From Ancestral Memory to
Futuristic Vision: Indigenous Futurism and Mythopoetic
Structures in The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Vanitha N¹, Dr. V.
Thillaikarasi²
ABSTRACT
Ben Okri’s The Famished Road (1991) stands as a
pivotal work within the canon of African magical realism. However,
recent theoretical frameworks—particularly Indigenous Futurism and
Afrocentric mythopoetics—offer renewed insights into the novel’s
temporal structures and philosophical depth. This paper examines how
Okri draws from Yoruba cosmology and mythic archetypes to craft a
narrative that not only looks backward to ancestral memory but also
forward to a speculative, spiritually-informed African future.
Framed within Afrocentric literary theory and Indigenous Futurism,
the study interrogates the tension between cyclical and linear
temporalities, the function of the spirit child Azaro, and the
novel’s mythic symbolism as a vehicle for social transformation.
While some critics position The Famished Road solely within the
discourse of postcolonial magical realism, this paper argues that
Okri transcends the genre’s Latin American origins to articulate a
unique African metaphysical vision. Ultimately, the paper asserts
that Okri’s work reimagines time, identity, and destiny through a
decolonized epistemological lens, positioning Indigenous knowledge
systems as vital to imagining sustainable African futures.
Keywords: Mythopoetics, Indigenous, Futurism, Afrcian Future, Magic
Realism.
