Questioning A Generation's Reading Patterns: Why the So-Called Politically Apathetic Millennial Generation Can't Get Enough of its Politically-Charged Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

I’ve recently finished writing an obscenely long article on the current dystopian trend in young adult literature. It will likely be impossible to sum up that 38 page article here, but I thought I’d share a little of what interested me in the topic.

In the past few years I’ve read a bunch of troubling (and problematic) studies discussing the millennial generation. Nick Carr, author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” has discussed the ways in which our technology-dependent society is impacting our youngest generations and Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, discusses how the social networking era is creating a generation of narcissistic, politically apathetic, and civically illiterate youth. Bauerlein’s text houses some sobering statistics about youth’s lack of interest and knowledge concerning political affairs. Here are just a few examples: 1) 64 percent of young adults in a research study knew the name of the latest American Idol, but only one-third knew which party controlled the state legislature, and only 40 percent knew which party controlled Congress; 2) In a 2003 survey, only one in 50 college students named the first right guaranteed in the amendment, and one out of four did not know any freedom protected by it; 3) A 2004 report conducted by the US Department of Education indicates that 47 percent of high school seniors believe it is “very important” to be an active and informed citizen, but only 26 percent of high school seniors scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the national civics exam.

As I read these studies I was also reading for pleasure a slew of dystopian young adult novels. Dystopia has always had a place in young adult literature but it has become much more predominant in the past decade, even more so since Susan Colllins’s Hunger Games series became an overnight sensation. Anyone who is familiar with the dystopia genre knows that it is packed full of political content and social commentary. Therefore, reading these fictional tales intended for young adults against studies claiming that they had absolutely no interest in such topics created a sort of cognitive dissonance for me. To me it seemed like there was a major mismatch between the reading practices of the youth and the critical labels being attached to them (terms such as “apathetic” or “apolitical”). So I set out to discover why these texts were so popular right now with this age group and if their popularity could disprove some of the criticisms launched at this generation.

In terms of popularity I came to a conclusion that won’t surprise many who follow this blog (or know my research interests): they are likely a product of the post-9/11 moment, joining the ranks of horror films and apocalyptic dramas that remediate the events of 9/11 and/or act as handy metaphors for the host of cultural concerns plaguing the country today. I suggest these texts could be a place where youth wrestle with their (likely unconscious) fears lingering after the national tragedy.

Of course, there could be other reasons why these texts exist in this mass quantity at the moment, reasons that stem not from the age group they are intended for but from a previous era that produced the authors who are crafting them. The majority of the authors writing young adult fiction today lived through the Reagan era, the 1980s Cold War scare, were terrified by the broadcast of The Day After (1983), and as high schoolers they were taught a variety of texts concerned with misery and social control, such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, Flowers for Algernon, and Lord of the Flies. The dystopian literature of the eighties was preoccupied with mass destruction, atomic bombs, and apocalyptic outcomes. But, as Laura Hall and Kara N. Slade note, this generation did not face such a future; they did not die, but instead “just ended up with mortgages, subscriptions to the New Yorker, and a grinding sense of regret. And now apparently they are “writing, publishing, and promoting postapocalyptic and dystopian fiction for young people at an unprecedented rate.” Therefore, it may very well be that this current upswing in young adult dystopia should be credited to the authors themselves, for it is just as likely that it is their political concerns that are projected upon the pages more so than those of their readers. In terms of crafting the market for these texts, it may be a mistake to assign the agency to the young adults themselves instead of to the authors who are framing the texts within these themes or the publishers who are eager to push texts that capitalize on post-9/11 concerns. But regardless of who or what deserves credit for rejuvenating this profitable subset of young adult literature, the fact remains that teenagers are reading these texts and are, therefore, sustaining the market. I would then argue that their enthusiastic engagement with these novels calls for reevaluating the claims that this generation is apathetic when it comes to national and global issues.

In the longer version of this article I analyzed some of the social critiques found in a set of dystopian YA novels. I’ll just bullet point few here so that anyone unfamiliar with these texts can have a basic understanding of this recent publication trend:

· Matched (Series): Ally Condie’s series debuted in 2010. It depicts a society that relies oncalculated planning where each of life’s stages – from marriage at age 21 to death on or before age 80 – is decided in advanced for optimal results. Part of the novel’s cultural critique comes into play as Condie describes the ways in which the society has decided to preserve cultural and historical artifacts: in the fashion of an exaggerated “throw away” culture, record keeping and personal preserves are virtually eliminated and only things of value (value being decided on by a governmental committee) are saved as parts of collections, or “Lists of 100” to be exact (the top best 100 poems, the best 100 paintings, and so forth).

· The Hunger Games (Series): The first book in Susan Collins’s series was published in 2008. The novels present a totalitarian government that punishes its citizens through an annual competition where children are selected to fight to the death in a televised competition. It can be read as critiquing many different aspects of contemporary society, most obviously our entertainment choices (and specifically reality television or violent media more generally). However, the series also offers up social commentary on poverty, capitalism, and more.

· Little Brother (Novel): Cory Doctorow’s novel was released in 2008. As its title alludes, this text is an Orwellian tale of a government that abuses its power and constantly monitors its citizens. The narrative follows a teenager who was wrongfully detained by the Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack. It is a clear critique of the Patriot Act and other governmental abuses (in the name of national security) post-9/11.

· Uglies (Series): Scott Westerfeld’s series was launched in 2005. It focuses on a post-apocalyptic society where cosmetic surgery is mandated at age sixteen in order to rid citizens of physical differences, such as race and beauty, that in the past resulted in inequality and even war. Accompanying this physical transformation, unknown to those who experience it, is a mental one wherein the participants’ brains are altered so that they remain in a permanent state of “bubbly” (ignorant) bliss. The central commentary of these books focuses on the current surge in cosmetic surgery but other important critiques concerns our culture’s obsession with celebrities and material goods, and the damage we are doing to the environment.

· Feed (Novel): M.T. Anderson’s novel was published in 2002. It utilizes the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world to critique the effects of advanced technology on humankind and the environment. Feed presents a vision of an earth all but destroyed by humans. In this technology-saturated society, the majority of the population has had computerized information feeds implanted in their brains. These feeds constantly bring them endless streams of information, usually in the form of advertising for consumer products. Besides for serving as a cautionary tale about the misuse of technology, his novel was intended to scrutinize the current culture of instant gratification, aspects of herd psychology, and individuals’ refusal to tackle serious societal problems.

Quite obviously, this type of reading does not shy away from social critique. But does the fact that teens are reading these political texts prove that they *are* political? Not necessarily. However, some recent research does indicate that things are not as bleak as some would have us believe.

Robert Putman and Thomas Sander completed a study that determined that 9/11 seemed to have a major impact on the civic engagement of young adults. They report that young collegians' interest in politics rapidly increased in the years following 9/11 after three decades of steady decline. In the period from 1967 to 2000, the share of college freshmen who said that they had ‘discussed politics’ in the previous twelve months dropped from 27 to 16 percent; since 2001, it has more than doubled and is now at an all-time high of 36 percent. Sander and Putman provide a host of other statistics that further buffer their claims: 1) First-year college students also evince a long-term decline and then post-2001 rise in interest in keeping up to date with political affairs; 2) Surveys of high-school seniors show a similar and simultaneous decline and then rise in civic engagement; 3) Moreover, as most of us know, between 2000 and 2008, voting rates rose more than three times faster for Americans under age 29 than they did for Americans over 30.
Since their study was published in 2010, it was too early to draw attention to other recent evidence that young adults are becoming more politically engaged. A key example would be the Occupy Wall Street protest movement. This movement, which began on September 17^th, 2011, promoted its protests through the social-networking sites most frequented by American youth. As a result, young people made up the majority of it participants.

These conclusions about young adults suggest that this new generation – inspired by 9/11 and further invigorated by new technological platforms – is experiencing a rejuvenation in terms of civic involvement. This could account for their sudden interest in young adult literature that caters to such mindsets.
Although it seems logical to assume that the popularity of these novels implies that their teenage readers are interested in the social commentary they build upon, this is a hard assumption to prove. It could be that teens are just as drawn to the fantastical settings, the romantic storylines, the coming-of-age themes, and the action-filled plots. However, if this was the case, one would expect to see other YA novels (which include all of these aspects) topping them in sales and garnering the Hollywood movie deals. And this is not occurring as regularly. Quite obviously, there is something within these novels that speak to this newest generation of readers. The most likely answer is that teenage readers are drawn to the way these texts repackage societal concerns from reality, displacing them into the safe comforts of fiction where they are addressed time and time again with more favorable results.


It is not surprising that the decade following the September 11^th attacks contained as many dystopian narratives (young adult and otherwise) as it did. I would argue that these narratives are important sites where the reality of a post-9/11 world are being worked out. Therefore, in consuming these texts, teenagers are likely working through fears remaining years after the national trauma. Reading these books may not completely rewire the Millennial Generation, but it may find them contemplating some important societal problems – including those that led up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as other less tragic concerns such as the effects of reality television, superficial beauty standards, and over-reliance on social technology.

Of course, the popularity of these young adult novels does not eradicate the data that suggests that teenagers today are suffering from civic illiteracy and are not participating in the formal political process at desired rates. (Although, to be fair, the criticisms leveled at young adults are often exaggerated when studied in greater cultural context. For example, data is often not relayed for other age groups which might indicate that civic illiteracy, or disinterest in current political affairs, is more of a cultural phenomenon rather than an age-specific one. Also, these studies often fail to address the larger question of why this generation, or Americans more generally, are shying away from politics.) Nonetheless, taking these somewhat disturbing studies at face value, it does appear that young adults are, at least outwardly, politically disengaged. Despite their content, the mass consumption of these political narratives does not alter this fact. However, the popularity of these dystopian texts does suggest that the descriptor cast upon the age group is misleading. The very fact that this population is enthralled with these tales suggests that the classification of “apolitical,” or at the very least “apathetic,” is inaccurate. This literary trend indicates that while these young readers may be disheartened by contemporary politics and under-informed in current events, they are not uninterested in the social problems that underlay both. The success of these novels implies that teenagers are willing to entertain societal critiques – even ones that implicate themselves. Rather than being a problematic discrepancy, the “mismatch” between the reading interests of young adults and their direct political action suggests that young adults could very easily be molded into more politically engaged citizens. And perhaps this “mismatch” is not as great as it first seems. The fact that this post-9/11 reading trend aligns with recent increases in community service and voting among youth populations may indicate that a change is already underfoot. Perhaps if their interests and concerns – as evidenced by their reading material – are addressed more regularly in the public sphere, and if they feel their voices will count in the democratic process, future research and poll data will reflect a very different political reality. Will reading young adult dystopias alone cause this political transformation? Not likely. And does the consumption of print texts often spark revolutionary change? No, but perhaps it is a start. Rather than predicting a bleak future for the young persons of today, this dystopian trend may very well be pointing toward a more positive future… at least in terms of political engagement.