Scholarship and criticism on Octavia Butler

Notice

This is not necessarily a "complete" bibliography of scholarship on this author. Rather, it is a selective bibliography of feminist SF scholarship, or scholarship of particular interest to feminist SF scholars.

Scholarship and criticism

• "The Monophobic Response" [in Dark Matter ed. by Sheree R. Thomas (2000); first appeared in Journeys under a different title]

• Allison, Dorothy. "The Future of Female: Octavia Butler's Mother Lode." In Reading Black, Reading Feminist: A Critical Anthology, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 471-78. New York: Meridian, 1990.

• Foster, Frances S. "Octavia Butler's Black Female Future Vision." Extrapolation 23 (1982): pages 37-49.
• Friend, Beverly. "Time Travel as a Feminist Didactic in Works by Phyllis Eisenstein, Marlys Millhiser, and Octavia Butler." Extrapolation Volume 23, Number 1 (Spring 1982): pages 50-55.

• Levy, Michael. "Green SF and Eco Feminism." Originally published in IAFA Newsletter, Spring 1989 issues. Reprinted in Robert Collins and Robert Latham, editors, Science Fiction and Fantasy book Review Annual, 1989 Edition (Westport, CN: Meckler, 1990). "Review article of recent work by Octavia Butler, Nancy Kress, Pamela Sargent, and Sheri S. Tepper" -- ML.

• Salvaggio, Ruth, M. Barr, and R. Law. Suzy McKee Charnas: Octavia Butler: Joan D. Vinge. Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont, 1986. [Starmont Reader's Guide, No. 23.]

• McTyre, Robert E. "Octavia Butler: Black America's first lady of science fiction." Michigan Chronicle, April 26, 1994, pp. PG.

• Raffel, Burton. "Genre to the Rear, Race and Gender to the Fore: The Novels of Octavia E. Butler." Literary Review, v.38, April 1, 1995, p. 454.

• Salvaggio, Ruth. "Octavia Butler and the Black Science Fiction Heroine." Black American Literature Forum. Volume 18, Number 2 (1984): pages 78-81.

• Zaki, Hoda. "Utopia, Dystopia, and Ideology in the Science Fiction of Octavia Butler." Science Fiction Studies Volume 17, Part 2 (1990): pages 239-251.

ABC

Clara Escoda Agusti.

• "The Relationship Between Community and Subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower", Extrapolation, v.46, n.3 (Fall 2005), pp. 351-359.

Stacy Alaimo.

• "[Skin Dreaming': The Bodily Transgressions of Fielding Burke, Octavia Butler, an Linda Hogan," Ecofeminist Literary Criticism Theory, Interpretation, an Pedagogy, ed. Greta Guard and Patrick D. Murphy. Chicago: Univ of Chicago: 1998, pp.123-131.

Dorothy Allison

• "The Future of Female: Octavia Butler's Mother Lode." In Reading Black, Reading Feminist: A Critical Anthology, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 471-78. New York: Meridian, 1990.

Janice Antczak.

• "Octavia E. Butler: New Designs for a Challenging Future" in African-American Voices in Young Adult Literature: Tradition, Transition, Transformation edited by Karen Patricia Smith (Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1994): pp. 311-336.

Marleen S. Barr.

• "Eclipsing the Connecticut Yankee: Female Time Travelers" in Alien to Femininity: Speculative Fiction and Feminist Theory. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1987, pp.39-58.
• "Octavia Butler and James Tiptree Do Not Write About Zap Guns: Positioning Feminist Science-Fiction within Feminist Fabulation." Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1993. pp.97-107.

Pamela Bedore.

• "Slavery and Symbiosis in Octavia Butler's Kindred." in Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction v. 31, no. 84 (Spring 2002): pp. 73-81.

Janice Bogstad.

• "Octavia E. Butler and Power Relationships," Janus, 4 (1978-1979): pp. 28-31.

Frances Bonner.

• "Difference and Desire, Slavery and Seduction: Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis." Foundation no. 48 (Spring 1990): pp. 50-62.

Alyson R. Buckman.

• "'What Good Is All This to Black People?': Octavia Butler's Reconstruction of Corporeality", Femspec, v.4, n.2 (2004), pp. 201-218.

Janice C. Crosby.

• Cauldron of Changes: Feminist Spirituality in Fantastic Fiction (McFarland: 2000, ISBN 0786408480). Studies on Marion Zimmer Bradley, Kim Chernin, Alice Walker, Mercedes Lackey, Patricia Kennealy, Gael Baudino, Octavia Butler, Lynn Abbey, Joan Vinge, Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange, and Starhawk.

DEF

Frances Smith Foster.

• "Octavia Butler's Black Female Future Vision." Extrapolation v 23, no. 1 (1982): pages 37-49.

Beverly Friend.

• "Time Travel as a Feminist Didactic in Works by Phyllis Eisenstein, Marlys Millhiser, and Octavia Butler." Extrapolation Volume 23, Number 1 (Spring 1982): pages 50-55. Discusses Butler's Kindred and other works.

GHI

Lisbeth Gant-Britton.

• "Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower: One Alternative to a Futureless Future." in Women of Other Worlds: Excursions through Science Fiction and Feminism, edited by Helen Merrick and Tess Williams, University of Western Australia Press: Nedlands, 1999: pp. 277-294.

Sovan Y. Govan.

• "Connections, Links, and Extended Networks: Patterns in Octavia Butler's Science Fiction." Black American Literature Forum. v. 18, no. 2 (1984): pp. 82-87.
• "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." Melus. v. 13, nos. 1-2 (1986): pp. 79-96.

Michelle Erica Green.

• "'There Goes the Neighborhood': Octavia Butler's Demand for Diversity in Utopias." Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: Worlds of Difference, edited by Jane L. Donawerth and Carol A. Kolmerten (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1994): pp. 166-189.

Roland Green.

• "Adult Fiction," Booklist, 77 (Sept. 1980): p. 29. Reviews Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, and discusses Kindred.

Elyce Rae Helford.

• "Survival and the Science Fiction Heroine: The Ethnic Women Warriors of Octavia E. Butler and Misha." Women's Caucus Workshop, South Atlantic Modern Language Assocation Conference. Atlanta, GA; November 1993.
• "'Would You Really Rather Die Than Bear My Children?' The Construction of Gender, Race, and Species in Octavia E. Butler's 'Bloodchild.'" African American Review v. 28, no. 2 (1994) pp. 259-271.
• "A Galaxy of Our Own: Searching for Black Women in Science-Fiction Film." (Includes an homage to Octavia Butler by Inga M. Muscio.) Bitch Magazine, No. 15, Winter 2001, pp. 34-37, 88-89.

JKL

A. Jenkins

• "Knowing and Geography in Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin and Maureen McHugh", Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (2006)

Nancy Jesser.

• "Blood, Genes and Gender in Octavia Butler's Kindred and Dawn", Extrapolation v.43, n.1 (Spring 2002), pp. 36-61.

Maroula Joannou.

• "Science Fiction and Detective Fiction" in Women of the Future: The Female Main Character in Science Fiction. Manchester University Press, 2000. pp.125-135.

Michael Levy.

• "Green SF and Eco Feminism." Originally published in IAFA Newsletter, Spring 1989 issues. Reprinted in Robert Collins and Robert Latham, editors, Science Fiction and Fantasy book Review Annual, 1989 Edition (Westport, CN: Meckler, 1990). "Review article of recent work by Octavia Butler, Nancy Kress, Pamela Sargent, and Sheri S. Tepper" -- ML.

Roger Luckhurst.

• "'Horror and Beauty in Rare Combination': The Miscegenate Fictions of Octavia Butler." Women: A Cultural Review, v. 7 no. 1 (1996): pp. 28-38.

MNO

Patricia Maida.

• "Kindred and Dessa Rose: Two Novels That Reinvent Slavery." CEAMagazine: A Journal of the College English Association, Middle Atlantic Group. v. 4, no. 1 (1991): pp. 43-52.

Veronica Mixon.

• "Futurist Woman: Octavia Butler." Essence, v. 15 (1979): pp. 12, 15.

Inga M. Muscio.

• "Mind of Her Mind: The Genius of Octavia Butler." Bitch Magazine, No. 15, Winter 2001, p. 36. (Part of Elyce Rae Helford's article in the same issue.)

PQR

Cathy Peppers.

• "Dialogic Origins and Alien Identities in Butler's Xenogenesis." Science-Fiction Studies Volume 22, Part 1, Number 65. (March 1995): pages 47 - 62.

STU

Ruth Salvaggio.

• "Octavia Butler and the Black Science Fiction Heroine." Black American Literature Forum. Volume 18, Number 2 (1984): pages 78-81. Four Butler novels.

Ruth Salvaggio, Marleen Barr, and Richard Law.

• Suzy McKee Charnas: Octavia Butler: Joan D. Vinge. Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont, 1986.

Peter Sands.

• "Octavia Butler's Chiastic Cannibalistics" in Utopian Studies (2003)

Thelma J. Shinn (Dina Sherzer?)

• "The Wise Witches: Black Women Mentors in the Fiction of Octavia Butler," in Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition, edited by Marjorie Pryse and Hortense J. Spillers, Bloomington, Indiana University Press: 1985: pp. 203-215.

Stephanie A. Smith.

• "Octavia Butler: A Retrospective", Feminist Studies, v. 33, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 385-93.

A. Timothy Spaulding.

• Re-forming the past: History, the Fantastic, and the Postmodern Slave Narrative (2005) ISBN 0-8142-1006-6; ISBN 0-8142-9084-1 (CD-ROM). Discusses Toni Morrison's Beloved (chapter 2), Octavia Butler's Kindred (chapter 1).

Marc Steinberg.

• "Inverting History in Octavia Butler's Postmodern Slave Narrative". African American Review, v.38, n.3 (Fall 2004), pp. 467-76.

VWXYZ

Eric White.

• "The Erotics of Becoming, Xenogenesis, and The Thing." Science Fiction Stuies, v.20 (1993), pp. 394-408.

Sherley Anne Williams.

• "Sherley Anne Williams on Octavia E. Butler." Ms. Volume 14 (March 1986), pages 70-72.

Hoda Zaki.

• "Utopia, Dystopia, and Ideology in the Science Fiction of Octavia Butler." Science Fiction Studies Volume 17, Part 2 (1990): pages 239-251.

Interviews

Frances M. Beal

• "Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre: Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler." Black Scholar, Volume 17, n.2 (March-April 1986): pages 14-18.

Joan Fry

• "An Interview with Octavia Butler", Poets and Writers Magazine, v.20, n.6 (1997), pp.58-68.

Rebecca O. Johnson

• "African American Feminist Science Fiction." Sojourner, v. 19, n. 6 (February 1994), pages 12-14. (includes interview with Octavia Butler)

Larry McCaffery.

• "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler." in Across the Wounded Galaxies: Interviews with Contepmorary American Science Fiction Writers, edited by Larry McCaffery. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1990: pp. 54-70.

Lisa See.

• "PW Interviews: O. E. Butler." Publishers Weekly, Volume 240 (December 13, 1993), pages 50-51.

Reference book entries

SF

• Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. by Robin Anne Reid. (2009). "Octavia E. Butler" by Alyson R. Buckman.

Women and people of color

• Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Rosemary Stevenson. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub., 1993, pp. 208-210.
• Notable Black American Women. Sandra Y. Govan. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1992.
• VG: Voices from the Gaps (women artists of color). "Octavia Estelle Butler, 1947-2006", by Jennifer Becker.
• Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. by Robin Anne Reid. (2009). "Octavia E. Butler" by Alyson R. Buckman.

Writers and authors

• Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series (v. 38). James G. Lesniak. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1993.
• Contemporary Authors. (v. 73-76). Frances Carol Locher. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1978.
• VG: Voices from the Gaps (women artists of color). "Octavia Estelle Butler, 1947-2006", by Jennifer Becker.
• Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. by Robin Anne Reid. (2009). "Octavia E. Butler" by Alyson R. Buckman.

Reviews of published fiction

Michael S. Cross

• "Fiction." Library Journal, 102 (Aug. 1977): p. 1982. Review of Octavia Butler, Mind of My Mind.

Geraldine Morse.

• "Reviews." Galileo: Magazine of Science and Fiction, v. 9 (1978): p. 86. Review of Survivor by Octavia Butler.

A. Newson.

• "Review of Octavia Butler's Dawn and Adulthood Rites." Black American Literature Forum Volume 23, Number 2 (1989): pages 389-96.

Judith T. Yamamoto.

• "Fiction." Library Journal, v. 104 (Aug. 1979): pp. 1585-1586. Review of Octavia Butler, Kindred.

Study and discussion guides

• Gale Publishing. Octavia Butler's "Kindred": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students."; ISBN B00006G3KN. PDF format.
• Gale Publishing. Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild": A Study Guide from Gale's "Short Stories for Students."; ISBN B00006G3R6. PDF format.