Exploring the Notions of Historicity and Power in SuzanneCollins’ Post-ApocalypticNovelThe HungerGames(2008)

Abstract

The current dissertation undertakes an analytical approach that aims at reading notions of historicity and power in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008) through the lenses of spatial and Marxist perspectives. What seems intriguing about Collins’ novel is that Collins frames her narrative as a critique to address issues related to history and power as they constitute key paradigms in rendering post-apocalyptic imagination. The latter invites a diversified range of literary endeavors to look into how the world might end up with, what might bring human civilization into its destruction and most importantly how a post apocalyptic condition might be featured in works of post-apocalyptic fiction. For Collins, the answers lie in her depiction of a post-apocalyptic society that is represented by the Panem and dominated by the Capitol. Through the Panem, Collins offers her acute insights about the notion of historicity as she molded the Capitol as materialization to the notion of power. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate the significance of historicity and power in informing about Collins’ insightful critique of hegemonic societies as depicted in her novel. To fulfill this aim, Marxist and spatial theories will be drawn upon for they provide the research with pertinent understandings to the notions of historicity and power. In addition, this research attempts to explore the significance of other concepts such as history, narratives, metanarratives, space, knowledge/power and their influence on historicity and power in the post-apocalyptic novel The Hunger Games (2008).