ANALYZING BIPOC REPRESENTATION IN YOUNG ADULT FICTION

This thesis uses an identity studies approach to look at the representation of BIPOC characters within three young adult speculative fiction: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Black Witch by Laurie Forest, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer. By incorporating identity studies to explore and analyze examples of misrepresentation and unconscious bias throughout stories centered on oppressive world building, racial hierarchies, this thesis draws upon the works of various scholars including: Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, Orlando Patterson, Toni Morrison, and Edward Said. A lack of diverse authors and Eurocentrically-framed ideologies cemented into the publishing industry has led to instances of unconscious racialized misrepresentations of BIPOC characters as shown in the of three works of popular young adult fiction demonstrating the constraints created when authors shape and perpetuate identities for others, subjecting them to constructed identities and narratives.