Kindred by Octavia Butler: Research Guide

The dystopian trope often associated with the African continent has given rise to a plethora of
counternarrative, rejecting this pessimistic view. In 2018 when the Black Panther was released, the intent of the
film was to project an inspirational, positive outlook for the continent as well as for Africans in diaspora. With
the aim of contributing to the trending conversation surrounding Blackness and the lived experiences of Black
people (in diaspora and in the motherland), this article explores the Afrofuristic fiction as a genre, through an
examination of Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Also, this article discusses the
essential role of history in Afrofuturist fiction as well as the representation of the historical accounts of Africans
and African Americans. A close examination of both works reveals that they espouse Afrofuturism in seemingly
contrasting ways.

The hallmark of Octavia E. Butler’s beloved novel “Kindred” is its believability. You may race through the book because it’s a cleverly constructed and paced science-fiction(-ish) page-turner. But its power comes from Butler’s meticulously imagined depiction of the lives of slaves and slave owners in the antebellum South

Her 1979 novel about time travel to the slaveholding South is adapted, loosely, in an FX series on Hulu.

Octavia E. Butler has an extraordinary catalog full of critically acclaimed novels that rightfully led her to be regarded as one of the greatest authors of the 20th century and one of the first African American women to be accepted into the genre of science fiction. Butler dedicated her work to exploring and dissecting Black narratives, making her work timeless and popular amongst several generations.

When word came that Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred was being adapted into a TV series for FX, fans of the 1979 novel seemed as hopeful and excited as they were territorial — glad Butler’s work was finally reaching screens but fiercely protective and adamant that nobody screw it up. Their anxieties were certainly understandable: Butler is considered the first Black writer to find success in the sci-fi genre.