The Constructed Nomad in Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis
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This article explores Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy as a nomadic parable critiquing the pejorative treatment of difference. It argues that Butler saw Cold War-era brinksmanship as symptomatic of humanity's destructive impulse to dominate the Other. While the Oankali offer an apparent alternative through their embrace of physical and sexual difference, their genetic trade ultimately enacts a subtler form of colonial homogenization. By contrast, the constructs, who are human/Oankali hybrids, embody Butler's ideological core. They represent a nomadic subjectivity rooted in interdependence, contingency, and affirmative difference. Through their capacity for mutual coexistence and creative affirmation of otherness, they promise a future that transcends exclusionary thinking. Thus, Butler's constructs offer not only a critique of domination-based worldviews, but a transformative model of coexistence.
Abstract
This article explores Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy as a nomadic parable critiquing the pejorative treatment of difference. It argues that Butler saw Cold War-era brinksmanship as symptomatic of humanity's destructive impulse to dominate the Other. While the Oankali offer an apparent alternative through their embrace of physical and sexual difference, their genetic trade ultimately enacts a subtler form of colonial homogenization. By contrast, the constructs, who are human/Oankali hybrids, embody Butler's ideological core. They represent a nomadic subjectivity rooted in interdependence, contingency, and affirmative difference. Through their capacity for mutual coexistence and creative affirmation of otherness, they promise a future that transcends exclusionary thinking. Thus, Butler's constructs offer not only a critique of domination-based worldviews, but a transformative model of coexistence.