Afrofuturism and Degradation in Adaobi Onyeakagbu's When the Sun Comes

Abstract

The study seeks to establish the relationship between afrofuturism and ecocriticism using Adaobi Onyeakagbu's short story, When the Sun Comes. It goes further to highlight the futuristic effects of degradation in the ecosystem with the main focus on Ozone Layer depletion. Afrofuturism which is speculative in nature exposes weather predictions, life expectancy forecasts, and economic predictions and how it can affect nature, man, government, science and the eco system at large. The short story under study however shuttles between the past and the present to show the damage the depletion of the ozone layer and the removal of the sun has on the atmosphere and man in the future. The study exposes the hazardous effects of man's carelessness towards caring for his environment. The study highlights the extent of psychological torture these ecological changes have on the characters in the short story. The aim of this paper is to express the outburst of concerns eco-critics and futurists have about the continuous degenerating level of the ecosystem.