Ancestral science and technology in Brazilian literary afrofuturism: some cases

Abstract

The article seeks to present ancestry as a central element in Brazilian Afrofuturistic literature, exploring how literary works reconstruct future narratives from African and diasporic ancestral knowledge, in contrast to Eurocentric science and technology. The research uses a literary analysis of three Brazilian Afrofuturist works: "The Sky Between Worlds", "Ancestral", and the "Ketu 3" trilogy. By analyzing narrative elements such as character, action, and time, the authors investigate how these works intertwine technology, ancestral spirituality, and cultural resistance. The study concludes that Brazilian Afrofuturist literature emerges as a field of resistance, reconstructing memories and projecting alternative futures. Central characteristics include: 1. Revaluation of African knowledge; 2. Integration of technology and spirituality; 3. Protagonism of Black characters; 4. Critique of scientific Eurocentrism. The authors highlight that the differentiating factor of this literary production is presenting a science and technology that is not exclusively white, but grounded in ancestral knowledge. Melanin, for example, is resignified as a technological and spiritual element. Brazilian Afrofuturism is thus configured not merely as a literary genre, but as a movement of identity reconstitution and projection of utopian futures, where ancestry is a source of power and resistance. The research signals the emergence of a rich, expanding literary field that challenges hegemonic narratives and proposes new understandings of technology, culture, and identity.