Description
Book SynopsisIf there is one trend in children's and YA literature that seems to be enjoying a steady rise in popularity, it is the expansion of the YA dystopian genre. While the genre has been lauded for its potential to expand horizons, promote critical thinking, and foster social awareness and activism, it has also come under scrutiny for its promotion of specific ideologies and its often sensationalist approach to real-world problems. In an examination of six YA dystopian texts spanning more than twenty years of development of the genre, this book explores the way in which posthumanist ideologies in particular are deployed or resisted in these texts as a means of making sense of the specific challenges which young people confront in the twenty-first century.
Trade ReviewHarrison offers an original and critical contribution to the study of dystopian young adult literature by focusing on pressing ethical concerns around the limits of humanism, environmental degradation, and the category of the human. This book will be a useful resource to scholars and general readers interested in YA literature, dystopia, ecocriticism, and critical posthumanism. -- Libe García Zarranz, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Young Adult Dystopia and the Posthuman Perspective Chapter 1: Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands and Teeth: Sex, Infection and Hopelessness Chapter 2: Lois Lowry’s The Giver: Biotechnology, Wilderness, and Government Chapter 3: Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking Trilogy: Language and the Non-Human Other Chapter 4: Neal Shusterman’s Unwind: Posthuman Recycling and the Death of the Hero Chapter 5: Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines Series: Posthumanism, Evolution, Apocalypse, and Time Chapter 6: Adam Rapp’s Decelerate Blue: Solarpunk, Consumerism, and the Posthumanist Future Conclusion: Young Adult Dystopia and the Posthuman Perspective
