Disrupting Slavery Grand Narratives Through Dystopian Fiction: Ben Winters’ Underground Airlines as a Case Study

Abstract

Slavery has profoundly shaped cultural, political, and economic structures, leaving legacies that continue to influence contemporary societies. Its central role in declaring the American Civil War (1861- 1865) has been widely discussed for centuries. Ben H. Winters, in Underground Airlines (2016), creates an alternative history where the Civil War was never fought. The novel follows the protagonist's pursuit of freedom in a purely dystopian setting, highlighting themes like identity, freedom, racism, and oppression. The present research investigates how dystopian fiction can disrupt the grand narratives of slavery and history. This work is theoretically grounded in dystopian fiction within postmodernism, exploring concepts such as “incredulity toward metanarratives” and the questioning of history, relying on descriptive and analytical approaches. The data collected are of a descriptive nature, analyzed and interpreted in the light of the novel. Ultimately, the dissertation argues that Underground Airlines serves not only as a powerful dystopian text but also as a critical intervention in the discourse of slavery narratives. By imagining an alternative history, Ben Winters invites readers to reconsider the persistence of racial injustice and the fragility of freedom