Research topic proposal

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 My essential research question:

Why have dystopian novels been such a popular subgenre of YA fiction, especially throughout the 2010s? 


Focus Questions: 

  1. Why do teenagers like reading dystopian novels? 

  2. Why are dystopian YA novels so widely appealing (adults often read them too)?

  3. What makes dystopian literature such an effective medium for telling stories that are especially salient for YA readers?

  4. What kicked off the “trend” of YA dystopian literature?  What are the common features within these types of books?

  5. Are dystopian novels becoming more or less popular as time goes on?  

  6. What kind of dystopian YA literature has been written in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?  Do teens feel that we live in a real-life dystopia more than ever?

  7. Are we done with the “renaissance” of dystopian YA literature?  


Overview of the topic and why I selected it: 

I have always loved dystopian fiction, starting with when I read the Hunger Games series in the sixth grade.  I feel that dystopian literature explores topics such as government corruption, environmental issues, and rebelling against authority/the “status quo” in a way that helps teenagers become more aware of what is happening around them in the real world.  I know that dystopian YA literature was especially popular in the 2010s, and so I want to dig into why.  


Book titles to which this topic relates: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, Uglies by Scott Westerfield, Legend by Marie Lu, Matched by Allie Condie


The kinds of resources I am planning to use:  Academic journals and research papers, scholarly articles written by educators, and book reviews from the time of the books’ original releases.  


My preliminary claim:  Dystopian YA literature makes navigable to young adults seemingly “adult” issues by placing a teenage protagonist in a position to make real, impactful change on the corrupt society in which they live.  Further, reading about these stories of hope and rebellion in the face of adversity is inspiring to teens and can serve as a blueprint for them to seek out ways to make change in their own lives, in our world which is not much different in 2022 from the dystopias which teenagers have grown up reading about.  


Issues I anticipate:  I don’t know how much recent research I will be able to find about dystopian YA fiction, especially in relation to the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I wonder if teenagers are less interested in dystopian literature now that it feels like we are living in a “real world” dystopia more than ever.  I anticipate finding sources about this phenomenon will be limited because we are not that far away from the pandemic and often trends like that take years to really surface. 

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