political analysis & review of N.K. Jemisin's 'The Fifth Season'

Рет қаралды 6,478

Күн бұрын

a marxist decolonial analysis of The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin, the first book of The Broken Earth trilogy! my comparative political analysis and review of one of my favorite (and one of the best) sci-fi fantasy/speculative fiction novels of all time. I reference Adrienne Maree Brown, Ursula Le Guin, and Karl Marx quotes in this video, as well as reference Stalin's dialectical and historical materialism article. www.marxists.org/reference/ar... Also I heavily quote and reference Frantz Fanon's seminal decolonial Black Marxist text The Wretched of the Earth here as well. this is a full spoiler review btw. let me know your thoughts in the comments! and of course this is by no means a holistic analysis, people have written theses on this shit lol
Time stamps:
Intro - 0:00
Sci-fi/speculative fiction as a genre - 01:28
Disclaimers, spoilers ahead! - 03:36
Political term definitions ahead - 04:01
Dialectical materialism - 05:26
Base and superstructure - 07:00
Orogenes - 08:23
Stonelore - 11:17
Ideology as justification/reaction - 13:33
The story of Misalem - 17:17
Alabaster - 18:34
The Fulcrum - 20:18
Justifying exploitation - 21:23
Frantz Fanon’s ‘The Wretched of The Earth’ 24:39
Insanity - 25:50
Interlude - 29:50
Island of Meov - 31:15
Limited imagination - 32:35
Colonization - 35:09
Outro - 39:19
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Пікірлер: 59

@OliviasCatastrophe 2 жыл бұрын

I loved the fifth season with all my heart and it was one of my favourite reads of 2021. And yes, afrofuturism knows how to own the scifi genre ^.^ The world building was masterful. I already knew I was going to love the book from the dedication alone. Love how you talked about the people in the world who can truly change the world - their physical world, and therefore have to oppress them to keep their idea of stability. I love how the book talked about unlearning and understanding that there is so much you don't know, you don't know. I loved how it showed narrative, storytelling and history - and how it is told really relates to power.

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you Olivia!

@mykenziemasters2793 2 жыл бұрын

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for like six months now and I think you have motivated me to finally get it out so I can watch this video lol

@RosieES7 2 жыл бұрын

the way you uploaded this mere DAYS AFTER I started reading it! (I waited til I finished the trilogy before watching) this is one of your best videos, well done

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

omg! thank you so much

@jordanlabarr5745 Жыл бұрын

you killed it with this video! I loved how you critically deconstructed this with class and race in mind, and looked towards the ways it asks us to radically imagine the creation of something new from the destruction of something old. This book is masterful in how it champions abolition and asks us to really question our relationship to our environment and how we have come to know the world (and ourselves). I know you mentioned you’ve been in your sc-fi/Afrofuturism bag since 2020, so you’ve probably read it already, but if you haven’t, I’d really recommend Octavia Butlers “Parable of” Series. While incomplete, the series similarly tackles some of the themes you’ve mentioned in your video.

@asunnybooknook Жыл бұрын

thank you so much love! and I read parable of the sower this summer, and I think it really is the blueprint for a lot of what goes on in the fifth season, NK Jemisin was no doubt inspired by that novel I think

@BandysBooks 2 жыл бұрын

So I found this video through a recommendations list and I’m so excited about it. I’m just in the process of reading this series after a friend gave it to me to read, so I’m putting this video on a list to watch once I’ve finished to avoid spoilers. Looking forward to a very deep and interesting discussion. 💜

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much!!

@randomdooodle 2 жыл бұрын

loved your analysis! I recently finished the book and I'm glad I found your video. Also your recommendations have been great and thanks for making all the great content!

@asunnybooknook Жыл бұрын

thank you so much!!!

@sushminat4194 3 ай бұрын

Thank you Sunny - It took me several tries to read this book and I finally finished. I came to watch your video immediately because I knew you would be able to analyze the evolution of the story. I appreciate this!!

@shukri7278 2 жыл бұрын

bought this the other day because you kept mentioning the fifth season whenever you spoke about marxism, organising and political imagining in sci-fi! can't wait to read it!

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

I hope you enjoy!

@RaspberryDevil 2 жыл бұрын

An interesting analysis, thanks for sharing this review with us! Definitely going to rewatch this one day when I eventually have my own copy to annotate and think more about it :)

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much!!

@Quest4korea93 2 жыл бұрын

Great analysis! Helped me appreciate this book even more. I'm halfway through book 2 now :)

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much :)

@christopherthr 2 жыл бұрын

Incredible. You have given me so many words for things I didn’t have words for, both about the themes in the book as well about the realities of our own capitalist, colonialist world. You may have also just single-handedly convinced me that literary analysis can be interesting and edifying and not just boringly academic and self-congratulatory. I have often found literary criticism to embody the strongest form of the arbitrary and classist hierarchy of the arts imposed on us from a young age that essentially renders certain forms of art and hobby interest as legitimate, refined, and meaningful and others as childish, boorish, and wasteful. You’ve convinced me that it doesn’t have to be that way, and that even literature and literary analysis can be egalitarian and anti-class. Thank you for your thoughts and the work you did to put this video together. 🙏🏻

@asunnybooknook Жыл бұрын

wow, this means so much to me! thank you so much :')

@FazRasheedify 3 ай бұрын

I just finished the trilogy and came across your video! How amazing to find a Marxist reading of Broken Earth!

@bookishplantmom371 2 жыл бұрын

I have been waiting years for an in depth critical analysis of this book thank you for this!

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

I appreciate it so much!

@ehnnerjamez3729 2 жыл бұрын

Sunny I really love that you are expanding your Horizons w scifi/fantasy stuff! I also agree with you about Scifi with how people have come at it coming from a white colonialist perspective! It can get annoying sometimes when people want to talk about the state of humanity when their ancestors (and themsselves also ) helped create and maintain the board state of the world and its problems. Im glad you found Jemison though! Im going to start reading her Green Lantern FarSector book soon. Ive been championing her ever since I found out about her! Keep up the good work!

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you !!!

@karina-pf9tp 2 жыл бұрын

This was fascinating!! As a political analysis of the novel's institutional structures, this vid provides so many nodes for connections to afrofuturism and decolonial feminist thought (broadly) that would crystallize your arguments as they connect to the 'real world' (who decides what's real anyway). Thank you for a great video! --lit studies grad student on a lunch break

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you :)

@phoebeel 2 жыл бұрын

Nodes of connection... I see what you did there haha

@KaylaAnderson-us1pv 6 ай бұрын

Great video! Just finished this book, great analysis 👍🏾

@r.nicolesmith2340 Жыл бұрын

Thus was such a good analysis! I loved the Hegel and Fanon references.

@asunnybooknook Жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

@cowboylikeana 2 жыл бұрын

this book has been on my tbr for a long time! i should read it soon 👀 this video (and look omg) is a slay as always

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you :)

@Emily-up2vb 2 жыл бұрын

you're so cool 😭 great vid per usual

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you

@maxbladel 4 ай бұрын

BRAVO!!! I felt all of this when I read it but it’s so valuable to have someone put it into words… listening to this was a very validating and rewarding experience. 👏 I hope the movie does justice to the depth and critique. 😬

@anjaxuanreads 2 жыл бұрын

Lovely video, as always

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you Anja

@Hanan_9602 2 жыл бұрын

Earl grey is the best tea!!! YES THIS IS THE VIDEO I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED, love the fifth season, I'm seated, paying FULL attention, notebook OUT

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

HAHHAH thank you!!

@jonah6806 11 ай бұрын

Hooked from the intro, I'll have to read the book first then come back and finish this

@asunnybooknook 6 ай бұрын

let me know what you think! :)

@bruceshields6807 Жыл бұрын

You had me at lavender and Earl Grey.

@RobynRichardsFan1 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for posting!

@Smonserratm 3 ай бұрын

To me it felt like she thought about the world and built it before creating the story/plot. It reminded me a lot of Dune with volcanoes and ash instead of sandworms and desert.

@RememberingEarth 8 ай бұрын

Nice review!

@shulyrose8588 2 жыл бұрын

wow!! this video is a masterpiece

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much

@eugeniapizarro9313 2 жыл бұрын

It was a very interesting commentary.

@ndx_ 2 жыл бұрын

I MISSEDTHIS !!

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

haha thank you!

@arpankumarbasak1813 2 жыл бұрын

I haven't read this novel yet, and sadly, for that, can't watch this video fully right now. Is this book promoting Marxist ideology?

@kermit294 2 жыл бұрын

oh i have to read now

@asunnybooknook 2 жыл бұрын

youre gonna love it

@TPubbie Жыл бұрын

Oppression and racism do make sense in this setting. The orogenes are inherently dangerous. They can destroy cities by accident, but that's nothing compared to the destruction they cause deliberately. It would be irrational not to fear them.

@balrajsingh8349 Жыл бұрын

Where does marxism come in this book?

@phalexxxx Жыл бұрын

This isn't science fiction, this is fantasy.

@samshort3047 5 ай бұрын

Great video! Thanks for being open with your opinion! This cemented what I already suspected about who enjoys these books. First time sci-fi/fantasy readers who are lgbtqia+ activists first and foremost. As a fantasy/scifi lover myself……. This book sucks. Literal booty cheeks. I tried so hard to like it but the writing is horrible, the metaphors are surface level, and the book is just boring, with an unexplored magic system. Nothing against you creator, I’m happy you got something from it, but as a lover of the genre, this book’s ass.