The Power Writing in Octavia Butler's Science Fiction Parables Series
The ideological nature of literary discourse determines that it has become an important field for the gaming and transformation of power relations.The heterogeneity and openness unique to science fiction allow the subversive discourses that are forbidden within the dominate power structure to circulate legally in a certain concrete way,and meanwhile participate in the power struggle within the social field.Octavia Butler,a contemporary African American female writer,employs the typical"dystopia-utopia"alternating structure in her Parable series,to realize the implicit writing of power dynamics.Based on French philosopher Michel Foucault's power theory,this paper explores how Butler takes advantages of the genre of science fiction to describe the ecology of the power field in contemporary American society and what kinds of literary techniques employed by her to respond effectively to the prevailing mainstream discourses.Butler demystifies damaging discourses by sketching the apocalyptic scene of the dystopian America to awaken the numb people to the reality of contemporary world and at the same time dissolves the legitimacy of dominate discourses and create an alternative power order by drawing pictures of utopian communities.Therefore,it can be seen that Butler's science fictions embody both the function of criticizing social reality and the constructive force to change the balance of power in the discourse field so as to satisfy the author's need for power in a maximum way.In a sense,Butler's power writing reveals science fictions'strong commitment to the social and political life.
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