The African cosmology recognises two spheres of existence--the physical and the spiritual, between which there is an inseparable link and constant interactions. Every sphere of existence is connected to the other: the living to the dead, the born to the unborn, humans to the deities. And because many African stories (and particularly many in this collection) are a fictional reflection of the realities of life in the African cosmology, it can be a mislabel to regard them as fantasy--especially if by fantasy we mean the genre of escapist literature in which readers must suspend their belief to enjoy. The concept of fantasy (part of the broader category of speculative fiction) used to label imaginative fictions involving outlandish characters, magical elements, and often set in created worlds, can sometimes be ill-fitting when used for many literary works of similar rendering from the African continent. Thus, the scope of literary works contemplated under this project is not captured by any extant term in African or other literature. In view of this lacuna, Afropantheology was conceived to capture the gamut of African works which, though having fantasy elements, are additionally imbued with the African spiritual realities. Afropantheology is a portmanteau of Afro and Pantheology. Pantheology is the study of gods, religions, and the bodies of knowledge associated with them. Derivatively, Afropantheology is the study of African (and African-descended) religions, gods, and the bodies of knowledge associated with them. It is a term to capture the essence of the stories in this project, and also solves the age-old problem of accurate and respectful labelling of stories based on African lore and religion. They are not mere fantasies, neither do such labels as "godpunk" serve entirely to clothe these works, as skins do bones, for these stories stretch beyond just showing the 'gods.' What may more correctly pass for the African literary equivalent to fantasy are the folklores, which are imaginative and didactic stories usually involving outlandish creatures and heroes, meant to entertain and sometimes instruct. And so, these stories are not folklores, but (fictional) renderings of the histories passed down from keepers of African culture and lores. It is necessary that the stories be recognised for what they represent. The dystopic stories in this collection, like similar stories from the African continent, are realities, even if fictionalised realities. These stories should be properly identified for what they represent: the African dystopic reality. This quest to correct the mislabelling would not be necessary but for the colonisation and the bastardisation of African spirito-cultural sphere. While the colonialists undermined African political establishments, the missionaries undermined African spiritual and cultural establishments. Both groups of invaders came with a similarly (misplaced) superiority mind-set which sought to impose their perceived higher political and religious doctrines on the natives. They worked to usher us into a culture of dystopias in which Africans were storyless, to rip from our hearts our songs, and to steal the joy from our dances, the tales from our tongues, and the fire from our eyes that looked to the future.
