THE NATURE OF POWER IN YOUNG ADULTS DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE AS AN ALTERNATIVE DISCUSSION IN IGNITING LITERARY ANALYSIS FOREFL COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Power is an inescapable feature in human interaction. The nature of power exists in all social interactions, and it appears in all of humans’ social relations’ (Taylor 2011, p.15). Power can be identified as a significant thing which can differentiate Young Adults (YA) texts from children’s texts in the concept of children’s literature as emphasized by Trites (2002, p.3) that ‘Young Adult novels are about power.’ Power has been discussed by many scholars, but the discussion on power in YA texts in literature class for EFL college students is still limited.  Therefore, the discussion on the nature of power in YA texts can be an interesting literary analysis in igniting a brighter future of teaching literature for EFL college students. The aim of this paper is to discuss the nature of power in two YA dystopian texts:  Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Game (2008) and Pete Hautman’s Rash (2006). This paper compares and contrasts the nature of power in respect to the protagonists’ growing understanding of their place in the dystopian world. Through the discussion, this paper identifies the operations of power; the relationship between knowledge and power; and the construction of youth agency in Young Adults dystopian lliterature.