The Hunger Ga(y)mes: How Representations of Asexuality in The Hunger Games Trilogy Expose the Violent Forcefulness of Compulsory (hetero)Sexuality and its Ties to Capitalist Exploitation
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2024-06-15
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en
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This bachelor’s thesis aims to provide a queer reading of The Hunger Games books, specifically of their protagonist Katniss Everdeen as asexual. It examines the interpretation of the Games as enforcing compulsory (hetero)sexuality. Sexuality, in line with Judith Butler’s notions of gender, is seen as performative and as part of identity formation. In the texts, the performance of heterosexuality is a mandatory means of survival. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark perform a love story to gain the audience’s support and get sponsors who can save their lives. Tied to this performativity is how capitalist structures enforce compulsory sexuality. These structures commodify bodies and sexuality into productive means for capital. In the novels, the leadership of the Capitol exploits both sexuality and labour through regulations that support the capitalist system. Edelman’s concept of futurity and Brown’s concept of chrononormativity provide a framework to understand queerness as a rejection of this capitalist exploitation. Representations of asexuality in The Hunger Games trilogy expose the violent forcefulness of compulsory (hetero)sexuality and reveal how the Capitol enforces both compulsory sexuality and capitalist exploitation.
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