Ambivalent colonal relations in octavia butler’s wild seed

Authors

  • Thamer Amer Jubouri Al Ogaili University Putra Malaysia
  • Ruzbeh Babaee University Putra Malaysia

Keywords:

Ambivalence, Hegemony, Postcolonialism, Self-Other Relationship, Butler

Abstract

This article explores postcolonial powers of ambivalence in Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed (1980). It will offer an in-depth analysis of the thematic and ideological characteristics of selected work. We will mainly focus on the theme of the mutual relationship between the colonized and the colonizer in the novel. This relationship is specified to the concept of ambivalence that incarnates the dual, yet, uncontrolled relationship between the colonized and the colonizer. Nevertheless, the colonized considers the colonizer as oppressive but an envious power; and the colonizer judges the colonized as inferior but indigenous. The colonial relationship will also be revealed by using the concept of self-other. Such concept scrutinizes the way the colonized and the colonizer perceive and resist each other. Thus, the study’s main focus point is the power relationship developed in the light of colonial ambivalence and self-other continuum. The colonial characteristics of this study offer a new interpretation of the colonial relationship depicted in the novel. Accordingly, the ambivalent relationship between the colonized and the colonizer will be equal (i.e. both of them have positive and negative attributes). This interpretation paves the way for other discourse studies interested in the depiction of the colonized and the colonizer relationship in postcolonial literature in general, and in Butler’s fiction in particular.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Thamer Amer Jubouri Al Ogaili, University Putra Malaysia

Senior lecturer of English Literature, University Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, English Department

Ruzbeh Babaee, University Putra Malaysia

Senior lecturer of English Literature, University Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, English Department

References

Ahmad, A. (1992). In Theory: Class, Nations, Literature. London: Verso, 1992.

Appleby, R S. (2000). The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Ashcroft, B. and Pal A. (1999). Edward said: Paradox of Identity. London: Routledge.

Berman, N., Euan M., and E. Jouannet. (2011). Passion and Ambivalence: Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law. Leiden: BRILL

Bhabha, H. K. (1990). Nation and Narration. London: Routledge. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994.

Boehme, E. (2006). Empire, the National, and the Postcolonial. New York: Oxford University Press

Butler, O. E. (1980). Wild Seed. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday

Chibber, V. (2012). Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital. London : Verso

Hollway, W. and B. Featherstone (1997). Mothering and Ambivalence. London: Routledge,

Hoogvelt, A. (2001). Globalization and the Postcolonial World. London: Pulgrave

Kapoor, I. (2008). The Postcolonial Politics of Development. London: Routledge

Krishna, S. (2009). Globalization and Postcolonialism: Hegemony and Resistance in the Twenty-First Century. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Pub.

Laitin, D. (1986). Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change Among the Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Loomba, A. (1998). Colonialism and Postcolonialism. New York: Routledge

Moore-Gilbert, B. (1997). Postcolonial Theory: Contexts, Practices, Politics. New York: Verso.

Nandy, A. (1988). The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism. New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books

Sheffer, G. (1986). Modern Diasporas in International Politics. London and Sydney: Croom Helm

Wainwright, J. (2008). Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.

Williams, P. & Chrisman, L. (1994). Colonial Discourse and Post-colonial: A Reader. New York: Columbia University Press

Wisker, G. (2007). Key Concepts in Postcolonial Literature. New York: Palgrave

Young, R. (1993). White Mythologies: Writing History and the West. London: Routledge

Downloads

Published

2016-01-04

How to Cite

Ogaili, T. A. J. A., & Babaee, R. (2016). Ambivalent colonal relations in octavia butler’s wild seed. Journal of Human Sciences, 13(1), 22–31. Retrieved from https://j-humansciences.com/ojs/index.php/IJHS/article/view/3458

Issue

Section

Language and Literature