CONSTRUCTING CHILDHOOD IN DYSTOPIAN FICTION: THE LITERARY DYNAMICS OF CHILD CHARACTERS IN DYSTOPIAN WORLDS
Keywords:
dystopian fiction, protagonist child, childhood, social freedom, resistance.Abstract
This article explores how childhood and child characters are constructed in dystopian fiction. It examines the symbolic, psychological, and narrative roles that children play in dystopian narratives, analyzing how authors use the innocence, vulnerability, and adaptability of youth to critique societal systems, imagine alternative futures, and amplify the emotional weight of totalitarian control. Through close readings of works such as George Orwell’s “1984”, Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go”, and Lois Lowry’s “The Giver”, this paper reveals how dystopian literature frames childhood not only as a biological stage, but also as a powerful ideological battleground.
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References
Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg.
Ishiguro, K. (2005). Never Let Me Go. Faber & Faber.
James, P.D. (1992). The Children of Men. Faber & Faber.
Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Houghton Mifflin.
Baccolini, R., & Moylan, T. (2003). Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. Routledge.
Hintz, C., & Ostry, E. (2003). Utopian and Dystopian Writing for Children and Young Adults. Routledge.
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