Can I Get a Witness? Speculative Fiction as Testimony and Counterstory

• In Event: Attending to Complex Lives in Communities

Abstract

Drawing on Black feminist-womanist storytelling and the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space, this paper showcases how one Black girl uses speculative fiction as testimony and counterstory, calling for readers to bear witness to her experiences and inviting witnesses to respond to the negative experiences faced by Black girls in the United States. The author argues that speculative fiction creates space for Black girls to challenge dominant narratives and create new realities. Further, the author contends that by considering speculative fiction as testimony, readers can engage in a dialogic process with Black authors, affirming their lives and dreams as legitimate sources of knowledge.

Author

• Stephanie R Toliver, University of Colorado - Boulder