While Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979) has previously been critically analyzed for its connections to science fiction, for its unique method of time travel, and for its place within African-American literature, this essay examines one area of the text that requires further examination: Butler’s use of language. In particular, this essay discusses the ways in which Kindred explores the conventional notions of ‘having or showing sense’ and of ‘making sense’ and how powerful these ideas can be when used as tools of oppression. A close reading of Butler’s text reveals how these notions of ‘sense’ come to shape the experiences of the main character, Dana Franklin, and her understanding of the antebellum Maryland plantation where she travels back in time. In these time travels, Dana must confront not only the ‘reality’ of her family’s past but also the traumatic (Lacanian) Real of American history and the ‘logic’ of slavery. Dana’s relationship to her family’s history is complicated by the limitations, even inadequacy, of language, and this examination of ‘sense’– which is a central concept in the novel – seeks to provide a fuller, more complete look at Butler’s text, particularly the rules and laws to which Dana finds herself increasingly bound.

中文翻译：

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'有道理'：在奥克塔维亚巴特勒的亲属中制造/拥有'意义'

虽然奥克塔维亚·巴特勒 (Octavia Butler) 的《血族 (Kindred)》(1979) 之前曾因其与科幻小说的联系、独特的时间旅行方法以及在非裔美国文学中的地位而受到批判性分析，但本文只考察了文本中需要进一步检查的一个领域：巴特勒的语言使用。特别是，本文讨论了 Kindred 探索“具有或表现出意义”和“使意义”的传统观念的方式，以及这些观念在用作压迫工具时的强大作用。仔细阅读巴特勒的文字，就会发现这些“意义”的概念如何影响主角达娜·富兰克林的经历，以及她对战前马里兰种植园的理解，她在那里穿越了过去。在这些时间旅行中，达娜不仅必须面对她家族过去的“现实”，还要面对美国历史的创伤（拉康式）现实和奴隶制的“逻辑”。达娜与她家族历史的关系因语言的局限性甚至不足而变得复杂，这种对“感觉”的考察——这是小说中的一个核心概念——旨在提供对巴特勒文本的更全面、更完整的了解，尤其是Dana 发现自己越来越受约束的规则和法律。