Saturday, February 17, 2024

Neal on Far Sector

 From a recent issue of Arthuriana:

Neal, D'arcee Charington. "Who is Asking?: Afro-Arthurian Legend-making in N.K. Jemisin's Far Sector." Arthuriana, vol. 33 no. 3, Fall 2023, p. 86-103. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/art.2023.a910872.

Abstract:

Whether an Arthurian knight, a Green Lantern, or a Legendborn, one cannot have a legacy without first becoming a legend. In N.K. Jemisin's graphic novel Far Sector (2020) Sojourner 'Jo' Muellein's story as both community activist and guardian echoes, reinvents, and reimagines Arthurian romances through the lens of Afrofuturism; further, this fantastical remix challenges white supremacist modes of oppressive comic tradition by foregrounding racial and gendered identities. Making a legend is not about whom society has agreed to be the answer. Instead, such ideals lie with whoever asks the question. (DCN)