Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Dimino, Andrea

Keywords

United States, Culture, Alien Abductions, Butler, Octavia, Literature

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

Stories about aliens saturate American culture, but few critics explore them as figures that span decades and genres and that reveal a great deal about the people who are drawn to alien imagery. This thesis examines aliens in two ways: as very real extraterrestrial beings sexually assaulting abductees and assimilating into humanity; and as fictional responses to our fears of the racial Other. I speak to cultural studies scholars, since the abduction masterplot takes on the issues of social anxieties, conspiracy, politics, and entertainment history, also found in canonical literature. The first chapter traces the evolution of nonfiction abduction narratives, then discusses alien-human hybridity in works of fiction and nonfiction. The second chapter also looks at surveys the way in which alien hierarchies are constructed in both genres, and examines two works by Octavia Butler, Clay’s Ark and “Bloodchild.” The third chapter explores the complicated questions of belief that alien literature opens up and how these works confront conventions of genre. The conclusion probes how alien literature engages some of the darkest and most complicated parts of our culture as we examine what makes us cringe, what makes us cry, and ultimately what we believe in.

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