Influences on the 21st century English-written dystopian literature

1 ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyze and explain major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21st century written in English. Those influences are described and illustrated on selected literary works, specifically on Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood, Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins, Matched (2010) by Ally Condie, and The Bone Season (2013) by Samantha Shannon. The theoretical part aims to explain the term dystopia, to define dystopia as a genre, and to describe its history. This part also deals with the influences on the development of dystopia, focused especially on the 20th century, and with the summaries of the books selected for the use in the practical part. The practical part focuses on the major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21st century written in English. Those are influences relating to methods of social control, scientific and technological advancements, and from various apocalyptic ideas and visions, such as wars and diseases. The practical part includes descriptions of the influences, their explanations, and subdivisions, following by illustrations of those influences on the selected literary works. KEY WORDS Dystopia, dystopian novel, the 21st century, major..