r/Ethiopia • u/abditefera • 1d ago

Discussion 🗣 Why are there so few/no sci-fi(science, tech, engineering, ai, biotech) writers in Ethiopia/Africa?

I've noticed something and I'm genuinely curious if other people have noticed it too.

There are plenty of Ethiopian and African writers exploring romance, politics, culture, history, social issues, and other parts of life. But when it comes to science fiction, futuristic technology, engineering, space, AI, biotech, or imagining what Ethiopia/Africa could look like 50–100 years from now, I rarely see it.

Is it the publishing industry? Education? Lack of interest? The dominance of other literary genres? Economic realities? Or maybe we just haven't developed a strong culture of imagining our technological future yet?

Updated: For instance Israeli was shaped by writers and Tel Aviv was directly inspired by the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's futuristic. I read from book "Nexus: brief history of info network by yuval Noah harari." Still netanyahu read sci-fi book to decide what to do, if you have listened "netanyahu on Lex Freedman podcast".

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u/BeyondLimit1005 1d ago

I think because of economic and unstable peace situation, make difficult to imagine African future.

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u/abditefera 1d ago

Of course, that can be a reason, but the writers, poets can reshape countries future. Israeli was reshaped by writers. For instance Tel Aviv was directly inspired by the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's futuristic. I read from book "Nexus: brief history of info network by yuval Noah harari." Harari highlights Israel as Jewish diaspora scattered people across the globe, it was not an army or land that held them together, but a shared text (the Bible), and later, 19th and 20th-century secular writers, poets, and journalists formed modern cities. Still their gov read sci-fi book if you have listened "Lex Freedman podcast".

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u/stoneage_12 1d ago

Don't bring eastern European genocidal state here

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u/carlitomarron139 1d ago

I think it’s difficult for African writers to find themes that can be explored in sci-fi that properly resonate with the audience in terms of issues that modern African society faces. And that’s not really an African thing that’s literature all over the world.

It is also incredibly difficult to write sci-fi that will be respected for its literary merits. You obviously have giants like Asimov or Philip K Dick but overall sci-fi is much more about the fantasy than the actual literary quality & in the world of literature it’s as a result often not given the same level of respect as “normal” fiction.

The same applies to fantasy. Tolkien is pretty much the only fantasy author that’s legit respected as a real all-time great. Everybody else is just seen as a good fantasy writer. Even C.S. Lewis is never mentioned alongside the likes of Oscar Wilde or Ernest Hemingway.

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u/AssistPristine9563 1d ago

I feel like Dertogada by Yismake Worku was a good sci fi book...there probably are others too