Katabasis

Kuang’s novel uses the literary tradition of the katabasis to explore the modern institution of academia, presenting Academia as an Infernal Structure. As of the novel’s publication, Kuang was attending Yale University, completing her PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures. She previously earned a Master of Philosophy in Chinese Studies at Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies at University College, Oxford. Kuang is deeply versed in the machinations of academia. She has stated that her original intention was to write a “cute, silly adventure novel about like, ‘Haha, academia is hell,’” however when she started writing, she realized, “‘Oh, no, academia is hell’” (Healy, Milly Mae. “R. F. Kuang Speaks on Friendship, Anti-Colonialism, and Magic at the Brattle Theatre.” The Harvard Crimson, 28 Nov. 2023).

Like the Hell depicted in Katabasis, academia is a universe structured by dramatic power differentials, varying levels of privilege and access, and uncertainty. One of the reasons Alice feels her future is precarious is due to the severe underfunding of tenure-track jobs and programs—an issue that also plagues real-world universities. Unlike American institutions, in English universities like Cambridge, most PhD programs do not have coursework, but launch students straight into the independent research that will culminate in their dissertation. In doctoral programs, students are usually accepted into their programs under the tutelage of a primary dissertation advisor. Depending on the type of program, this advisor gives feedback on the student’s research project, offers lab or teaching opportunities, and serves as a mentor in the writing, research, and job application process. 

Advisors might also facilitate (or hamper) publication or presentation opportunities, and their connections in the field could potentially help their students’ futures. The individual advisor thus has a massive amount of power over their advisee, academically, personally, and sometimes financially. An individual student’s experience in the program is therefore highly influenced by their advisor’s personality and mentorship style. This is similar to the power differential in Hell, where the individual Shades have very little power and are highly influenced by more powerful figures like the Kripkes or the various deities Alice and Peter meet, like Weaver Girl.

One particular facet of academia that Katabasis plays with is the question of to what degree the institution is escapable and to what degree academic punishments are self-inflicted, playing with the theme of Ambition as Self-Damnation. Alice continually observes that there is nothing keeping the Shades in their Courts except for the rules they have constructed for themselves. In Pride, for instance, she doesn’t know why they continue to research when they could simply walk out of the First Court and into the next one. However, when she considers her own life and dynamic with Grimes, she never contemplates exiting the daily grind wherein she undertakes endless hours of work for little money, recognition, or progress. The cycles of torment and exploitation in Hell thus become a useful tool to make visible these questions of agency, entrapment, and exploitation.