Race, reproduction and colonization: the female body through Octavia E. Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories

This dissertation is centered around Octavia Estelle Butler and her short story collection Bloodchild and Other Stories. As the first African American woman to win multiple of the most prestigious science fiction awards, the Hugo and Nebula Award, and then the MacArthur Fellowship, she is considered a pioneer in a literary genre that, for most of the 20th century, had been primarily in the hands of white men. The goal is to analyze the seven stories of the collection and provide a deeper understanding of Butler’s approach to speculative fiction. Main point of interest and common denominator of the research is the female body, its more or less evident features, reproductive abilities and the interracial or interspecies sexual encounters in which they partake. The first chapter provides a broad overview of the history of science fiction, from its origins in the Gothic of the 19th century to the New Wave of the 70s. It also gives an insight into the struggle of women writers trying to affirm themselves as active participants of the genre, the obstacles placed in their way and the major themes of their writings. The last section is dedicated to the exploration of a recurring issue in science fiction studies, meaning the apparent lack of participation on the part of black writers during the Golden Age of science fiction and the possible reasons why. The second chapter is dedicated in its entirety to the analysis of Bloodchild and Other Stories. After a brief introduction to the collection, each section will be dedicated to the examination of the seven short stories, their main themes and underlying - even less obvious - meanings. The final and third chapter is ground for a cross-analysis of the female body throughout the collection. A first section will be dedicated to addressing its visible and less detectable features, specifically by diving into the issue of colorblindness and how Butler touched upon the concept of race across her stories. I will then shift focus on the feminine characteristics of these bodies, especially in their reproductive capabilities and how they are employed, proactively used, and abused or entirely impeded. Lastly, a final section will be dedicated to the analysis of how the female body is situated in respect of the alien other, what relationships the two of them develop and what they mean in respect of the concepts of conquest, colonization, and cohabitation.