HISTORICISING AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE IN OCTAVIA BUTLER’S KINDRED AND FLEDGLING

By

Imoh Abang Emenyi

&

Aniebiet Ibanga Enoidem

Department of English and Literary Studies

University of Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

The people of African descent in the United States have a traumatic history, which this work sets out to interrogate through Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Fledgling. It employs a qualitative critical literary approach, by combining close reading, historical contextualisation and theoretical critiques to interpret the primary texts in an attempt to explore the history and psychological effect of slavery on the perception of African Americans as well as the survival strategies they employed to overcome slavery and marginalisation. From a New Historicist perspective, the trauma of Black history of the slave trade, the yearning for a distinctive Black culture, the struggle with poverty and lack of identity are brought under scrutiny. In the context of this work, New Historicism explores how the socio-economic context of Octavia Butler and peculiar happenings in society affect the interpretation of Kindred and Fledgling. The study therefore reveals that our uniqueness comes from our differences and accepting such differences determines our growth as a society because beyond racial classification, there are no real differences in human essence.