The age of dystopia : one genre, our fears and our future / edited by Louisa MacKay Demerjian.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Demerjian, Louisa MacKay, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dystopias in literature.

Dystopian films--History and criticism.

Dystopian films.

Physical Description:

viii, 169 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.

Summary:

This book examines the recent popularity of the dystopian genre in literature and film, as well as connecting contemporary manifestations of dystopia to cultural trends and the implications of technological and social changes on the individual and society as a whole. Dystopia, as a genre, reflects our greatest fears of what the future might bring, based on analysis of the present. This book connects traditional dystopian works with their contexts and compares these with contemporary versions. It centers around two main questions: Why is dystopia so popular now? And, why is dystopia so popular with young adult audiences? Since dystopia reflects the fears of society as a whole, this book will have broad appeal for any reader, and will be particularly useful to teachers in a variety of settings, such as in a high school or college-level classroom to teach dystopian literature, or in a comparative literature classroom to show how the genre has appeared in multiple locales at different times. Indeed, the book's interdisciplinary nature allows it to be of use in classes focussing on politics, bioethics, privacy issues, women's studies, and any number of additional topics. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Dystopia and the Promethean Nightmare / Riven Barton Barton, Riven 5

Chapter 2 'The People in the Chaos Cannot Learn': Dystopian Vision in Atwood's Maddaddam Trilogy / Patricia Stapleton Stapleton, Patricia 19

Chapter 3 Victims of Global Capitalism in Margaret Atwood's Dystopian Imaginary / Terra Walston Joseph Joseph, Terra Walston 35

Chapter 4 Post-Apocalypse, Post-Human: Some Recent Dystopias / Karen F. Stein Stein, Karen F. 47

Chapter 5 Dystopian Drama: Imagining Science without Limitations / Jeanne Tiehen Tiehen, Jeanne 59

Chapter 6 Narrating Trauma: The Value of Violence in YA Dystopian Fiction / Laura Poladian Poladian, Laura 73

Chapter 7 Who Are You When No One's Watching? The Hunger Games, Surveillance and the Search for Self / Molly Brost Brost, Molly 91

Chapter 8 The Hunger Games in the Arena of Dystopian Literacy / Nicole du Plessis Plessis, Nicole du 101

Chapter 9 What Makes a Young Adult Dystopian Hero? / Louisa MacKay Demerjian Demerjian, Louisa MacKay 129

Chapter 10 'Last Girl Alive': Kirsty Murray's Dystopian YA Novel Vulture's Gate / Charlotte Beyer Beyer, Charlotte 141.

Notes:

Includes blbliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781443886949

1443886947

OCLC:

944431864

Publisher Number:

99968023578