Dystopian fiction - a genre of literature exploring the nature and operation of dysfunction societies where the rights of the individual are often crushed by a powerful and malignant elite - has long since been present in the written language, and now in particular, in YA fiction. But how has this genre come about, and why has it become so entrenched in what young people are reading nowadays? The answer is complex, and it is difficult to provide a definite one.
Throughout history, mankind has constantly been imagining future societies. As in Plato's Republic, some imaginative minds envisioned what the perfect society would be like, while others, such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, imagined the exact opposite. They wrote of societies that are specifically designed to crush the individual and civil liberties, where those who refuse to conform to the status quo and follow the stringent rules suffer for it. While Brave New World and 1984 depict two very different kinds of future societies - Huxley depicts a society where the population is kept complacent through pleasure granted by meaningless relationships and drugs while Orwell explores the horrible effect of totalitarianism - both stories discuss similar themes: a dysfunctional, unhealthy society, and how it harms the individual man and woman. As fantastic as these scenarios may be, they were often based on contemporary fears and reactions. 1984 was written when the horrors of Nazi Germany was a very recent memory, and authoritarian regimes such as the Soviet Union were spreading their influence all around the world. The fear of a democratic governments being overwhelmed by authoritarian influences was a very real, and frighteningly possible one. Surveillance, drugs, censorship, technology - all the development and rise of all these things influenced writers and their envisioning of dystopian societies. These two works proved very influential for a succeeding generation of authors, and many more considerable contributions to the genre would be made. A notable example being The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood, which has been adapted into an ongoing television show. While George Orwell worried about a totalitarian government fueled by nationalism and jingoism, Atwood's near-future Gilead is filled with religious fundamentalism, and was influenced by 1980's fundamentalist religious trends in North America.
But why has dystopian fiction, or at least, dystopian themes, become so prevalent in young adult literature? The Hunger Games series has been very successful with young readers, and has been adapted into a successful movie series. As is often seen with commercial writing, The Hunger Games has spawned a myriad of imitators that have never been able to match Suzanne Collins's success. But there is no denying the popularity.
It is my belief, and one shared by many other critics, is that it's a reaction to contemporary times and attitudes. Alex Campbell, an author who writes for teens, speculates that the popular of YA dystopian literature is a reaction to the uncertainty many teenagers feel once leaving childhood behind but not yet becoming adults. Also, he observes, it may be a reaction to social media whose influence is analogous to all-seeing reach of George Orwell's Big Brother. However, there may be no single answer. The YA dystopia explosion may actually be a result of several favorable factors that have, as chance would have it, combined in all the right ways for authors like Suzanne Collins. Young adults have provided different answers to the reason why dystopian fiction is so popular among teenagers. In Campbell's article, three different teenagers are asked this same question, and provided three different answers. However, a similar aspect of all of them is that they feel dystopian literature provides a message they can identify with. Whether it is a sense of realism not present in other genres, a hopeful message about fighting an evil regime, or being able to explore moral ideas that other genres are unable to.
Link:
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/nov/18/hunger-games-dystopian-fiction-appeal-to-teenagers-alex-campbell
Throughout history, mankind has constantly been imagining future societies. As in Plato's Republic, some imaginative minds envisioned what the perfect society would be like, while others, such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, imagined the exact opposite. They wrote of societies that are specifically designed to crush the individual and civil liberties, where those who refuse to conform to the status quo and follow the stringent rules suffer for it. While Brave New World and 1984 depict two very different kinds of future societies - Huxley depicts a society where the population is kept complacent through pleasure granted by meaningless relationships and drugs while Orwell explores the horrible effect of totalitarianism - both stories discuss similar themes: a dysfunctional, unhealthy society, and how it harms the individual man and woman. As fantastic as these scenarios may be, they were often based on contemporary fears and reactions. 1984 was written when the horrors of Nazi Germany was a very recent memory, and authoritarian regimes such as the Soviet Union were spreading their influence all around the world. The fear of a democratic governments being overwhelmed by authoritarian influences was a very real, and frighteningly possible one. Surveillance, drugs, censorship, technology - all the development and rise of all these things influenced writers and their envisioning of dystopian societies. These two works proved very influential for a succeeding generation of authors, and many more considerable contributions to the genre would be made. A notable example being The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood, which has been adapted into an ongoing television show. While George Orwell worried about a totalitarian government fueled by nationalism and jingoism, Atwood's near-future Gilead is filled with religious fundamentalism, and was influenced by 1980's fundamentalist religious trends in North America.
But why has dystopian fiction, or at least, dystopian themes, become so prevalent in young adult literature? The Hunger Games series has been very successful with young readers, and has been adapted into a successful movie series. As is often seen with commercial writing, The Hunger Games has spawned a myriad of imitators that have never been able to match Suzanne Collins's success. But there is no denying the popularity.
It is my belief, and one shared by many other critics, is that it's a reaction to contemporary times and attitudes. Alex Campbell, an author who writes for teens, speculates that the popular of YA dystopian literature is a reaction to the uncertainty many teenagers feel once leaving childhood behind but not yet becoming adults. Also, he observes, it may be a reaction to social media whose influence is analogous to all-seeing reach of George Orwell's Big Brother. However, there may be no single answer. The YA dystopia explosion may actually be a result of several favorable factors that have, as chance would have it, combined in all the right ways for authors like Suzanne Collins. Young adults have provided different answers to the reason why dystopian fiction is so popular among teenagers. In Campbell's article, three different teenagers are asked this same question, and provided three different answers. However, a similar aspect of all of them is that they feel dystopian literature provides a message they can identify with. Whether it is a sense of realism not present in other genres, a hopeful message about fighting an evil regime, or being able to explore moral ideas that other genres are unable to.
Link:
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/nov/18/hunger-games-dystopian-fiction-appeal-to-teenagers-alex-campbell
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