The posthuman condition and the problem of youth in twenty-first century fiction and poetry (2000-2010)

Sawas, Waha

Abstract

[From the introduction]:
In the twenty-first century, poetry, speculative fiction, science fiction, and young-adult fiction introduce new representations of youth in relation to contemporary social changes that arise from the application of technology to everyday life. The figure of youth in twenty-first-century dystopian, post­apocalyptic, and science-fictional settings is used to emphasise the future challenges facing the younger generation. This thesis breaks new ground in examining contemporary literature that engages with youth and the repercussions of certain scientific developments while addressing the interstitial value of young-adult fiction, science fiction, and poetry. The originality of my argument lies mainly in the comparative analysis of poetry and fiction in the twenty-first century focusing on youth and the impact of scientific development on contemporary society and culture. This thesis also demonstrates how the boundaries between the different genres are gradually diminishing when engaging with the topics of technology and youth which is becoming more important to authors and readers than the literary categorisation of texts.

This thesis explores the contemporary literary representations of modified bodies in twenty-first-century fiction and poetry. These representations include organically modified bodies (Chapter One) as well as artificially devised ones (Chapter Two). Another primary objective is to investigate the literary representations of social attitudes towards the generation of youth through adult characters such as parents and guardians (Chapter Three). The following three chapters aim to identify the literary standpoints regarding the cultural dominance of new technologies in contemporary societies, especially since advanced technology made its way into people's lives through social media and the internet. I will examine poetry and narrative poetry as well as post­apocalyptic and dystopian fiction and young-adult fiction in the twenty-first century representing the role of advanced technology in creating the posthuman.

Citation

Sawas, W. (2016). The posthuman condition and the problem of youth in twenty-first century fiction and poetry (2000-2010). (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4220706

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 5, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Keywords: English
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4220706
• Additional Information: Department of English, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Feb 1, 2016