women and women adjacent persons are the key to saving the world whether you like it or not
or, Women in Black Speculation and using language words to transcend oppression
It is fair to assume that the introduction of telepathy into Black Speculative Fiction is simply an adherence to the cliché of the genre. However, Samuel Delaney and Octavia E. Butler subvert telepathy as simply a super-human enhancement and instead use it as a vehicle to explore a world where minds can be changed instantly through the mental touch of another. In Babel-17, we see Rydra a gifted and confused telepath change the course of an entire language that is rooted in war; In Mind of My Mind, Mary transforms an entire community by using their common language of telepathy---a trauma that was imposed on them into a way to heal her community.
Both of these women are complex vehicles for the underlying statement that the language of a community, specifically the BIPOC communities, can help take back the power from the oppressors. This interpretation must be looked at in three components: telepathy as a language, women as caregivers of the community, and transformation of language as a way to assert power.
Before we can expound on the social implications of the language within these novels, we have to first look at how Telepathy fits into the modern definition of language. Telepathy because there is no solid proof of its existence in our reality cannot be considered a “real” language, however it does fit the criteria of a constructed language (Conlang).
Unlike real or natural languages Telepathy, within both Babel-17 and Mind of my Mind, has no written communication outside of the fictional text that it is part of despite this there is consistency in its use and the way that the community influences the language to change. David J. Peterson’s The Art of Language Invention clarifies that “a key feature [in] some of the best languages… is that they change crucially as a result of contact with the community” (Peterson 15). This certainly applies to Telepathy in both of our aforementioned novels.
When we are first exposed to Rydra’s telepathy it functions as a lens of non-verbal communication that she receives from the individual; This later develops into a distinct control of the language which allows for her to change the secondary telepathic language of Babel-17. It is in the shift from her simply receiving input to controlling the language’s output that we see the legitimacy of telepathy as a language. We see this in the juxtaposition between the interaction that Rydra has with The General at the beginning of the novel and her later interaction with The Butcher.
When Rydra meets The General in the novel’s first chapter she is aware of his thoughts and feelings which allows for her to keep the upper hand in their conversation, however, this is only a one-way conversation. The general’s thoughts are free-flowing to Rydra. This is the opposite of what happens in part four section two of Babel-17 between her and The Butcher; When Rydra reaches into The Butcher’s mind there is an exchange of conversation. The Butcher is not telepathic but via Rydra’s language, he can gain a deeper understanding of her and Rydra is better able to understand not just The Butcher but also the language babel-17.
This is mirrored in Mind of My Mind, Mary’s shift from a latent telepath to an active telepath. Mary for the first 20 years of her life is unwillingly exposed to the physical and emotional traumas of others around her. Mary could only receive from those around her. However, once Mary transitions her telepathic ability allows for her to reach into the mind of others and influence their literal souls. The two-way stream available for communication forwards the idea that telepathy within the realms of these novels needs to be considered a language. This “shift” in the language of telepathy has a deeper meaning beyond just providing a means of communication; It also establishes the potential for change in the language giving it life.
The importance of the language of telepathy being seen as living is integral to the relationships between both Rydra and her crew and Mary and her pattern. It is to be considered that in both novels telepathy is rooted in the transference of emotions and an empathetic recognition of pain. This observation concludes that both Rydra and Mary are generational trauma-bearers. Men according to Rita Machanda’s article “ Women’s Agency in Peace Building” are more likely to join the infantry and as such women are often civilian victims of their conflicts. This rings true for both Rydra and Mary. As such following Machanda’s logic “ women in conflict areas disproportionately shoulder the burden of survival while coping with [generational traumas and lack of resources]” (Manchanda 2).
As previously stated, Rydra and Mary are seen as caregivers within the novel. For Rydra, she chooses young children to be her platoon giving her a chance to raise them into a crew that benefits her the most; For Mary, she is the literal head of her new generation of telepaths and an actual mother. This places these women in a position of power within their communities. This is not an uncommon occurrence in black families as the system wages war on black communities after imprisoning their men which is the root of this conversation.
Rydra and Mary have to be the bearers and masters of the language of telepathy first so that they can utilize the language as a way to protect and shape their communities. Delaney and Butler are purposely placing these women in power because as Manchanda state “...women’s language of support and resistance forms from their cultural experience of being disempowered” (Manchanda 5). That is to say, there could be no other bearer of the language of telepathy but a woman, specifically a woman of color. These women who have helped their families thrive in cultural war zones are the controllers of the language of peace and as such have in the mastery of that language been allowed to change it.
When it comes to changing a language and what that means we need to look at how the language affects the community. Leaving the fictional worlds of Babel-17 and Mind of My Mind for the briefest of moments, it needs to be clarified that the language of telepathy within these two novels is the language of the colonizer.
This oppressive language is used to characterize black and brown communities: from racial slurs to stereotypes, to the generational traumas that have been experienced. This language of oppression (telepathy) is a natural part of the United States and is integral to the integration of races to allow for the systemically racist society to continue to function. Rydra and Mary are representatives of the natural speakers of this language who have become fluent in the internalized racism. This ultimately is why they are chosen as our heroines, there are no other characters within these two novels that would be able to change the language of oppression.
However, the difficulties of changing the language of oppression appear with the unpredictable nature of humanity. It takes time, therapy, and communication to change the way that you speak to yourself and others--- an unrealistic goal for the average human. There are too many layers to this unique problem for it the language to completely change as there will always be someone unwilling to change. This is why Delaney and Butler were forced to speculate on what it would take to permanently change the language that flowed within their communities. This is where telepathy is necessary as it illustrates the lengths that must be taken to shift to communal thinking. Through telepathy, we are invited to explore the possibility of immediate change in the minds of the people within the community.
Delaney and Butler suggest that the ultimate result of such a thing is an uplifting of their people as a result of a shift away from colonizer language and reclamation and recognition of their own cultures within that new language. A prime example of this is after Rydra experiences her mind-meld with The Butcher’s once they had recovered he has been freed from the confines of babel-17 and began to look at how the telepathic control placed on him by the language has affected his community. Rydra from this realized she could use her mastery of telepathy to change babel-17 into something that would bring peace instead of war.
Mary, however, uses her telepathy to guide the entirety of her species (for the most part) through their telepathic transitions. Her pattern consists of those who at one time were simply latent psychics unable to control the input they received via their telepathy into actives-- masters of the language of telepathy. By doing this, they take control back from Doro, who had bred the telepathy into them, and become the most powerful people in the world.
Languages are meant to naturally change as time goes on, but the deliberate manipulation of language as a way to subvert control from those who wish to oppress others via language barriers within that language to keep others oppressed is an unusual but significant commentary toward the unintentional and continual oppression within black communities. In conclusion, Delaney and Butler use their speculation as a way to explore a world in which they can turn the oppressor’s language back on them to create equity.
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia Estelle. Mind of My Mind. Warner Books, 1994.
Delany, Samuel Ray, et al. Babel 17. Librairie générale française, 1996.
Manchanda, Rita “Women’s Agency in Peace Building: Gender Relations in Post-Conflict Reconstruction.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 40, no. 44/45, 2005, pp. 4737–4745. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4417360. Accessed 8 Apr. 2021
.Peterson, David J. The Art of Language Invention: from Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building. Penguin Books, 2015.