SPACE IS THE PLACE: AFROFUTURISM IN OLIVIA WENZEL'S MAIS IN DEUTSCHLAND UND ANDEREN GALAXIEN (2015)

In this article I explore the influence of Afrofuturism on Olivia Wenzel's play Mais in Deutschland und anderen Galaxien . The play focuses on the black German protagonist Noah by showing scenes from his life, ranging from his childhood in East Germany to his problems as an adult. In a post‐modernist style, the play does not follow one narrative thread and there is no authoritative perspective. Most importantly, Wenzel's inclusion of fantastical characters, space travel, and a non‐linear narrative adds an element of Afrofuturism to the text. In a self‐referential move, one of the play's narrative threads is a comic book story that Noah writes about himself and his mother called Mais in Deutschland und anderen Galaxien , and this is where the fantastical characters and space travel emerge. At the conclusion of both the comic and the play, Noah's fictional self sprouts wings and flies into space, escaping the stifling structures that determined his life and his relationships on earth. I argue that these Afrofuturist elements allow Wenzel to challenge the notion of a homogeneous black German subject, by positing the possibility of multiple galaxies and diverse ways for Noah to experience his self that do not necessarily coalesce to form a unified subject.