Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy

Description

This collection of fresh essays on Suzanne Collins's epic trilogy spans multiple disciplines. The contributors probe the trilogy's meaning using theories grounded in historicism, feminism, humanism, queer theory, as well as cultural, political, and media studies. The essayists demonstrate diverse perspectives regarding Collins's novels but their works have three elements in common: an appreciation of the trilogy as literature, a belief in its permanent value, and a need to share both appreciation and belief with fellow readers. The 21 essays that follow the context-setting introduction are grouped into four parts: Part I "History, Politics, Economics, and Culture," Part II "Ethics, Aesthetics, and Identity," Part III "Resistance, Surveillance, and Simulacra," and Part IV "Thematic Parallels and Literary Traditions." A core bibliography of dystopian and postapocalyptic works is included, with emphasis on the young adult category--itself an increasingly crucial part of postmodern culture. cover Acknowledgments Table of Contents Preface by Leisa A. Clark Introduction by Mary F. Pharr and Leisa A. Clark Part I. History, Politics, Economics and Culture 1. Panem in America: Crisis Economics and a Call for Political Engagement by Bill Clemente 2. Absolute Power Games by Anthony Pavlik 3. Communal Spectacle: Reshaping History and Memory through Violence by Gretchen Koenig 4. Reflection in a Plastic Mirror* by Valerie Estelle Frankel 5. Coal Dust and Ballads: Appalachia and District 12* by Tina L. Hanlon 6. The “Fine Reality of Hunger Satisfied”: Food as Cultural Metaphor in Panem by Max Despain Part II. Ethics, Aesthetics and Identity 7. Katniss Everdeen’s Liminal Choices and the Foundations of Revolutionary Ethics by Guy Andre Risko 8. Hungering for Righteousness: Music, Spirituality and Katniss Everdeen* by Tammy L. Gant 9. Revolutionary Art in the Age of Reality TV by Katheryn Wright 10. (Im)Mutable Natures: Animal, Human and Hybrid Horror* by Sharon D. King 11. “Killer” Katniss and “Lover Boy” Peeta: Suzanne Collins’s Defiance of Gender-Genred Reading by Ellyn Lem and Holly Hassel 12. Of Queer Necessity: Panem’s Hunger Games as Gender Games by Jennifer Mitchell Part III. Resistance, Surveillance and Simulacra 13. Costuming the Resistance: The Female Spectacle of Rebellion by Amy L. Montz 14. “Perhaps I Am Watching You Now”: Panem’s Panopticons by Kelley Wezner 15. Fueling the Spectacle: Audience as “Gamemaker”* by Shannon R. Mortimore-Smith 16. Simulacra, Sacrifice and Survival in The Hunger Games, Battle Royale, and The Running Man by Helen Day Part IV. Thematic Parallels and Literary Traditions 17. The PR Wars: The Hunger Games Trilogy and Shakespeare’s Second Henriad by Catherine R. Eskin 18. The Masks of Femininity: Perceptions of the Feminine in The Hunger Games and Podkayne of Mars* by Rodney M. DeaVault 19. The Child Soldier and the Self in Ender’s Game and The Hunger Games by Sarah Outterson Murphy 20. Apples to Oranges: The Heroines in Twilight and The Hunger Games by Amanda Firestone 21. From the Boy Who Lived to the Girl Who Learned: Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen* by Mary F. Pharr Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Fiction and Criticism: A Core Bibliography, with Emphasis on Young Adult Works by Leisa A. Clark About the Contributors Index