The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”

This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha” (2005). Using Daphne Hampson’s feminist post-Biblical ideas, the article argues that the story, as a sample of science fiction, exposes a posthumanist perspective wh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Achachelooei, E.M., Leon, C.E.
Format: Article
Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/18041/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/article/view/10846
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.um.eprints.18041
record_format eprints
spelling my.um.eprints.180412017-10-23T02:29:35Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/18041/ The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha” Achachelooei, E.M. Leon, C.E. PE English This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha” (2005). Using Daphne Hampson’s feminist post-Biblical ideas, the article argues that the story, as a sample of science fiction, exposes a posthumanist perspective where existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human being and God. The article aims to explore the capacity of the story to embody a positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human. This article suggests that “The Book of Martha,” reflecting this transformation together with an unothered perspective of the God-human relationship, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts Christian norms, particularly the norms dealing with what is considered as true femininity. In this way, the story describes a fictional space in which the Christian concept of human as a fallen, condemned, and passive object before a ubiquitous Almighty is substituted with a non-Christian active concept of the human entity. This active representation is based on the recognition of a posthuman agency which is free from surrender to divine power. “The Book of Martha” is about the gradual awakening of a black woman who, in interaction with God as the source of goodness, becomes aware for the need to redefine an authentic sense of self beyond that of an obedient servant before a masculinized God. This article explores this awakening. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press 2016 Article PeerReviewed Achachelooei, E.M. and Leon, C.E. (2016) The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 16 (3). pp. 129-143. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/article/view/10846
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic PE English
spellingShingle PE English
Achachelooei, E.M.
Leon, C.E.
The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
description This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha” (2005). Using Daphne Hampson’s feminist post-Biblical ideas, the article argues that the story, as a sample of science fiction, exposes a posthumanist perspective where existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human being and God. The article aims to explore the capacity of the story to embody a positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human. This article suggests that “The Book of Martha,” reflecting this transformation together with an unothered perspective of the God-human relationship, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts Christian norms, particularly the norms dealing with what is considered as true femininity. In this way, the story describes a fictional space in which the Christian concept of human as a fallen, condemned, and passive object before a ubiquitous Almighty is substituted with a non-Christian active concept of the human entity. This active representation is based on the recognition of a posthuman agency which is free from surrender to divine power. “The Book of Martha” is about the gradual awakening of a black woman who, in interaction with God as the source of goodness, becomes aware for the need to redefine an authentic sense of self beyond that of an obedient servant before a masculinized God. This article explores this awakening.
format Article
author Achachelooei, E.M.
Leon, C.E.
author_facet Achachelooei, E.M.
Leon, C.E.
author_sort Achachelooei, E.M.
title The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
title_short The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
title_full The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
title_fullStr The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
title_full_unstemmed The god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
title_sort god-human relationship in octavia butler’s “the book of martha”
publisher Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press
publishDate 2016
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/18041/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/article/view/10846
_version_ 1643690592999309312
score 13.19449