Annotated Bibliography Assignment

By Maxine Ansaldo , Team 7

 1. Kitto, Michael. "Dystopian Fiction; A Brief History." Literary Exploration. 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://literary-exploration.com/2012/09/12/dystopian-fiction-a-brief-history/>.

     This article relates the spikes in popularity of dystopian fiction to events in history as well as describing the reasons dystopian fiction came to be a genre and why it appeals to the general public. Dystopian fiction stems from its opposite, utopian fiction. Dystopian novels and ideas spied after events such as World War II, the cold war, 9/11, and the war on terror. The author of this article relates this genre to the idea of “Escapist fiction; as a way to substitute the problems with the world with a more nightmarish world”. Through a list of dystopian novels throughout the last century, the author tracks a shift in dystopian fiction from a strict satirical comment on society to incorporating elements of love in order to move to a more young adult focused audience. The list of books provided includes; WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin (1921), Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932), Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949), Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953), Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1957), A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962), The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985), Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005), and Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (2010).

2. Diebel, Rachel. "The Rise of the Dystopia: Popularity of Dystopian Themed Films and Novels Sky-rockets." Mast Media. 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://mastmedia.plu.edu/2013/09/17/rise-of-the-dystopia/>.

     The author of this article analyzes the shift in audience of dystopian novels to more young adults and the reasons why these novels such as The Hunger Games are becoming big blockbuster films. The author claims that all of these stories have a basic framework in common, “the world is a mess, and someone needs to fix it”. Diebel discusses the trend of our society to adapt these books into movies due to the commercial success of The Hunger Games. Movies and books like this trend due to the mass producing of the characters and ideas everywhere in our society. Diebel also discredits The Hunger Games as the catalyst for the uprising of dystopian novels, giving the credit to The Giver, which incorporates ideas of Utopia and Dystopia. The author argues that this genre is appealing because in our society today there are some economic and political uncertainties and these stories provide an idea of something worse than reality. In addition, People like to “live vicariously” through a character that is able to “rise up and overthrow the government”. Finally, Diebel mentions that it is though these novels arise from an actual threat to our society, “it is possible that today’s wave of dystopian literature for young adults is inspired by an event such as 9/11 or even by the vapid nature of pop culture and the fear of what it will do to our society”.

3. Tamney, John. "Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" Illustrates the Horrors of Big Government." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2012/03/20/suzanne-collins-the-hunger-games-is-a-story-about-the-horrors-of-big-government/2/>.

     In this article, Tamney discuses mainly The Hunger Games, in terms of dystopian fiction, and its comment on the “horrors of big government” and our economic society. He blames issues such as famine and war directly on oppressive governments. He connects District 12’s starving citizens in the novels to the starving citizens of our world’s developing countries which he states, Americans are unaware of for the most part; Americans have the ability to “largely produce surplus in order to consume the surplus of others irrespective of country”. He also blames developing countries starvation on their “oppressive government” which again, connects to the plot in The Hunger Games novels. He also states that the character of Gale is a representation of the “wise government skeptic”, stating that Tamney himself is not in full support of certain governments whether it be our own or those of other countries. In Tamney’s opinion, societies are able to function without a government; he goes on to critique the US government. Tamney concludes by saying that although the society of Panem is very mildly a mirror image of today’s society, we can see that we are indeed at the “mercy” of the government when we for example, ignore to pay our taxes. 

4. "1984 in Historical Context: How Current Events Shaped the Themes in the Novel." V5 Blog. 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://halbookblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/1984-in-historical-context-how-current-events-shaped-the-themes-in-the-novel/>.

     These article discuses the influences in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell written in 1948; Orwell simply flipped the last two digits of his current year making a statement about how government may be in the future. Orwell wrote the novel as a response to World War II and the upcoming cold war regarding mainly Fascism. Orwell models the three regions in his book after the European dictatorships of his time commenting on their totalitarian nature. Events in the book that have to do with Big Brother are event that actually took place in the Soviet Union at the time that Orwell wrote the novel, for this reason, the author believes that Orwell is relating Big Brother to Joseph Stalin, the then leader of the Soviet Union and a socialist. The living conditions also reflect those of the time and post-war of these European countries living under an authoritarian government. The book also reflects the idea of a hierarchal class society in which the elite rules which somewhat resembles the society in which Orwell grew up in. This is a way to emphasis those that are in poverty in the society and are still being oppressed by the dictators of their government. 

5. Hall, Mollie. "Senior Honors Theses." DigitalCommons@EMU. Eastern Michigan University, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1356&context=honors>.

     This essay discusses the idea that dystopian fiction is moving towards a focused audience of young adults because of it incorporation of romance into the stories. Also, many novels today such as The Hunger Games and Divergent have a female protagonist who embodies the idea of a strong and independent female role model for young women. Hall argues that the dystopian genre has been mainly dominated by male characters and protagonists in the past and that it is now making the shift by blending a typically female dominated genre, romance. These dystopian novels also usually resemble a patriarchal society which makes their rise to power and ability to make societal changes despite the male dominated society they live in all the more important and inspiring to a young female audience. Hall argues that the incorporation of romance makes these characters more relatable because they have to deal with personal problems as well as those within their society. This may be a reason for the rise in popularity. This shift towards a focus on female leads may also be a comment on feminism in our society and what women are capable of in order to empower young female readers.