Surveillance Societies: Privacy and Power in YA Fiction

Abstract

Noga Applebaum (2010) and Farah Mendlesohn (2009) both argue that science-fiction writing for children overwhelmingly endorses an anti-technology position, depicting technology as a “corrupting force” (Applebaum, 2010: 1) that must be carefully monitored and controlled. This chapter takes specific issue with this notion, using the subject of surveillance and its portrayal in five works of YA fiction to propose that an emerging group of contemporary authors is exploring in complex and innovative ways the concept of what it means to live in a “surveillance society”: either by envisaging empowered responses to oppressive forms of surveillance or considering the concept of “participatory surveillance”, a term designed to describe an individual’s willing submission to surveillance through online activities such as shopping and social networking. These narratives suggest that adolescent subjects are supremely adept at engaging and interacting with digital media. Further, as a result of being exposed to digital technologies since birth — an exposure that determines technological proficiency — these narratives imply that children and adolescent subjects may conceive of surveillance differently to adults. The concept of “private space” has undergone multiple transformations over the past 30 years, owing to the significant impact of digital technologies such as computers and the internet on human life.