Papers by Richard Shakeshaft
This thesis surveys the way in which the young adult protagonists are presented in Feed by M T An... more This thesis surveys the way in which the young adult protagonists are presented in Feed by M T Anderson, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Hybrids by David Thorpe and Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini. In particular, it focuses on their physical creation and representation, the question of the human-ness and humanity of a human with embedded technology, and the ways in which the dystopian societies in which they live are constructed. It also examines the way in which the texts can be seen to be didactic in style through consideration of the authors, their intentions, and their use of peritextual and epitextual features.
Although the study shows that the dystopian authors’ creations of visions of a future dominated by technology are intended to be a warning to the contemporary reader, it also identifies ways in which the presentation of the young adults demonstrates the importance and power of humanity in the portrayal of characters in fictional texts, and to some extent celebrates their engagement with technology. However, their presentation and other academic research confirms the authors’ need to warn people about the effects of technology and I suggest general ways in which this needs to be undertaken.
The nature of the study means that it adopts a constructionist approach and combines traditional literary analysis of aspects of form, structure and language with secondary sources from the fields of technology, neuroscience, human and social psychology, biology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. I believe this demonstrates, as the novels do, the way in which developments in technology have blurred boundaries in all areas of life and the need for a more holistic approach to the study of children’s literature involving new technology.
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Papers by Richard Shakeshaft
Although the study shows that the dystopian authors’ creations of visions of a future dominated by technology are intended to be a warning to the contemporary reader, it also identifies ways in which the presentation of the young adults demonstrates the importance and power of humanity in the portrayal of characters in fictional texts, and to some extent celebrates their engagement with technology. However, their presentation and other academic research confirms the authors’ need to warn people about the effects of technology and I suggest general ways in which this needs to be undertaken.
The nature of the study means that it adopts a constructionist approach and combines traditional literary analysis of aspects of form, structure and language with secondary sources from the fields of technology, neuroscience, human and social psychology, biology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. I believe this demonstrates, as the novels do, the way in which developments in technology have blurred boundaries in all areas of life and the need for a more holistic approach to the study of children’s literature involving new technology.
Although the study shows that the dystopian authors’ creations of visions of a future dominated by technology are intended to be a warning to the contemporary reader, it also identifies ways in which the presentation of the young adults demonstrates the importance and power of humanity in the portrayal of characters in fictional texts, and to some extent celebrates their engagement with technology. However, their presentation and other academic research confirms the authors’ need to warn people about the effects of technology and I suggest general ways in which this needs to be undertaken.
The nature of the study means that it adopts a constructionist approach and combines traditional literary analysis of aspects of form, structure and language with secondary sources from the fields of technology, neuroscience, human and social psychology, biology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. I believe this demonstrates, as the novels do, the way in which developments in technology have blurred boundaries in all areas of life and the need for a more holistic approach to the study of children’s literature involving new technology.