Poster

Tales
of Trauma:
The Impact of World Events on Dystopian Literature
Haidyn Pyfer
Abstract
Dystopian literature typically functions as an exaggerated
critique of current society, and so it has undergone many
evolutions that coincide with major world events.
Understanding this relationship helps us understand how
societies have processed trauma throughout history. Much
historical scholarship has been performed on dystopian
literature of the 20th century, but the most signicant
movement in modern dystopian literature has been the
growth of young adult dystopias. However, this subgenre
has not been studied in the same way as other dystopias,
and I would suggest that this movement be studied more
in order to understand the changing relationship between
young people and their society.

Figure 1
Background
Dystopian literature is a category of speculative ction

characterized by its depiction of bleak, unpleasant
civilizations. From the Ancient Greek words for bad and
place, dystopias represent unfavorable societies
(Adams). Dystopian literature is a natural response to
societys aOempts at its opposite: utopia. Utopias are
perfect paradise societies, so perfect that they cannot exist.
They are based on ideals of universal reason and
happiness, but these ideals are beyond the scope of
human nature (Sicher and Skradol 155). In order to achieve
the imagined utopia, human nature must be transformed,
and the modes of transformationsocial and genetic
engineering, eugenics, genocide, the banning of literature
or contrary thoughtbecome the hallmarks of dystopia.
State of the Scholarship

In order to understand the relationship between culture
and dystopian literature, scholars have examined the
literature from a historical perspective, and historical
scholarship on dystopias focuses heavily on the inuence
of major, traumatic world events. I have summarized this
historical scholarship in the table in Figure 1.
Figure 2
Future Research
Though not included in the chart, the millennium also
brings a shift to dystopian literature for young adults.
These works deal specically with children and teenagers
responses to trauma and their political agency in a
post-9/11 world. Though the young adult movement in
dystopian literature is the larger development to come out
of the millennium (see Figure 2), liOle historical scholarship
exists on it. The majority of analysis on this literary
movement exists in the form of unpublished theses and
dissertations. This literatures status as young adult seems
to have resulted in a disregard for its academic value.
In order to beOer understand the state of our current
cultural environment we have to examine the literary
response to it: young adult dystopias. BeOer understanding
can be achieved by
Comparing characteristics of dystopias for adults to YA
dystopias
Examining the resources given to children for
processing trauma pre- and post-9/11
Analyzing the relationship young adults have to politics
before and after the millennium
These research options will help us to understand the
cultural shift that resulted in the rampant proliferation of
young adult dystopias.
I recommend we begin by conducting a microcosmic
analysis of the evolution only young adult literature in the
genre has undergone. It would be especially useful to
research the changes this subgenre has experienced since
the publication of Lois Lowrys The Giver. The Giver is one
of the rst popular dystopian young adult novels, and
changes in the genre since its publication in 1993 will
demonstrate the impact the age of terrorism has had on the
ways we communicate with children about our society.
References
Adams, John Joseph. "Dystopian Fiction: An Introduction." Tor.com. N.p., 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Chang, Hui-chuan. "Critical Dystopia Reconsidered: Octavia Butler's Parable Series and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake as Post-Apocalyptic
Dystopias." Tamkang Review 41.2 (2011): 3-20. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Curwood, Jen ScoO. "The Hunger Games: Literature, Literacy, and Online Anity Spaces." Language Arts 90.6 (2013): 416-27. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Elliot, Amy. "Power in Our Words: Finding Community and Mitigating Trauma in James Dashner's The Maze Runner." Children's Literature Association
Quarterly 40.2 (2015): 179-99. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Hall, Alexander. ""A Way of Revealing": Technology and Utopianism in Contemporary Culture." The Journal of Technology Studies 35.1 (2009). Virginia Tech
Digital Library and Archives. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Hammond, Andrew. "The Twilight of Utopia: British Dystopian Fiction and the Cold War." The Modern Language Review 106.3 (2011): 662-81. Web. 10 Oct.
2015.
Hinl, Carrie. "Monica Hughes, Lois Lowry, and Young Adult Dystopias." The Lion and the Unicorn 26.2 (2002): 254-64. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Latham, Don. "Childhood Under Siege: Lois Lowry's Number the Stars and The Giver." The Lion and the Unicorn 26.1 (2002): 1-15. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Sicher, Efraim, and Natalia Skradol. "A World Neither Brave Nor New: Reading Dystopian Fiction after 9/11." Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the
History of Ideas 4.1 (2006): 151-79. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

Poster

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Poster

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Poster

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Tales

Dystopian literature is a category of speculative ction

State of the Scholarship

You might also like