FEMST 185GR Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Octavia E. Butler, Autopsy, Body Fluid
Document Summary
Rememory: novel is situating the stake of trauma & space. Lingering effects of trauma (e. g. slavery, school shootings) Beloved is a force that propels paul d. to confront his ugly past. Denver figures out that beloved is the ghost of her dead sister. Infanticide as resistance - sethe killed her baby/beloved so she wouldn"t have to grow up in a life of enslavement. Brown girl in the ring, daughters of the dust, parable of the sower connections. Earthseed is a book within the novel. Economic structure based more on relationships than exploitation (covid-19: essential workers = disposable) Queer undertones - only come out at night, in the shadows. Vampire is dangerously attractive queer is dangerous in heteropatriarchal society. Vampire is metaphor for race -- people nervous about being turned into queers; human + vampire blood = turn into a vampire. Octavia butler: vampires are black and must deal with racism.
