White, Traditionally Beautiful, and Straight: An Analysis of Racial and Gender (In)Visibility in Contemporary Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

The overwhelming success of young adult literature in the twenty-first century has been largely determined by its unique ability to embrace a wealth of genres and forms. Among these, young adult dystopian fiction, through extreme and pessimistic representations of contemporary society, aims at encouraging its readers to critique their own social reality and, thus, to take action in the hope of social change. Following a general introduction to the evolution and fundamental aspects of young adult literature, this thesis explores the possible ways dystopian texts fail to fulfil this pedagogical purpose with reference to the persistent and significant role of race, gender, and sexuality in the organisation of contemporary social life. Specifically, drawing upon Suzanne Collins’ blockbuster Hunger Games trilogy, published between 2008 and 2010, I will examine how the dismissal of the potential implications of the portrayal of a black female character and her entire social community within the series, inevitably reinforces hegemonic frameworks about social and racial hierarchies. At the same time, by observing the protagonist’s development throughout the books, I will discuss how her apparent initial and rebellious intention of challenging heteronormativity is gradually replaced by the reification of traditional patterns of femininity and heteroromantic love. Furthermore, as counterexample to Collins’ narrative silence, I will proceed with the analysis of Sherri L. Smith’s dystopian novel, Orleans, published in 2014, as an effective and conscious exposure of the inevitable interplay of various systems of power and oppression which the main character, as a black fifteen-year-old girl, is subjected to throughout her struggle for survival. Thus, through my analysis, I intend to stress the evolving nature of young adult literature which, from bestsellers that merely reinscribe and normalise the current social structures and hierarchies in the West, can advance towards texts that, by contrast, succeed in addressing and interrogating them.