READING THE VAMPIRE DIASPORA: HYBRIDITY AND DIASPORIC CONSCIOUSNESS IN OCTAVIA BUTLER’S FLEDGLING

This article by applying diaspora theories to Octavia Butler’s vampire novel Fledgling (2005), will engender a critical engagement with the issues of difference and hybridity. By examining the oscillating relations between the hybrid vampire protagonist Shori, her human symbionts, and the vampire diasporic community, this study reflects on the complexity of the diasporic condition; especially, the conflicting claims of belonging where the celebration of hybridity can easily go hand in hand with ethnocentric articulations of nationhood. The focus of this paper will be threefold. The first part will unpack the historical scope of the vampire Ina diaspora, highlighting the three constitutive elements of diasporic experience which are dispersion, homeland orientation, and boundary maintenance. The second part sheds light on the problematic nature of Ina/human relationship termed as ‘mutualistic symbiosis.’ And the last part will interrogate the hybrid identity of Shori Matthews, questioning whether this cross-breed vampire with Afro-American human genes can really hold the potential for boundary-crossing and write her scripts of survival on the necessity of embracing diversity and change without being dichotomized by issues of national belonging and identity politics.