Research in Contemporary World Literature

Research in Contemporary World Literature

An African-American Reading of Racial Discourse and Identity in Octavia Butler’s Kindred

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Mohammad Amin Mozaheb
Department of Foreign Languages, Language Center, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jor.2025.396625.2658
Abstract
This article explores the interconnection between racial discourse and identity formation in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, through the lens of African American literary and cultural theories. Focusing on the time-traveling journey of Dana, the novel’s protagonist, to the antebellum American South, the study reveals how Butler interrogates historical memory, systemic racial oppression, and the intergenerational trauma of slavery. By engaging with critical perspectives from African American studies, this reading underscores the enduring entanglement of contemporary African American identity with the legacy of racial violence, survival, and resistance. Furthermore, the article examines Butler’s use of speculative fiction and postmodern narrative structures as tools for reimagining history and amplifying marginalized voices that are often excluded from dominant historical narratives. In doing so, Butler not only blurs the boundaries between past and present but also critiques the persistent effects of slavery in modern times. Ultimately, this article reads Kindred as a powerful cultural and ethical intervention that challenges conventional modes of remembering and representing history. By situating the novel within the broader context of post-slavery literature and critical historiography, the article introduces Butler’s groundbreaking work to Iranian academic discourse, highlighting its relevance in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary studies of race, memory, trauma, and identity.
Keywords
Slavery
Contemporary Novel
Time Travel
Antebellum South
Postmodern
Subjects
 
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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 31, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 547-559