Sustainable Futures: Liminality and Hybridization in Octavia E. Butler’s Xenogenesis

Authors : Muhsin Yanar

Pages : 259-270

Doi:10.22559/folklor.2693

View : 92 | Download : 77

Publication Date : 2025-02-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Octavia E. Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, consisting of Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988), and Imago (1989), later renamed Lilith’s Brood (2000), tells the story of the Oankali, an alien species developed to save the remnants of humanity following a nuclear catastrophe. The Oankali species has three distinct genders: male, female, and the “ooloi,” which manipulates the DNA of other species during mating. In Dawn, the main character, Lilith Iyapo, an African-American woman, willingly undertakes the hybridization process that the Oankali offer. This involves an evolution of the human and the creation of a new hybrid species with the Oankali. Adulthood Rites narrates the story of Akin, the child of Lilith, and the first human-Oankali “construct.” In Imago, Butler reads the story of Jodahs, Lilith’s other child. The trilogy explores the shift from being essentially a human to human-alien hybridity. Considering the notions of liminality and hybridization, this paper examines the process of human metamorphosis and evolution physically and conceptually. It unravels how biotechnology complicates the interconnection of power, racism, gender, and nature. Reading Butler’s trilogy from a posthumanist lens might contribute to our understanding of how it challenges oppressive hierarchical systems, the subordination of women by nature, and the marginalization of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, this paper questions the notion of rigid categories and examines the conventional distinctions that humanism establishes between “humans” and “non-humans.” Instead, it proposes the notion of “trans/corporeal multiplicities” that transcend dichotomies and boundaries. It investigates how Butler’s trilogy revisits humans and nonhuman beings and proposes perspectives that embrace sustainable futures
Keywords : Octavia Butler, Xenogenez, eşiktelik, meleşleşme, posthümanizm