Perception and Complicity in Octavia Butler’s Kindred and J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians By Bradley Jønnum Brunelle A thesis presented to: The Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages English Literature Faculty of Humanities Advisor: Jakob Lothe In Partial Fullfillment of the Requirements for the MA Degree UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2014 II Perception and Complicity in Octavia Butler’s Kindred and J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians © Bradley Jønnum Brunelle 2014 Perception and Complicity in Octavia Butler‟s Kindred and J.M. Coetzee‟s Waiting for the Barbarians Bradley Jønnum Brunelle http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Allkopi Nedre Slottsgate, Oslo III IV Abstract The aim of this thesis is to thematically and formally compare and contrast Octavia Butler‟s Kindred and J.M. Coetzee‟s Waiting for the Barbarians. This thesis makes the argument that although these two novels differ somewhat in form and genre, a meaningful comparison may be made on the basis that a white supremacist state forms the thematic backdrop of both novels. Interestingly, although the two novels are informed by different racially oppressive states, they come to similar ethical conclusions regarding perception and complicity. Both illustrate the ways in which the state influences perceptions, especially concerning others. These perceptions in turn facilitate individuals‟ complicity with oppression. However, the novels also caution against judging complicity in others without proper perspective. Complicity in certain individuals is at times unknown or unavoidable. Another facet from which these novels are compared has to do with their narrative form. Both feature what James Phelan calls “character narrators.” Portions of Phelan‟s narrative model for character narration are applied in order to contrast how each of the novels exploits the ethical potential of this form. The implications of tense are also discussed, especially in light of the unconventional use of the simultaneous present tense in Coetzee‟s novel. This thesis concludes that the juxtaposition of these two novels demonstrates certain historical realities concerning the depiction of racially oppressive states. Moreover, it argues that each of these two novels illustrate a set of conditions which may be predicted in the other. V VI Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank those without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Firstly, I would like to extend my thanks and great appreciation to my instructor and advisor at the University of Oslo, Jakob Lothe for his invaluable guidance, encouragement and feedback throughout the process of formulating and writing this thesis. I would also like to thank all of my other instructors at the University of Oslo, especially Rebecca Scherr for not only introducing me to Kindred, but for helping me develop my academic writing skills. Thanks also goes out to my fellow students at UiO, especially those that I have shared literature courses with over the years and those who came together to form a literature thesis- writing group for their enlightening discussions and feedback. Mostly, I would like to thank my wife and best friend Mia for unending love and support, suggestions, formatting assistance and packed lunches. I love you always. Last, but not least, I thank my boys Sebastian and Benjamin for always being there and sacrificing so I could get the work done. VII VIII Table of Contents Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: A Close Reading of J.M. Coetzee‟s Waiting for the Barbarians..........10 Chapter 2: A Close Reading of Octavia Butler‟s Kindred......................................32 Chapter 3: Thematic Considerations.......................................................................54 Chapter 4: Narrative Considerations.......................................................................74 Conclusion...............................................................................................................91 Works Cited............................................................................................................94 IX X Introduction Problem Statement In many ways Coetzee‟s Waiting for the Barbarians and Butler‟s Kindred make for an unlikely pairing. While one is the work of the renowned South African linguist and post- colonial novelist, the other is the work of a lesser known African-American writer most recognized for her works of science-fiction. However, I would argue that these two novels have much in common both thematically and formally and that a side-by-side analysis of each can offer insight into some of the methods contemporary novels employ in a post- colonial/post-civil rights world. Moreover, this approach will, I hope, enable me to make a series of points about the thematics of the two works. It cannot be denied that European contact with other continents during the colonial period has had an overwhelming impact on those spaces. That contact has largely been characterized by a profound imbalance of power and an impulse to impose a single narrative for the benefit of the colonial state. Not unlike the power that God grants Adam to name everything he finds in the Garden of Eden, colonial settlers have felt that it is their prerogative to define others unlike themselves as they expand their domains. Invariably, these definitions operate on the premise that what is European and Christian is “civilized,” while everything else is “uncivilized.” This leads to the perception that others are somehow less human, which then becomes the justification to eliminate, assimilate and enslave entire populations. These activities would have implications for the way in which people perceive and write about themselves and others for hundreds of years. In fact, the impact is still being felt today, which is something that is evident in the two novels discussed in this thesis. Both of these novels deal with the problem of perception: how we perceive ourselves, how we perceive others and how much those perceptions are informed by the nations in which we live. Not only is perception handled on a thematic level in these novels, but it is a major aspect of their narrative forms as well. As the novels present characters that are forced to reconcile their previously held perceptions with their experiences, so too are the readers‟ perceptions positioned and re-positioned through narrative features. In this way, both novels make a type of meta-commentary on the power of written works, such as histories, to affect readers‟ perceptions. This is especially meaningful because the tendency of conventional 1 histories to undervalue or silence voices outside of the national narrative. I also point to complicity as having an important thematic and formal role in both works. Complicity and perception in fact go hand in hand, the implication in both novels being that many of the perceptions that the protagonists hold are symptomatic of their unwitting complicity in oppression. On a formal level, a more nuanced form of communication is illustrated through a triangle of authorial agency, narrative features and reader response. Like the works of most authors, Octavia Butler and J.M. Coetzee‟s novels are informed by the lives they have led. Octavia Butler (1947-2006) was an African-American woman and career science-fiction writer. Butler had a somewhat introverted childhood and began writing at a very young age as an outlet. Her writing has been influenced by the popular science-fiction of the time, but also by the African-American experience. In an interview with Randall Kenan Butler explains the importance of non-literary sources for her work: “Every place I‟ve lived is a non-literary source, every place and every person who has impressed me enough to keep my attention for a while” (503). Butler‟s body of work may then be described as a blend of science-fiction with social commentary from an African-American perspective. Butler freely incorporates elements of miscegenation, African lore and female African- American characters. Kenan notes that “Butler manages to use the conventions of science- fiction to subvert many long held assumptions about race, gender and power” (495). Perhaps none of Butler‟s works does this more than Kindred. In light of Butler‟s body of work, Kindred sets itself apart. It is normally shelved with African-American literature, rather than science-fiction. Though time travel is an important thematic device in the novel, the mechanism that drives it is not. Butler acknowledges this explaining, “Kindred is fantasy...with Kindred there‟s absolutely no science involved” (Kenan, 495). Furthermore, not only is Kindred influenced by Butler‟s own life, but she has chosen to allow it to be heavily informed by the African-American slave narrative as well. In this way, Butler further foregrounds the racial and social commentary that is such an important part of her body of work. However, the author also admits to being unable to fully recreate the slave experience. She says of Kindred: “one of the things I realized...was that I was not going to be able to come anywhere near presenting slavery as it was” (Kenan, 497). However, precisely this problematic, the impossibility of one ever fully understanding the context of another‟s suffering without experiencing it themselves, becomes a major theme in Kindred. 2 J.M. Coetzee (1940- ) is a South African linguist and writer of Afrikaner descent.