Clear all
Work #875 · Mid

Kindred

Octavia E. Butler
1979 · English
Speculative-fiction novel / neo-slave narrative · Late-twentieth-century African-American speculative fiction

Octavia Butler's 1979 time-travel novel — Dana pulled from 1976 Los Angeles to antebellum Maryland slavery

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Kindred (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Non-Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Bi-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Single
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Kindred

The bi-directional time pulling Dana from 1976 to antebellum Maryland.

Space

Kindred

Los Angeles 1976 and the Weylin plantation.

Matter

Kindred

The dual-temporal Black female body.

Observer

Kindred

Dana Franklin across two times.

Energy

Kindred

Energies of involuntary temporal pull.

Information

Kindred

The accumulating record of slavery from a contemporary perspective.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Kindred

Butler's Kindred: foundational for African-American speculative fiction and Afrofuturism; central reference for the modern neo-slave narrative.