Jump to content

Can The Hunger Games be considered as literature?


marauder7

Recommended Posts

The Hunger Games have become very popular since the film came out.

I don't consider myself a fan but I enjoyed the books (I didn't like Mockingjay very much though..).

Before watching the movie my friends and I discussed whether the books can be considered as literature.

My first response was no. It is a YA novel, and most novels of that genre can't be considered as literature. *cough cough* Twilight (btw I hate it when people compare The Hunger Games with Twilight just because of the love triangle).

We reached to the conclusion that The Hunger Games describesa a dystopian society and it portrays significant themes (like the control of the government, or the power of mass media). The reason why it can't be considered literature is its style. It is written in first person and in present tense and it is not very sophisticated. In our opinion if The Hunger Games was written by another author (ie. Golding) then it might be considered as literature because it does have a message and has themes and symbols.

What do you think?

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

We've actually been discussing this in my English Literature class, with many of us arguing that it is literature for various reasons. The book has plenty of symbols and potential analysis, I've read a few reviews online, and some of the most respected book critics have hailed it as a potential classic; yes, the fact that it is an adult novel and the movie has created a "craze" for it, might create more and more people to say it's just a fad, but I believe that it can survive the test of time.

In fact, our teacher is pretty open to out input and we've decided to study the first novel as part of our "Literature in Film" option, so hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to write on how it is going, I'm pretty excited about it! And I think that if it had been written earlier and by a more "renowned" author many more would consider it a classic, but we have to remember that every author will be seen as new and passing, time is what makes them great and famous.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

What is your definition of literature? We are doing a debate on whether 'literature is lost at 140 characters' and it is seemingly impossible to find a definition for literature. The thing is, there is no accepted definition of literature among english critics (if there, please enlighten me, as this would be very helpful). Does literature have to have cultural or social significance, such as Shakespeare? Or does it simply have to contain stylistc features? As for the hunger games, it could be argued that it satisfies both, or neither, of these requirements. Hard question!

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The Hunger Games have become very popular since the film came out.

I don't consider myself a fan but I enjoyed the books (I didn't like Mockingjay very much though..).

Before watching the movie my friends and I discussed whether the books can be considered as literature.

My first response was no. It is a YA novel, and most novels of that genre can't be considered as literature. *cough cough* Twilight (btw I hate it when people compare The Hunger Games with Twilight just because of the love triangle).

We reached to the conclusion that The Hunger Games describesa a dystopian society and it portrays significant themes (like the control of the government, or the power of mass media). The reason why it can't be considered literature is its style. It is written in first person and in present tense and it is not very sophisticated. In our opinion if The Hunger Games was written by another author (ie. Golding) then it might be considered as literature because it does have a message and has themes and symbols.

What do you think?

I think if Hunger Games was not considered literature because of it's first person narrative style and simplistic language than Wide Sargasso Sea would also not be considered literature. I honestly think Hunger Games could be considered literature just because of its dystopian nature and the greater significance it poses "in between the lines".

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

My teacher thinks it has some literary qualities, but argued convincingly that it is not literature with a capital L as she put it. It has merit, and is appropriate for study in lower classes, but not at all appropriate for the IB. One student in our class wanted to do her EE on it, and there was a long debate. Finally it was sort of agreed she could only do it if she pairs it with another dystopian novel. We were all quite divided on the topic, but as she pointed out, we don't analyse and read Holes either. I loved Holes! So I guess while it has some literary qualities, it is not IB appropriate.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Quite easily literature if you want to go as basic as possible. Literature, if we go back to latin, means "things made with letters :D

Anyway, I don't see how it wouldn't be literature? There are clear literary devices in the book that lead to an effect. Just like all the books we read in the IB. Is the difficulty level high enough for IB? Not in my opinion, but that wasn't really the question.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

we were discussing this in our English class, and i take HL.

while the teacher thinks that Hunger games is definitely literature because of the extensive use of symbolism despite the usage of normal, conversational English, the head of the English department disagrees. This series is one of my favourite reads, and i couldn't stop talking about it with my friends. I've read most of the blogs about it, and I've read the series 3 times. I didn't like Mockingjay though.

Anyway, in my opinion, it should be considered literature.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I think it does. It has plenty of symbolism in it and it has its own message that it is sending out. Maybe it might not be considered as a literature that "Pride and Prejudice" or other classical novels are, but I still think that The Hunger Games should be and is a literature.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

This is like asking if "Harry Potter" or "A Song of Ice and Fire" (Which I plan on doing an EE over) is considered literature.

I say yes. There is plenty to be analyzed; there is symbolism and characterization of numerous characters among other themes (I haven't read them in awhile so I'm not qualified to go into detail.)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I don't think that Hunger Games should be considered as Literature. It is a good book, but it lacked a lot of elements that makes up literature.

Katniss's character really annoyed me so much, and there is barely any character development in her; at the start of the book she is this whinging girl, and at the end she still is an whinging girl. It applies to alot of other characters in the book as well. I don't so much mind the triangle, it makes the book interesting.

It also lacked depth when you compare it to other books; sure the Hunger Games talks about dystopian world, but comparing it to Harry Potter, I see that it is almost completely imaginary, lacking real world parallel (talking about the political stuff here, not the actual hunger games) or basis and lacking investigation into issue, bad use of first-person (Katniss is pretty much whinging about the same thing over and over) narrative, little characterization, not enjoyable to read (by here I meant the last book), too cliche, etc. etc.

It does allright for a modern comtemporary fiction, but as a serious literature, noooooo

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...