Subversion of gender stereotypes in the hunger games and children of blood and bone.

Abstract

This dissertation examines gender stereotypes in The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (2018). These are two influential contemporary speculative fiction novels, published a decade apart and in two different cultural contexts. Drawing on classical feminist theory, gender theory, and Africanfuturism, the dissertation examines how the protagonists of The Hunger Games (2008), as individuals and as a heterosexual couple in a romantic relationship, challenge or subvert traditional gender stereotypes and gender binaries. The same examination applies to the main protagonists in Children of Blood and Bone (2018). Through literary analysis, the dissertation explores how the portrayal of gender in both novels challenges the hegemonic notions of masculinity and femininity. A comparative approach will be applied, not in sense of comparing plot, but in considering whether the novels reimagine gender and gender stereotypes differently based on the differing time and cultural contexts of publication. This dissertation contributes to a broader conversation about the evolving portrayal of gender in speculative fiction, reflecting shifts in how contemporary society perceives gender.