Representations of Technology in Science Fiction for Young People

by Noga Applebaum

Overview

In this new book, Noga Applebaum surveys science fiction novels published for children and young adults from 1980 to the present, exposing the anti-technological bias existing within a genre often associated with the celebration of technology. Applebaum argues that perceptions of technology as a corrupting force, particularly in relation to its use by young people, are a manifestation of the enduring allure of the myth of childhood innocence and result in young-adult fiction that endorses a technophobic agenda. This agenda is a form of resistance to the changing face of childhood and technology’s contribution to this change. Further, Applebaum contends that technophobic literature disempowers its young readers by implying that the technologies of the future are inherently dangerous, while it neglects to acknowledge children’s complex, yet pleasurable, interactions with technology today. The study looks at works by well-known authors including M.T. Anderson, Monica Hughes, Lois Lowry, Garth Nix, and Philip Reeve, and explores topics such as ecology, cloning, the impact of technology on narrative structure, and the adult-child hierarchy. While focusing on the popular genre of science fiction as a useful case study, Applebaum demonstrates that negative attitudes toward technology exist within children’s literature in general, making the book of considerable interest to scholars of both science fiction and children’s literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415989510
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/08/2009
Series:	Children's Literature and Culture
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Noga Applebaum has a PhD in Children’s Literature from Roehampton University. She lectures in Children's Literature at the Open University and teaches Creative Writing at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute in London.

Table of Contents

List of Permissions xi

Series Editor's Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 But Only God Can Make a Tree: Technology and Nature in Young SF 17

Chapter 2 The Last Book in the Universe: The Fate of the Humanities in a Technological World 45

Chapter 3 The Road Not Taken: The Impact of Technology on Narrative Structure 71

Chapter 4 The World Upside Down: Technology, Power and the Adult-child Relationship 95

Chapter 5 (Tech)Nobody's Children: Clones and Cloning in Young Adult Literature 127

Conclusion: The Technophobic Legacy 151

Notes 161

Bibliography 173

Index 189

Editorial Reviews

'Representations of Technology in Science Fiction for Young People is a provocative and invaluable book, especially because it forces us to confront and reevaluate our anxieties about technology and childhood.'- Journal of Children's Literature Studies

From the Publisher