karooro Okurut, Moses Isegawa, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Austin Ejeit—have used fiction to offer insights into the various contours of these contagions. For example, in their interrogation of one of the worst pandemics to hit the Ugandan society—AIDS—a host of writers have centred a cautionary tale motif and verisimilitude to show how behavioural change can effectively combat disease outbreaks. This article builds on this substantial Ugandan archive of plague writing by focusing on one genre of Ugandan writing—science fiction—that has not received much critical attention for its exploration of pandemics. I explore how Dilman Dila’s “A Leafy Man,” “Where Rivers Go to Die” and “The Taking of Oleng” use science fiction tropes to proffer insights in contemporary Ugandan plagues. I argue that Dila uses science fiction to effectively delineate the causes of, how to cope with and the myths that circulate about these catastrophic occurrences in the Ugandan public sphere.
Opsomming
Soos die meeste lande op die Afrika-vasteland het Uganda onlangs met eksistensiële pandemies soos vigs, Marburg, cholera en ebola geworstel, benewens die huidige Covid-19-pandemie. Al die bogenoemde siekte-uitbrekings het dikwels ondenkbare lyding vir Uganda se bevolking meegebring. Dalk is dit die rede waarom Ugandese vakkundiges en openbare intellektuele—veral skrywers soos Mary Karooro Okurut, Moses Isegawa, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, en Austin Ejeit—fiksie gebruik het om insig in die verskillende kontoere van hierdie besmettings te bied. Byvoorbeeld, in hul ondersoeke oor een van die ergste pandemies wat die Ugandese samelewing getref het, naamlik vigs, het vele skrywers ’n waarskuwende verhaalmotief en skynwaarheid die middelpunt gemaak om te wys hoe gedragsverandering die uitbreking van siektes doeltreffend kan bekamp. Hierdie artikel bou voort op dié omvattende Ugandese argief van skryfwerk oor siektes, deur te fokus op een genre van Ugandese skryfwerk—wetenskapsfiksie—wat nie veel kritiese aandag gekry het vir die bestudering van pandemies nie. Ek ondersoek hoe
Dilman Dila se “A Leafy Man,” “Where Rivers Go to Die” en “The Taking of Oleng” wetenskapsfiksie-stylfigure gebruik om insig oor hedendaagse Ugandese plae te bied. Ek voer aan dat Dila wetenskapsfiksie gebruik om ’n doeltreffende beeld te skep van die oorsake van hierdie katastrofiese verskynsels wat in die Ugandese openbare sfeer sirkuleer, hoe om dit te hanteer en die mites daaromtrent.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Literary Studies publishes and globally disseminates original and cutting-edge research informed by Literary and Cultural Theory. The Journal is an independent quarterly publication owned and published by the South African Literary Society in partnership with Unisa Press and Taylor & Francis. It is housed and produced in the division Theory of Literature at the University of South Africa and is accredited and subsidised by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training. The aim of the journal is to publish articles and full-length review essays informed by Literary Theory in the General Literary Theory subject area and mostly covering Formalism, New Criticism, Semiotics, Structuralism, Marxism, Poststructuralism, Psychoanalysis, Gender studies, New Historicism, Ecocriticism, Animal Studies, Reception Theory, Comparative Literature, Narrative Theory, Drama Theory, Poetry Theory, and Biography and Autobiography.