How does “Parable of the Sower” construct a utopian society out of a dystopian time without the need of a sovereign?

Phillips, Jerry . “The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower.” JSTOR.org, summer 2002, www.jstor.org/stable/1346188. 

• Phillips argued that the novel should be centering on the central problem of the present and how to find pathways to utopia when all the pathways are being blocked by dystopias of fascism and Stalinism that have collapsed utopia into catastrophe.

Nilges, Mathias. ““We Need the Stars”: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents.”” JSTOR.org, winter 2009, www.jstor.org/stable/27743152. 

• Nilges stated the way Butler treats the concept of change indicates a necessary time difference between postmodernism and post-Fordist culture. Butler doesn’t represent change as a solution but rather as a central problem in society and everyone expects everything to go back to normal. Traditional stabilities become non-existent. Butler represents Earthseed as a subject that needs to adapt to the adaptations and form a community around the main change. Butler’s parable allows us to discover the roots of politically and socially developed idealized re-filiation as a response to the dominance of the decentered subject in post-Fordism, exposing the desires of the self-conscious about the cultural creation of post-Fordism.

Agusti, C. (2005). The Relationship Between Community and Subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Extrapolation, 46(3), 351–359. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2005.46.3.7

• Agusti’s main focus is on how Butler dramatizes and overcomes the concept revolving around the exploitation of females that comes from the formation of capitalism through corporations. The article also centered on Olamina’s act against an oppressed system that is unjust and unfair to people of color and Butler being able to develop her utopian community approach towards gender and racial difference and creating an equal society. The novel’s objective is to map a subjective idea or sequence of viable strategies that originate within the consciousness of a Black female who can express a political voice and can actively have an effect on social change.

Zamalin, A. (2019). OCTAVIA BUTLER AND THE POLITICS OF UTOPIAN TRANSCENDENCE. In Black Utopia(pp. 123–136). Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/zama18740-010

• Zamalin argued that Butler opposes the idea of neoliberal dreams in her novel since, from her perspective, economic freedom leads not to great individual choices but instead to higher risks of violence and insecurity. In which the government can create an eviscerated life where every resource becomes so scarce that it only leads people to react in barbaric ways. Butler uses the American dystopia fantasy for Lauren to transform this philosophical and ideological religious community that is opposed to the rules that were the norms and instead to implement new changes to grow as a community together, fabricating an alternative movement that seeks social justice and fairness equality that will grant them a higher chance of surviving a dark world meanwhile everyone inside the community has the liberty to express their ideas and their freedoms. Parable built the concept of “earthseed” as a revolutionary and philosophical durability capable of assembling a democratic future.

Stillman, Peter G. “Dystopian Critiques, Utopian Possibilities, and Human Purposes in Octavia Butler’s Parables.” JSTOR.org, 2003, www.jstor.org/stable/20718544.

• Stillman said Butler generates details of social fatalities that stand the results of corporations, practices, and personal experiences. Butler links dreams and nightmares through future dystopian fatalities that are inevitable as the result of current utopian systems that revolve in our everyday life, and the good things that currently come out of this “utopian” idea will later in the future turn into a dystopian nightmare. Butler’s imagery of dystopian possibilities presents warnings of the present existing problems and ideologies. The struggling points in the novel are the reflection of what Butler sees in her present time. The novelty provides considerable insights into American dystopia eviscerated by government or aggressive and intrusive religious fundamentals to the existence that there are still hopes of potential utopians. Butler proposes various utopian possibilities where human beings can act together in a sensuous unity to change themselves and their perspective of the world.

Clausen, Daniel D. “Cli-Fi Georgic and Grassroots Mutual Aid in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Western American Literature, vol. 56 no. 3, 2021, p. 269-286. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/wal.2021.0040.

• Clausen argues that creating new stories can revolve around the concept of existing events, like history, and the knowledge one has in implementing those ideas into a whole new story, as Butler did in the parables. Clausen views the novel as an example of participating in a historical tradition of values that puts out an antiracist and an anarchist perspective.

Question: How does Butler’s portrayal of Earthseed in Parable of the Sower defy traditional religious narratives by redefining divinity as “change,” and how does this redefinition affect concepts of resilience and community within a dystopian context? 

Allen, Marlene D. “Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable’ Novels and the ‘Boomerang’ of African American History.” Callaloo, vol. 32, no. 4, 2009, pp. 1353–65, https://doi.org/10.1353/cal.0.0541.

Allen examines how Butler’s Parable novels reflect Afrocentric aesthetics and critique historical cycles of oppression, particularly for African Americans. She connects Lauren Olamina’s Earthseed to African American history, framing Earthseed as a “re-memory” that offers tools for survival amid environmental and societal crises. Allen explains Butler’s redefinition of divinity as “change” and engages it with historical narratives and resilience. It also opens a space to critique the degree to which Earthseed functions as a proactive rather than reactive philosophy.

Dubey, Madhu. “Folk and Urban Communities in African-American Women’s Fiction: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 27, no. 1, 1999, pp. 103–28, https://doi.org/10.1353/saf.1999.0017.

Dubey examines how Butler critiques traditional notions of community and identity, framing Earthseed as a response to urban fragmentation. She highlights the challenges of creating inclusive, adaptable communities in dystopian settings. Dubey’s argument is pivotal for analyzing Earthseed’s emphasis on diversity and mutual care, though it opens questions about the scalability of such communities.

Melzer, Patricia. “‘All That You Touch You Change’: Utopian Desire and the Concept of Change in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.” Femspec (Cleveland, Ohio), vol. 3, no. 2, 2002, pp. 31-.

Melzer highlights Earthseed’s feminist dimensions, focusing on its redefinition of community and parenthood. She frames Earthseed as rejecting patriarchal ideals, emphasizing mutual care and collective survival. Her perspective provides a lens for analyzing Earthseed’s social and gender dynamics, but provides emphasis on collective over individual agency offers a point of contention.

Nilges, Mathias. “‘We Need the Stars’: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower’ and ‘Parable of the Talents.’” Callaloo, vol. 32, no. 4, 2009, pp. 1332–52, https://doi.org/10.1353/cal.0.0553.

Nilges discusses Earthseed as a philosophical framework centered on adaptability and community, contrasting it with outdated societal and religious structures. He emphasizes Earthseed’s alignment with postmodern critiques of meta-narratives, framing its focus on change as a counterpoint to rigid ideologies. His argument allows me to understand better how Butler challenges traditional religious narratives, though it opens room to question whether Earthseed transcends or merely critiques postmodernity.

Phillips, Jerry. “The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower.’” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 35, no. 2/3, 2002, pp. 299–311. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1346188. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Phillips situates Parable of the Sower in debates about modernity and postmodernity, focusing on exploring utopian and dystopian impulses. He argues that Butler reimagines utopia by integrating catastrophe into her future vision. Phillips mainly discusses Earthseed’s tension between idealism and survivalism, primarily in its response to dystopian realities.

Ruffin, Kimberly T. “Parable of a 21st Century Religion: Octavia Butler’s Afrofuturistic Bridge between Science and Religion.” Obsidian III, vol. 6/7, 2005, pp. 87–104. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44511664. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Ruffin situates Earthseed within an Afrofuturistic tradition, emphasizing its ability to critique and transcend traditional Western religious frameworks. She highlights Lauren’s theological innovation as a necessary response to environmental and societal collapse. This source discusses Earthseed’s theological aspects but makes it debatable whether or not its Afrofuturistic framing limits Earthseed’s universality.

STILLMAN, PETER G. “Dystopian Critiques, Utopian Possibilities, and Human Purposes in Octavia Butler’s Parables.” Utopian Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, 2003, pp. 15–35. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20718544. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Stillman explains how Butler uses dystopian settings to critique societal issues and propose utopian possibilities through Earthseed. He analyzes the philosophy’s capacity to address global crises and foster resilience. The key for this source is to examine how Earthseed functions as both a critique and a solution. However, Stillman’s classification of Earthseed as “utopian” can be contested in light of its survivalist pragmatism.

Final research question: How does “Parable of the Sower” use speculative fiction to explore psychological responses to climate change anxiety, particularly through characters’ resistance to change?” 

Allen, Marlene D. “Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable’ Novels and the ‘Boomerang’ of African American History.” Callaloo, vol. 32, no. 4, 2009, pp. 1353–1365.

• Allen examines historical and psychological trauma in Butler’s Parable novels, focusing on how they address societal anxieties. Her analysis provides a foundation for understanding the psychological aspects of climate change anxiety, particularly how Butler’s characters grapple with historical and personal resistance to change. This source contributes to my argument by linking broader societal anxieties with individual psychological struggles.

Burkhart, Matt. “‘Trees Are Better than Stone’: Vital Commemoration in Octavia Butler’s Parable Novels.” Western American Literature, vol. 56, no. 3–4, 2021, pp. 287–313.

•   Burkhart explores ecological resilience and adaptation in Parable of the Sower. His focus on characters’ responses to environmental collapse and their resistance to traditional societal norms aligns with my research question, offering insight into how Butler uses speculative fiction to depict psychological responses to climate-induced trauma.

Clausen, Daniel D. “Cli-Fi Georgic and Grassroots Mutual Aid in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Western American Literature, vol. 56, no. 3–4, 2021, pp. 269–286.

• Clausen’s discussion of mutual aid and community-building highlights how Butler’s characters resist societal frameworks during crises. This analysis is key to my argument as it demonstrates how speculative fiction can depict grassroots solutions as both acts of resistance and psychological coping mechanisms in the face of climate change anxiety.

Federmayer, Éva. “Migrants and Disaster Subcultures in the Late Anthropocene: An Ecocritical Reading of Octavia Butler’s Parable Novels.” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 2017, pp. 347–370.

• Federmayer provides an ecocritical lens on migration and survival strategies, focusing on climate anxiety and resistance to socio-political change. Her analysis deepens my exploration of the psychological responses in Parable of the Sower, particularly how characters navigate disrupted landscapes and resist oppressive systems.

LeMenager, Stephanie. “Climate Change and the Struggle for Genre.” Modern Language Association, vol. 127, no. 3, 2012, pp. 593–600.

• LeMenager examines how speculative fiction genres grapple with climate change narratives, emphasizing their role in addressing psychological and societal challenges. Including her analysis enriches my argument by situating Parable of the Sower within the broader framework of speculative fiction’s capacity to tackle climate-induced anxieties.

Guerrero, Paula Barba. “Post-Apocalyptic Memory Sites: Damaged Space, Nostalgia, and Refuge in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Science-Fiction Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, 2021, pp. 29–45.

• Guerrero investigates how damaged landscapes and memory influence psychological responses to environmental collapse in Parable of the Sower. This source directly supports my argument by analyzing how nostalgia and resistance to change manifest in Butler’s speculative world.

Bernhard, Stephanie. “Survival Tips: On Jenny Offill’s Weather.” LA Times Review of Books, 13 February 2020 https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/survival-tips-on-jenny-offills-weather/

• This article examines Weather, focusing on its depiction of precarity and existential uncertainty in the face of global crises such as climate change, political instability, and personal fragility. Bernhard analyzes Offill’s use of fragmented narrative style and the protagonist, Lizzie’s, internal monologue to convey the emotional and psychological toll of living in a world that feels increasingly unsteady.

Fisher, Clare “The Centrality of the Trivial: Jenny Offill’s Weather“, Alluvium 8.2 13 July 2020. https://doi.org/10.7766/alluvium.v8.2.04 

• In this article, Fisher challenges the traditional hierarchy in which “trivial” details are considered less important than grand, more obvious themes or events in literature. Fisher suggests that attention to the “trivial” is not only necessary but central to understanding the complex, often fragmented nature of contemporary experiences. The article delves into how the trivial functions as a counterpoint to larger narratives, offering a more intimate and realistic portrayal of life, identity, and social relations. 

Kruger, Katherine “Aging through Precarious Time: Maintenance and Milling in The Cost of Living and Weather, Poetics Today, Vol. 44, 1 June 2023 https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.1215/03335372-10342099

• This article uses the temporal concepts of maintenance (the repetitive steps one takes to care for themselves) and milling (fragmented, repetitive experience of time) to explore how aging is experienced in times of social and political uncertainty (precarity), particularly for women. The work of sustaining oneself is almost metaphoric for the experience of aging itself.

Peinado Abarrio, R. (2022). “fragmented and bewildering:” The New Risk Society in Jenny Offill’s weather. Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, Vol. 26, 29 December 2022 https://doi.org/10.12795/ren.2022.i26.11 

• This article analyzes Jenny Offill’s Weather through the lens of Ulrich Beck’s concept of “New Risk Society”, which examines how modern societies are shaped by the management and experience of various uncertainties and risks. The article argues that Offill’s fragmented narrative structure reflects the disorienting nature of contemporary life, where personal anxieties and global crises contribute to a sense of precariousness. Peinado-Abarrio explores how Lizzie navigates herself in a world characterized by instability, highlighting how the novel reflects broader societal fears and the emotional toll of living in a time dominated by risk.

Preston, Alex. “Jenny Offill: ‘I Don’t Miss the World as Much as, Perhaps, I Should.'” The Guardian, 9 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/jenny-offill-weather-climate-crisis-coronavirus-donald-trump

• In this interview with Jenny Offill, Alex Preston delves into the themes of Offill’s novels, particularly Weather. The article explores Offill’s reflections on writing in an era marked by uncertainty, political chaos, and environmental crises.

Sehgal, Parul. “How to Write Fiction When the Planet Is Falling Apart.” The New York Times, 5 February 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/magazine/jenny-offill-weather-book.html

• In this article, Sehgal explores the tension between the existential crises facing the planet and writing fiction in such a world. Sehgal examines how contemporary writers grapple with the challenge of creating meaningful narratives while the planet seems to be in a state of collapse. 

Final question: In response to the everyday Anthropocene, In The Parable of The Sower, How does Lauren’s community symbolize humanity when talking about survivability and spirituality? 

Clausen, Daniel D. “Cli-Fi Georgic and Grassroots Mutual Aid in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Western American Literature, vol. 56, no. 3, 2021, pp. 269–86, https://doi.org/10.1353/wal.2021.0040.

The article “Cli-Fi Georgic and Grassroots Mutual Aid in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower” argues how the Parable of the Sower is seen as a cli-fi georgic example but it follows Butler’s enactment of labor and its impacts on the Anthropocene climate crisis. Clausen talks about how The Parable of the Sower focuses on labor and agriculture and how that emphasizes how survival looks like a post-climate crisis. Clausen also speaks on how Butler emphasizes problems such as ecological problems, the minority class, and how the system fails minorities. How this article contributes to my argument is it shows how in the novel, Lauren teaches us readers how to survive a climate crisis world, how climate change can truly affect not only their world but also how it can affect people. We can see how Lauren helps others by better preparing herself and being ready for any damage or impact that may come her way. This matters because we can see how Lauren’s community not only helps her, but they also come together to survive together, they take their lessons and experiences and unite to survive a post-apocalyptic world. 

Davidson, Joe. “Fear of a Black Planet: Climate Apocalypse, Anthropocene Futures and Black Social Thought.” Journal of Sociology, vol. 57, no. 4, 2021, pp. 940–957, https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310211067980.

The article “Fear of A Black Planet: Climate Apocalypse, Anthropocene Futures and Black Social Thought” argues how African American thinkers have reinvented climate apocalypse in three ways. The first way is to examine the function of apocalyptic narratives containing something fundamental about the social world. The second way is the connection between the end of the world and accounts of radical social information. The final way is how the apocalypse isn’t an event but something that is endured and escaped. This article is relevant to my argument because it speaks highly of the racial narrative of the apocalypse and how it connects to the Anthropocene. In my argument, I speak about the everyday Anthropocene and how it’s connected to Lauren and her community, and how it associates to the idea of survivability and spirituality. This article helps me further my research by providing insight into how the racial narrative is related to the idea of survival in the Anthropocene. It matters because Lauren and her community face a lot of challenges, especially in the beginning when Lauren had to learn how to use a gun from her father, it was as if it needed to be inscribed into her memory how to protect themselves and their families because of the color that they were and where they lived. The article shines light on the same aspect when it comes to the racial narrative and how it can affect an apocalyptic world. 

Miller, Jim. “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 1998, pp. 336–360. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4240705.

The article “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision” argues that Octavia Butler in her novel Parable of the Sower provides amazing examples of a critical dystopia. How she works through the elements of culture rather than revealing symptoms of what is seen in a critical dystopia. Not only, does she hold a feminist utopian writing form but she moves beyond the patriarchal version, she engages the reader in a more clear and discontinuous, we get to see how her characters show us as readers what a post-apocalyptic world looks like. How this article is relevant to my argument, is by being able to comprehend more of Octavia Butler’s strategies, the form in which she wrote The Parable Of The Sower, I can see how her characters come together to portray the post-apocalyptic world and how they survive through it. This matters because being able to understand how Octaiva not only includes the hierarchical class and shows us a world that is scary, and real, and how her characters can overcome it, we can see how race, class, and gender fit into the post-apocalyptic world. 

Feist, Ella. “Analysing the Disproportionate Impact of Climate Disaster on Social Minorities as Represented in Climate Fiction: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife.” Journal of Intersectional Social Justice, Access Academia, 31 Aug. 2023, jisj.pubpub.org/pub/iqf31op5.

The article “Analysing the Disproportionate Impact of Climate Disaster on Social Minorities as Represented in Climate Fiction: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife” argues how both texts between Parable of the sower and The Water knife both similarly draw on past histories of discrimination and modern climate data and how they affect these impacts. The articles discuss how both texts start off with a drought and how that can impact the characters. As noted blacks are seen to be more vulnerable, however, we should also look at other minorities as well. We can see how minorities tend to be most vulnerable when it comes to a post-apocalyptic world, where everyone is suffering for water, food, for survival. We can see how they become affected every single day by day-to-day decisions. How this article relates to my argument is minority groups become the most vulnerable when an impact such as climate change happens, because of the lack of money, they’re not able to help themselves a lot. When it comes to a post-apocalyptic world, people seek food, water, and a better home but people who lack money aren’t able to do much but find ways of survival like Lauren Olimana. Lauren not only prepares herself with readings based on survival but she helps her community as well. Her father teaches her self-defense because that is their only form of survival being able to defend themselves and to think quickly but proactively. This matters because with this article we can see a more narrower perspective on how minorities are affected by climate change, and we can better relate to Lauren by being able to understand the depth of the impacts on the minority class. 

Rutledge, Gregory. “Futurist Fiction & Fantasy: The ‘Racial’ Establishment.” Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 1, 2001, pp. 236–252. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3300498.

The article “Futurist Fiction and Fantasy: The “Racial” Establishment” argues how speculative fiction overlooks/ignores race, it tends to overlook black authors. In the article, we read about how black authors have contributed to speculative fiction and how their ideas have brought change to it. One of the authors was Octavia Butler who had set the foundation for a futurology that many diasporic Africans had imagined. Octavia in most of her novels/stories portrays strong female leads who face various challenges in their life, but hold their ground. She empowers her female characters and makes them see the power they contain. How this article contributes to my argument is when it comes to Lauren, we see how she is a powerful and confident female lead. Although she may feel that her hyperempathy syndrome is seen as a weakness, something others will feel afraid of or make fun of for. However, throughout the novel, we see how her hyperempathy becomes a strength for her, it helps her survive the post-apocalyptic world. This matters because we see how Octavia holds her female leads on a high pedestal, in her writing she tends to give them power and control. In the exact same way African authors should feel over their own stories, they should feel in control and in power. They’re able to change the way speculative fiction works.