Memory, Dystopias, and Writers: Attempting to Subvert Dystopia for the Future

Abstract

Looking at three contemporary dystopian novels, Omar El Akkad’s American War, Jeff Noon’s Falling Out of Cars, and Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, this paper will analyze the way in which writing is used as an attempt to disrupt dystopia. While the protagonists fail in their attempts at subversion, the paper will explore how dystopia challenges memory, identity, and relationships. Additionally, the paper will examine how the protagonists’ subversive writings affect those around them, including future trauma. A brief discussion of the connection between writing and memory from a psychological perspective will ensue, including how writing excites important parts of the brain. Part of this exploration will look at memory and how writing ties to the past and how identity is negotiated through the act of writing in the course of literary analysis of the novels. The three novels reiterate that while erasing the past is impossible, it is possible to erase or modify memories to the point that the past no longer matters.