Following a devastating nuclear war, Lilith Iyapo awakens after 250 years of stasis to find herself surrounded by a group of aliens called the Oankali. These highly evolved beings want to trade DNA by breeding with humans so that each species’ genes can diversify and fortify the other. The only alternative they offer is sterilization of the entire human race. Should humanity take the leap into the biological unknown, or hold on to its identity and perish?
Baada ya vita ya nuklea vya kusikitisha Lilith Iyapo anaamka baada ya miaka 250 ya mapumziko kujikuta amezungukwa na kundi la viumbe linaloitwa Oankali. Hawa viumbe walioendelea sana walitaka kubadilishana DNA kwa kuzaliana na binadamu ili kila kinasaba cha kiumbe kisambae na kiwe na nguvu kushinda kingine. Njia pekee wanayotoa ni kinga ya uzazi kwa jamii yote ya binadamu. Je ubiinadamu utakubali kuingia kwenye biolojia isiyojulikana, au wang'ang'anie asili yao na wapotee?
Questions like this haunt Octavia Butler’s "Dawn," the first in her trilogy "Lilith’s Brood." A visionary storyteller who upended science fiction, Butler built stunning worlds throughout her work– and explored dilemmas that keep us awake at night.
Maswali kama haya yamejaa kwenye "Dawn" ya Olivia Butler, ya kwanza kwenye simulizi yake ya utatu ya "Lilith's Brood". Msimuliaji anayeona mbali aliyebadilisha bunilizi ya kisayansi, Butler amejenga dunia za kustaajabisha katika kazi yake -- na kufumbua mafumbo yanayotuweka macho usiku.
Born in 1947, Butler grew up shy and introverted in Pasadena, California. She dreamt up stories from an early age, and was soon scribbling these scenarios on paper. At twelve, she begged her mother for a typewriter after enduring a campy science fiction film called "Devil Girl From Mars." Unimpressed with what she saw, Butler knew she could tell a better story.
Alizaliwa mwaka 1947, Butler alikua na aibu na mpole akiishi Pasadena, California. Aliota hadithi akiwa na umri mdogo, na punde akaanza kuziandika hizi fikra kwenye karatasi. Na miaka kumi na mbili, alimuomba mama yake mashine ya kuchapa baada ya filamu ya bunilizi ya sayansi iitwayo "Msichana Shetani kutoka Mars" Kutokuvutiwa na alichokiona, Butler alijua angeweza kusimulia simulizi nzuri zaidi.
Much science fiction features white male heroes who blast aliens or become saviors of brown people. Butler wanted to write diverse characters for diverse audiences. She brought nuance and depth to the representation of their experiences.
Iliyojaa za bunilizi za sayansi wanaume weupe mashujaa wanaolipua viumbe au wanakua wakombozi wa watu weusi. Butler alitaka kuandika wahusika tofauti kwa ajili ya watazamaji tofauti. Alileta uelewa na kina kwenye uwakilishaji wa uzoefu wao.
For Butler, imagination was not only for planting the seeds of science fiction– but also a strategy for surviving an unjust world on one’s own terms. Her work often takes troubling features of the world such as discrimination on the basis of race, gender, class, or ability, and invites the reader to contemplate them in new contexts.
Kwa Butler, ubunifu haukua tu kwa kupanda mbegu za bunilizi za sayansi-- lakini pia njia ya kupona dunia isiyo na haki kwa mapatano ya mtu mwenyewe. Kazi yake huchukua sehemu zenye mateso za duniani kama ubaguaji unaotakana na rangi, jinsia, hali au uwezo, na kumkaribisha msomaji kuzitafakari kwenye muktadha mpya.
One of her most beloved novels, the "Parable of the Sower," follows this pattern. It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina as she makes her way through a near-future California, ruined by corporate greed, inequality, and environmental destruction. As she struggles with hyperempathy, or a condition in the novel that causes her to feel others’ pain, and less often, their pleasure. Lauren embarks on a quest with a group of refugees to find a place to thrive. There, they seek to live in accordance with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed, which is based on the principle that humans must adapt to an ever-changing world.
Moja ya riwaya zake zinazopendwa, ya "Mithali ya Mpanzi," Inafwata huu mpangilio. Inaelezea hadithi ya Lauren Oya Olamina akielekea njiani kupitia California ya karibuni, iliyoharibiwa na tamaa ya jumla, ukosefu wa haki, na uharibifu wa mazingira. Akipambana na huruma kubwa, au hali kwenye kitabu inayomfanya asikie uchungu wa wenzie, na mara chache, furaha yao. Lauren anaanza safari na kundi la wakimbizi kutafuta sehemu ya kupumzika. Hapo, wanajaribu kuishi kutokana na dini yake aliyoigundua, mbegu-dunia, ambayo inategemea kanuni kua binadamu wanatakiwa wafuate dunia inayobadilika kila mara.
Lauren’s quest had roots in a real life event– California Prop 187, which attempted to deny undocumented immigrants fundamental human rights, before it was deemed unconstitutional. Butler frequently incorporated contemporary news into her writing. In her 1998 sequel to "The Parable of the Sower," "Parable of the Talents," she wrote of a presidential candidate who controls Americans with virtual reality and “shock collars.” His slogan? “Make America great again.”
Safari ya Lauren ina mizizi kwenye uhalisi wa maisha- California Prop 187, ambayo ilijaribu kuzuia wahamiaji bila vibali haki za msingi za kibinadamu, kabla ilionekana kutotambulika kwenye katiba. Butler siku zote aliweka habari zinazoendelea kwenye uandishi wake. Kwenye mwendelezo wake mwaka 1998 wa "Mithali ya Mpanzi", "Mithali ya Talanta," aliandika kuhusu mgombea uraisi anayewatawala Wamarekani kwa ukweli taswira na "mikanda ya umeme." Msemo wake? "Fanya Marekani bora tena."
While people have noted her prescience, Butler was also interested in re-examining history. For instance, "Kindred" tells the story of a woman who is repeatedly pulled back in time to the Maryland plantation of her ancestors. Early on, she learns that her mission is to save the life of the white man who will rape her great grandmother. If she doesn’t save him, she herself will cease to exist. This grim dilemma forces Dana to confront the ongoing trauma of slavery and sexual violence against Black women.
Wakati watu wakitambua utabiri wake, Butler alivutiwa pia na kufwatilia tena historia. Mfano "Jamaa" inaelezea hadithi ya mwanamke anayerudishwa nyuma ya muda mara kwa mara kwenye shamba la Maryland la mababu zake. Mwanzoni, anagundua kwamba kazi yake ni kuokoa maisha ya mwananume mweupe ambae atambaka nyanya yake. Asipomuokoa, yeye mweyewe atasitishwa kuwepo Haya matatizo makali yanamlazimisha Dana kutazama majanga yanayoendelea ya utumwa na ubakaji yanayowakabili wanawake Weusi.
With her stories of women founding new societies, time travelers overcoming historical strife, and interspecies bonding, Butler had a profound influence on the growing popularity of Afrofuturism. That’s a cultural movement where Black writers and artists who are inspired by the past, present and future, produce works that incorporate magic, history, technology and much more.
Na simulizi zake za wanawake kuanzisha jumuiya mpya, wasafiri wa mda wakishinda fitina za kihistoria, na viumbe tofauti kushabihiana, Butler alikuwa na ushawishi wa kushangaza kwenye umaarufu unaokua wa Afrofuturism. Hio ni harakati ya utamaduni ambapo waandishi na wasanii Weusi ambao wanavutiwa na ya nyuma, sasa na ya mbele, kutoa kazi zinazojumuisha mazingaombwe, historia, teknolojia na mengine mengi.
As Lauren comes to learn in "Parable of the Sower," "All that you touch you Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.”
Wakati Lauren anakuja kujifunza kwenye "Mithali ya Mpanzi," "Kila unachogusa unabadilisha. Kila unachobadilisha kinakubadilisha wewe. Ukweli pekee usiopinda ni Mabadiliko."