|
|
Dystopia is an American tradition and a present and future reality. The signs that we are living in a dystopia have been clear for decades. Climate change threatens our water, air, and land. Corruption, inequality, and injustice in politics create a vast divide between the rich and the poor. Racism, xenophobia, and homophobia divide us and oppress individuals and groups. Violence and incarceration threaten the bodies and lives of our most vulnerable. The marginalized suffer, the privileged are unhappy, and complacency and cynicism abound.
In trying times, we look for heroes, and American traditions of utopia and dystopia tend to do what most traditions do—focus on men and boys as the movers and shakers, the makers (and the destroyers), and as agents of social change and the promise of the future. But times are changing and The Hunger Games changed the game. Ignoring or minimizing the roles that girls and women play in the present and the future (and the past) is no longer an option.
In Girls on Fire, Sarah Hentges argues that American traditions of dystopia should look to girls and women in fiction—and in the world—for inspiration toward progressive transformation in the future. She shows the ways that female protagonists act as “Girls on Fire” and reveal the injustices of the present through the lens of the future. Bringing together over a hundred books as well as films, social media, articles, feminist theory, academic analyses, and observations from the classroom, Girls on Fire illustrates a rich tradition and a promising future.
With a focus on Young Adult (YA) dystopia and female protagonists, and with particular attention to intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and power and empowerment—as well as a vision toward social justice--Girls on Fire traces trends and critiques, themes and issues, characters and plots, details and patterns…and the intersectional possibilities that fictional futures point toward.
When we expand our vision, we build a better future. Girls on Fire are ready to lead the way.
In trying times, we look for heroes, and American traditions of utopia and dystopia tend to do what most traditions do—focus on men and boys as the movers and shakers, the makers (and the destroyers), and as agents of social change and the promise of the future. But times are changing and The Hunger Games changed the game. Ignoring or minimizing the roles that girls and women play in the present and the future (and the past) is no longer an option.
In Girls on Fire, Sarah Hentges argues that American traditions of dystopia should look to girls and women in fiction—and in the world—for inspiration toward progressive transformation in the future. She shows the ways that female protagonists act as “Girls on Fire” and reveal the injustices of the present through the lens of the future. Bringing together over a hundred books as well as films, social media, articles, feminist theory, academic analyses, and observations from the classroom, Girls on Fire illustrates a rich tradition and a promising future.
With a focus on Young Adult (YA) dystopia and female protagonists, and with particular attention to intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and power and empowerment—as well as a vision toward social justice--Girls on Fire traces trends and critiques, themes and issues, characters and plots, details and patterns…and the intersectional possibilities that fictional futures point toward.
When we expand our vision, we build a better future. Girls on Fire are ready to lead the way.
Some videos for my class that introduce the topics more generally.
1. An intro to Young Adult Literature and Dystopia 2. An intro to themes in the genre 3. An intro to the books and the bigger literary picture
1. An intro to Young Adult Literature and Dystopia 2. An intro to themes in the genre 3. An intro to the books and the bigger literary picture
|
|
|
|
|
Some YA Dystopia Resources to get started....
When I was searching for girls of color in dystopia, my good friend shared Victoria Law's blog. I am so thankful for this blog! Girls of Color in Dystopia Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology Feminist Science Fiction BOOKS What Should I Read Next? 50 Dystopian Books for Teens, by Kim Trujillo The Girl Who Was On Fire, edited by Leah Wilson Space and Place in The Hunger Games: New Readings of the Novels Of Bread, Blood, and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy Approaching The Hunger Games Trilogy: Literary and Cultural Analysis Female Rebellion in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction Teaching YA Literature Today, eds. Hayn, Judith and Kaplan, Jeffrey |
|
|
MY BLOG & POPULAR PRESS
will provide updates and resources as well. Octavia Butler: Racing the Future Girls on Fire: My Obsession with YA Dystopia I am Divergent: A Disgruntled Reading of Allegiant The Conversation: Girls on Fire: Political Empowerment in Young Adult Dystopia |
SOME HANDOUTS
for highlighting the main points of YA dystopia and Girls on Fire YA Dystopia Context Katniss poster with love quote Summer Prince Poster with love quote Summer Prince poster with art is a hammer quote The Girl on Fire character profile |
|
This video makes connections between my first book, Pictures of Girlhood: Modern Female Adolescence on Film, and YA dystopia as a genre a lot like the girls' films that I consider in Pictures.
|
This video uses the historical context of the 1930s and agitprop to consider popular culture as propaganda toward social justice. It also considers the role of the Girl on Fire as Survivor.
|
This very short video makes some connections between climate change, YA dystopia, and the novel, Orleans, as well as the film Beasts of the Southern Wild.
|
|
|
