The Innovation of a New Writing Style

    If I were to read Kindred with no knowledge of the time it was written, I would have placed it squarely in the 2000s, maybe even 2010s. I would have thought “what a well researched portrait of the 1970s and 1800s”. The sentence structure, the element of hyper-detail, emotional description, and the quintessentially modern feel of the work would have immediately thrown me off from its real publication date of 1979. It lies in such contrast to  other science fiction novels I've read, specifically in its depth with regards to emotional matters, and I think it is that factor that makes it such a revolutionary piece (my main body of reference is Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Jules Verne, and Andy Weir, though I’m pretty sure the theme holds at least relatively well among other writers). 

I personally wouldn’t choose to consume media in this style on my own. It doesn’t appeal to me, and I think now it’s perhaps overdone (but that’s of course a matter of personal opinion). I will however say that I think style was such an important vehicle for conveying precisely what this book seeks to convey. What is that exactly? What does Kindred add to the volume of literature on the experiences of slaves and people of color from the 1800s all the way up to the 1970s? Not fact, not genuine personal narrative, not statistics, not an argument, but instead an opportunity for the reader to empathize and envision an impossible but incredibly emotionally charged scenario. It’s a thought exercise in the deepest and most complicated way. Without explicitly asking, it implies the constant question of “what would you do?”. I don’t think the same gravity would come across without the intimacy this writing style offers and the open window we get to Dana’s ever evolving thoughts, feelings and motivations as she navigates this mind bendingly devastating reality.  One particularly strong example I think occurs during her 3rd visit when she watches the family ripped from their home and beaten. That whole passage was so vivid, and while it was difficult and awful to read, it put us right there with her to experience the whole thing. It was nearly movie-level realism, and that is so useful when crafting an understanding of history.

Beyond it’s contribution to a deeper understanding of slavery and the experiences of enslaved people, Kindred is able to present these themes to a popular audience, which is in itself so valuable. Out of all the books we’ve read so far this semester (which all follow a partial or main theme of black experiences, racism etc.), Kindred was easily the most accessible, and in being so I would say conveyed its message most clearly and effectively. Beyond that, of all the novels we’ve read so far I think it demonstrates the blending of fiction and history in the most unique way, and this particular application of that postmodernist concept will undoubtedly stick with me. 

Very interesting work and most certainly a new direction for the class. I look forward to seeing what Libra has in store. 

Comments

  1. Rithika PatnamApril 19, 2022 at 11:19 AM

    I completely agree that the accessibility of Kindred made it a lot easier to just focus on the actual content and its implications. As I was reading, I was never consciously thinking about trying to decipher the stylistic techniques and got to dissect the character's relationships way more (which is way more fun). For the other books we read this semester, you could definitely argue that the complex styles adds a depth to the novel that Kindred doesn't have, though.

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  2. RylandApril 20, 2022 at 7:43 PM

    I did not notice it as we were reading but in retrospect I would agree, I was not struck by anything that would suggest it was written any time more than 15 years ago. While innovative, I would not think anything out of the ordinary about Butler's prose. It is really her timelessness that I think enhances the relatability. Were she writing only for a 1970s audience, I think some of the messages may have been lost on us.

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  3. MitchellApril 21, 2022 at 11:10 AM

    Perhaps to some extent, any historical narrative might compel a reader to contemplate hypothetical questions about how they might react if they were in this situation or context--it's maybe an inevitable aspect of any in-depth contemplation of history, even more so when it's a fictional character-based narrative. But as you say, this novel--by having a figure for the *reader* in Dana, and also Kevin--makes those questions much more explicit and urgent. With Kevin, it's not hypothetical: he faces an insane kind of "test" of his principles, as he can actually show and prove what he "would" do in this alien and brutal environment that promises him all kinds of privilege and protection. (Happily, Kevin mostly "passes" the test.)

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