Abstract
This chapter examines the politics of peace in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. Readers encounter both violence as entertainment and a critique of such ‘militainment’ (Stahl) and find insights into the motivations of (child) soldiers. A vision of local, relational, and low-tech peace is provided by Collins that dismantles a system of gender binaries and hinges on hope of rebirth through memory of the losses of war, love, and education. After a close reading of the peace and conflict themes in the series, the chapter closes with an analysis, drawing on Freud, Lacan, and Caruth, of ‘the dream of the burning child.’ Empathetic awakenings related to youth and conflict may be possible in the ethico-political reflection space provided by the series in the post-9/11 US context.
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Notes
- 1.
Some of the material in this chapter informed a part of an earlier article focused on the implications for peace education of The Hunger Games series (McEvoy-Levy 2017).
- 2.
BBC. J.K. Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay. BBC News Online. Saturday, 20 October 2007. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7053982.stmb Accessed 9 Dec 2106.
- 3.
Dominus S. Suzanne Collins’ war stories for kids. The New York Times. April 8, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html?_r=0 Accessed 9 Dec 2016.
- 4.
Dominus S. 2011.
- 5.
Stahl R. Militainment Inc: war, media, and popular culture. New York: Routledge; 2009. Quote at p. 146.
- 6.
Urdal H. The devil in the demographics: The effect of youth bulges on domestic armed conflict, 1950–2000. Social Development Papers. Washington, D.C.: Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit, World Bank; 2004. http://www.prio.no/Research-and-Publications/Publication/?oid=57846 Accessed January 3 2012.
- 7.
USAID. Technical Brief: Youth Bulges and Conflict. Winter. 2010.
- 8.
For example, Benard C. Toy Soldiers. The Youth Factor in the War on Terror. In Gavin M, editor. A work in progress. The prospects and the potential of the world’s youth. New York: International Debate Education Association; 2008; Singer PW. Children at war, Berkeley: University of California Press; 2006; Venhaus JM. Why Youth Join al-Qaeda. United States Institute of Peace Special Report. Washington, D.C: United States Institute of Peace; 2010.
- 9.
Collins S. The hunger games. New York: Scholastic; 2008. Quote at pp. 18–19.
- 10.
Collins S. The hunger games. Quote at p. 18.
- 11.
Foucault M. Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Trans. Sheridan A. New York: Vintage; 1979. Quote at p. 130.
- 12.
Scott JC. Domination and the arts of resistance. Hidden transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 1990. Quote at p. 114.
- 13.
Collins S. The hunger games. Quote at p. 144.
- 14.
Collins S. The hunger games. Quote at p. 142.
- 15.
Scott JC. 1990. Quote at p. 198.
- 16.
Collins S. The hunger games. Quote at p. 24.
- 17.
Collins S. Catching fire. Quote at p. 80.
- 18.
Foucault M. 1979. Quote at p. 131.
- 19.
Foucault M. 1979. Quote at p. 131.
- 20.
Der Derian J. Virtuous war: mapping the military-industrial-media-entertainment network. Second Edition. New York and London: Routledge; 2009. Quote at p. 209.
- 21.
Collins C. The hunger games. Quote at p. 141.
- 22.
Collins C. The hunger games. Quote at p. 142.
- 23.
Collins C. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 370.
- 24.
Collins C. Catching fire. New York: Scholastic; 2009. Quote at p. 123.
- 25.
For discussions of voluntary versus forced recruitment of child soldiers, see Brett R, Specht I. Young soldiers: Why they choose to fight. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner; 2004; Wessells M. Child soldiers. From violence to protection. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; 2006.
- 26.
- 27.
Freud S. Why War? In: Barash D, editor. Approaches to peace: A reader in peace studies. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010. pp. 9–13. Quote at p. 12.
- 28.
Hedges C. War is a force that gives us meaning. In: Barash D. 2010. pp. 21–26. Quote at p. 26.
- 29.
Collins S. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press; 2010. Quote at p. 375.
- 30.
Collins S. Catching fire. Quote at p. 385.
- 31.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 36.
- 32.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 221.
- 33.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 68.
- 34.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 203.
- 35.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 31.
- 36.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at pp. 185–186.
- 37.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 359.
- 38.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 368.
- 39.
Anzaldua G. Borderlands. La frontera. The new mestiza. 25th anniversary fourth edition. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books; 1987, 2012. Quote at p. 101.
- 40.
IRIN news, 2006. IRAQ: Insurgents using children to fight US-led forces, para. 6. http://www.irinnews.org/indepthmain.aspx?indepthid=94&reportid=61917
- 41.
Wessells M. 2006.
- 42.
Anzaldua, G. 1987, 2012; Reardon B. Sexism and the war system. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press; 1996.
- 43.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 375.
- 44.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 387.
- 45.
Reardon B.1996.
- 46.
Collins S. The hunger games. Quote at p. 374.
- 47.
Scott JC. 1990. Quote at p. 118.
- 48.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 377.
- 49.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 23.
- 50.
Sjoberg L. Gender, war and conflict. Cambridge: Polity; 2014. Quote at p. 118.
- 51.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 387.
- 52.
Collins S. Catching fire. Quote at p. 240.
- 53.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 388.
- 54.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 360.
- 55.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at pp. 378–379.
- 56.
See Wessells M. 2006.
- 57.
Collins, Mockingjay 384.
- 58.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 383.
- 59.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 387.
- 60.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 376.
- 61.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 387.
- 62.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at pp. 388–389.
- 63.
Collins S. Mockingjay. Quote at p. 390.
- 64.
Kidd K. Freud in Oz. At the intersections of psychoanalysis and children’s literature. Minneapolis MN: Minnesota University Press; 2011.
- 65.
Scott JC. 1990.
- 66.
Chabot Davis K. Oprah’s book club and the politics of cross-racial empathy. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 2004; 7(4): 399–419. Quote at p. 405.
- 67.
Der Derian J. 2009. Quote at pp. 255–256.
- 68.
Tribunella, E. 2010. Melancholia and Maturation. The Use of Trauma in American Children’s Literature. University of Tennessee Press.
- 69.
Anzaldua G. La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a new consciousness. In: McCann C, Seung-Kyung K, editors. Feminist theory reader. Local and global perspectives. New York and London: Routledge; 2003. pp. 179–187.Quote at p. 180.
- 70.
Reardon B. 1996.
- 71.
Taber N, Woloshyn V, Lane L. ‘She’s more like a guy’ and ‘he’s more like a teddy bear’: girls’ perception of violence and gender in the hunger games. Journal of Youth Studies. 2013; 16(8): 1022–1037. DOI:10.1080/13676261.2013.772573.
- 72.
Taber et al. 2013. Quote at p. 1023.
- 73.
Collins, The hunger games, p. 8.
- 74.
Ibid. p. 8 and 25.
- 75.
Ibid. p. 98.
- 76.
Wilson N. A whitewashed hunger games. Ms. Magazine. April 3, 2012.
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/04/03/a-whitewashed-hunger-games/ Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
- 77.
See the discussion in the comments section of this article: Lee M. Rue won’t be whitewashed in ‘the hunger games.’ Media Consumers for Entertainment Equality Blog. Racebending.Com. April 7 2011. http://www.racebending.com/v4/blog/rue-wont-be-whitewashed-in-the-hunger-games/ Accessed 10 Dec 2016; Yamato J. Oh no they didn’t. The hunger games casting for underfed white teenage girls. Movieline. March 1 2011. http://movieline.com/2011/03/01/oh-no-they-didnt-the-hunger-games-casting-for-underfed-white-teenage-girls/
- 78.
Lee M. Rue won’t be whitewashed in ‘the hunger games.’ Media Consumers for Entertainment Equality Blog. Racebending.Com. April 7 2011. http://www.racebending.com/v4/blog/rue-wont-be-whitewashed-in-the-hunger-games/ Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
- 79.
Like Snow, Trump is a leader with a name that evokes an action, in this case domination (i.e., ‘to trump’ or ‘get the better of’). The Trump name is also part fictional in that it was reportedly adapted from a different German name by his ancestors upon immigration.
- 80.
Volkan V. Psychoanalysis, international relations and diplomacy. London: Karnac Books; 2014. Volkan applies psychoanalytical theory to large-groups, such as states and ethnic groups.
- 81.
Moorhead J. 9/11 ten years on: the children left behind. The Independent. September 3, 2011. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/911-ten-years-on-the-children-left-behind-2348904.html Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
- 82.
Kalb C. 2009. 9/11’s Children grow up. Newsweek. September 7 2009, http://www.newsweek.com/911s-children-grow-79477 Accessed 20 Sep 2015.
- 83.
William Howe quoted in Kalb C. 2009.
- 84.
Preschool children were most affected and their ‘mothers’ psychological well-being appeared to affect how well they helped their young children cope with exposure to disaster, although additional research is needed to shed light on this relationship.’ Society for Research on Child Development. Young children especially vulnerable to the effects of 9/11. Eurekalert. July 15, 2010. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-07/sfri-yce070810.php Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
- 85.
See Crawford N. Feminist futures. Science fiction, utopia, and the art of possibilities in world politics. In: Weldes J., editor. To seek out new worlds: Exploring links between science fiction and world politics. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave; 2003. pp. 195–220.
- 86.
Volkan V. 2014.
- 87.
Das V. Life and words. Violence and the descent into the ordinary. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 2007. Quote at p. 39.
- 88.
Caruth C. Unclaimed experience. Trauma, narrative and history. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1996. Quote at p. 95.
- 89.
Caruth C. 1996.
- 90.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 96.
- 91.
Caruth C. 1996. p. 99.
- 92.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 99.
- 93.
Prim was burned up in the bombing by the rebels and Rue’s death in the arena is the spark to Katniss’s first acts of rebellion.
- 94.
Anzaldua G. Speaking across the divide. In: Keating A. 2009. pp. 282–294. Quote at p. 293.
- 95.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 103.
- 96.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 100.
- 97.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 103.
- 98.
Collins. S. Mockingjay, pp. 368–369.
- 99.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 102.
- 100.
Caruth C. 1996. Quote at p. 111.
- 101.
Caruth, C. 1996. Quote at p. 105. She explains, ‘As an act, the awakening is not an understanding but a transmission’. p. 106.
References
Anzaldua, G. 1987, 2012. Borderlands. La frontera. The new mestiza. 25 anniversary fourth edition. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
BBC. 2007. J.K. Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay. BBC News Online. Saturday, October 20. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7053982.stmb. Accessed 9 Dec 2016.
Benard, C. 2008. Toy soldiers. The youth factor in the war on terror. In A work in progress. The prospects and the potential of the world’s youth, ed. M. Gavin. New York: International Debate Education Association.
Brett, R., and I. Specht. 2004. Young soldiers: Why they choose to fight. Lynne Rienner: Boulder.
Caruth, C. 1996. Unclaimed experience. Trauma, narrative and history. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Chabot Davis, K. 2004. Oprah’s book club and the politics of cross-racial empathy. International Journal of Cultural Studies 7 (4): 399–419.
Collins, S. 2008. The hunger games. New York: Scholastic.
———. 2009. Catching fire. New York: Scholastic.
———. 2010. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press.
Crawford, N. 2003. Feminist futures. Science fiction, utopia, and the art of possibilities in world politics. In To seek out new worlds: Exploring links between science fiction and world politics, ed. J. Weldes, 195–220. Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave.
Das, V. 2007. Life and words. Violence and the descent into the ordinary. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Der Derian, J. 2009. Virtuous war: Mapping the military-industrial-media-entertainment network. 2nd ed. New York/London: Routledge.
Dominus, S. 2011. Suzanne Collins’ war stories for kids. The New York Times, April 8. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html?_r=0. Accessed 9 Dec 2016.
Foucault, M. 1979. Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Trans. Sheridan A. New York: Vintage.
Freud, S. 2010. Why war? In Approaches to peace: A reader in peace studies, ed. D. Barash, 9–13. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hedges, C. 2010. War is a force that gives us meaning. In, ed. D. Barash, 21–26.
IRIN News. 2006. IRAQ: Insurgents using children to fight US-led forces, para. 6. http://www.irinnews.org/indepthmain.aspx?indepthid=94&reportid=61917.
Kalb, C. 2009. 9/11’s Children grow up. Newsweek, September 7. http://www.newsweek.com/911s-children-grow-79477. Accessed 20 Sep 2015.
Kidd, K. 2011. Freud in Oz. At the intersections of psychoanalysis and children’s literature. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.
Lee, M. 2011. Rue won’t be whitewashed in ‘the hunger games’. Media Consumers for Entertainment Equality Blog. Racebending.Com, April 7. http://www.racebending.com/v4/blog/rue-wont-be-whitewashed-in-the-hunger-games/. Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
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Reardon, B. 1996. Sexism and the war system. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
Scott, J.C. 1990. Domination and the arts of resistance. Hidden transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Singer, P.W. 2006. Children at war. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sjoberg, L. 2014. Gender, war and conflict. Cambridge: Polity.
Society for Research on Child Development. 2010. Young children especially vulnerable to the effects of 9/11. Eurekalert, July 15. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-07/sfri-yce070810.php. Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
Stahl, R. 2009. Militainment Inc: War, media, and popular culture. New York: Routledge.
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Tribunella, E. 2010. Melancholia and maturation. The use of trauma in American children’s literature. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
Urdal, H. 2004. The devil in the demographics: The effect of youth bulges on domestic armed conflict, 1950–2000, Social Development Papers. Washington, DC: Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit, World Bank. http://www.prio.no/Research-and-Publications/Publication/?oid=57846. Accessed 3 Jan 2012.
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Venhaus, J.M. 2010. Why youth join al-Qaeda, United States Institute of Peace Special Report. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
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Wessells, M. 2006. Child soldiers. From violence to protection. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wilson, N. 2012. A whitewashed hunger games. Ms Magazine, April 3. http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/04/03/a-whitewashed-hunger-games/. Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
Yamato, J. 2011. Oh no they didn’t. The hunger games casting for underfed white teenage girls. Movieline, March 1. http://movieline.com/2011/03/01/oh-no-they-didnt-the-hunger-games-casting-for-underfed-white-teenage-girls/. Accessed 10 Dec 2016.
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McEvoy-Levy, S. (2018). Reading Peace Beyond Trauma, Resistance, and Hope in The Hunger Games . In: Peace and Resistance in Youth Cultures. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-49871-7_6
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