Nsukka Journal of the Humanities

Title: Symbolisms as Cultural Signifiers in Contemporary American and African Science Fiction: A Stylistic Analysis of Selected Texts

DOI: https://doi.org/10. 62250/nsuk.2026.34.2.1.15

Authors: Nwaugo Goodseed Ochulor, Victor Kelechi Ashiegbu, Adeleke A. Fakoya, Ebenezer Deji Ogunrinde4

Published Date: 2026-08-13

Abstract: This study aims to explore the linguistic-stylistic realisation of symbolism in the contemporary science fiction works of American and African writers, namely Andy Weir&#39s Project Hail Mary, Nnedi Okorafor&#39s Remote Control, Micaiah Johnson&#39s The Space Between Worlds and Tade Thompson&#39s Far from the Light of Heaven. The analysis draws upon Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and examines the ways symbolism is linguistically realised and the ways it expresses differences in cultural worldviews. The study adopts a qualitative approach with a purposive sample to extract and analyse the symbolic elements from the texts in relation to the ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions of SFL, which can provide a more nuanced interpretation of how symbolism is used to construct meaning related to science, technology, identity and survival. It is concluded that American science fiction symbolism is essentially instrumental and technoscientific, emphasising rational problem-solving, empirical control and technological dominance, while African-centred science fiction symbolic systems are grounded in cultural memory, spirituality, ecological awareness and socio-political history, which serve as the grounding of meaning in lived experience rather than speculative abstraction. Johnson&#39s story illustrates a hybrid symbolic system, combining technological and metaphysical themes and identity fragmentation. It is thus concluded that symbolism is not merely ornamental but is ideologically significant in representing the American and African narrative traditions in the construction of knowledge, identity and reality. Keywords: Science fiction, Cultural worldview, American science Fiction, African science fiction, Ideology

Citation criteria:

Weir, A. (2021). Project Hail Mary. New York: Ballantine Books. [Verification note: page references correspond to the US first edition; please confirm edition and update numbering if citing another printing.]

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