Seminar in Reading and Interpretation (300-0-21)
Topic
Magic, Monsters, and Dystopias: Young Adult Specul
Instructors
Ilana Vine Larkin
Meeting Info
University Hall 418: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
We live in a moment on the brink of change. From political uncertainty and looming climate catastrophe to long overdue calls for racial justice and an understanding of gender beyond the binary, our future is taking shape in ways we couldn't have imagined. Or, could we? How do the monsters, ghosts, mermaids, and rebels who fill the pages of young adult speculative fiction help us reflect on our world today? How does YA speculative fiction, with its interest in utopian and dystopian societies, think through the moral dilemmas and new possibilities that await us? Focusing particularly on speculative fiction by Queer and BIPOC authors, this class will ask how these texts respond to questions of fascism and governmental control, climate change, technology, gender and sexuality, disability, and race. We will investigate speculative YA fiction through the lenses of childhood studies, queer theory, Afrofuturism, environmentalism, and disability studies, to name only a few. In so doing, we will ask: how does speculative fiction help us imagine new possible futures? And why are young adult characters-and readers-the prime site for exploring these concerns?
Teaching Method
Seminar discussion.
Evaluation Method
Participation, in-class presentation, papers.
Class Materials (Required)
Texts include: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Legend by Marie Lu, A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow, and The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, plus theoretical readings.
Texts will be available at: Bookends and Beginnings (1712 Sherman Avenue); individual readings available through Canvas.