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1	The carceral in literary dystopia: social conformity in Aldous Huxley’s Brave new world, Jasper Fford’s Shades of grey and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy Chamberlain, Marlize 02 1900 (has links) Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127) / This dissertation examines how three dystopian texts, namely Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy, exhibit social conformity as a disciplinary mechanism of the ‘carceral’ – a notion introduced by poststructuralist thinker Michel Foucault. Employing poststructuralist discourse and deconstructive theory as a theoretical framework, the study investigates how each novel establishes its world as a successful carceral city that incorporates most, if not all, the elements of the incarceration system that Foucault highlights in Discipline and Punish. It establishes that the societies of the texts present potentially nightmarish future societies in which social and political “improvements” result in a seemingly better world, yet some essential part of human existence has been sacrificed. This study of these fictional worlds reflects on the carceral nature of modern society and highlights the problematic nature of the social and political practices to which individuals are expected to conform. Finally, in line with Foucault, it postulates that individuals need not be enclosed behind prison walls to be imprisoned; the very nature of our social systems imposes the restrictive power that incarcerates societies / English Studies / M.A. (English Studies) Dystopia Utopia Science fiction Social systems Social conformity Post-structuralism Michael Foucault Jacques Derrida Future societies Satire Prison Dystopian fiction Young adult dystopian fiction Imprisonment Power Hegemony Discipline Docility Carceral Discourse Discursive formations 809.93372 Roth, Veronica -- Themes, motives Roth, Veronica. Shades of grey Fforde, Jasper -- Themes, motives Fforde, Jasper -- Shades of grey Dystopias in literature Science fiction -- Themes, motives Future, The, in literature Conformity in literature

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The carceral in literary dystopia: social conformity in Aldous Huxley’s Brave new world, Jasper Fford’s Shades of grey and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy