Arboreal dialogics
An ecocritical exploration of Octavia Butler'sDawn
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6031088 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew Plisner (University of Kansas, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 145-159 |
| Publication date | 2009-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Identities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14725840902808819 |
| OpenAlex | W1968956320 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 16 |
Critical essays postulating Octavia Butler's myriad literary works abound. However, ecocritical perspectives through which these assessments occur are few. Moreover, ecocritical analyses as they relate to Afro-diasporic histories have been sparsely developed. In this piece the author argues for a hybrid African Diasporic/ecocritical assessment of Butler's Dawn in three dynamic sections: ‘New beginnings’, ‘Metamorphoses/polymorphisms’ and ‘Science fiction/speculative fiction and Afrofuturism’. The first section syntactically critiques the book's – and trilogy's – title(s), and how they relate to notions of hegemony. The second section mediates self-identity in relation to social and ecological environments, particularly corporeal invasion and colonial subjectivities. Finally, the third section highlights the Afro-Diasporic voice represented in Dawn and its relation to cultural memories. Through these topics, the author not only explores ecological dialogics presented by Butler, but also intersections between gender, culture, society and nature – transcending traditional binaries in order to present a heteroglossia of ecocritical critiques
Aesthetics · Art · Colonialism · Ecocriticism · Foregrounding · Hegemony · Heteroglossia · Literature · Politics · Sociology · Trilogy · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Gender Studies · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · History · Law · Philosophy · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction
The crucible of race
Exhibiting cultures
Further considerations on Afrofuturism
Black to The future
Revisiting the Black Struggle
Environmental Orientalisms
Lilith, Or the Black Moon
Embodied Space(s)
Dark Matter
A Hateful Passion, a Lost Love
Maroons Within the Present Limits of the United States
Further Considerations of Afrofuturism
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |