"Kindred"by Octavia Butler
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Episode description
Octavia Butler's novel, Kindred, tells the story of Dana, a young Black woman living in 1970s California, who is suddenly and inexplicably transported back in time to the antebellum South. There, she finds herself living the life of her ancestors, working as a slave on a plantation and struggling to survive in a brutal and oppressive system.
As Dana navigates this unfamiliar world, she grapples with questions of identity, power, and agency, both as a Black woman in the present day and as a slave in the past. Along the way, she forms unexpected relationships with the people she encounters, including her white slave-owner ancestor and her own Black enslaved relatives.
Through Dana's eyes, readers are transported to a world that is both hauntingly familiar and shockingly different from their own, forcing them to confront the legacy of slavery and its ongoing impact on contemporary society. With its vivid characters, rich historical detail, and thought-provoking themes, Kindred is a powerful and enduring work of literature that continues to resonate with readers today.