Divulging biopower through dystopian novels : a comparison of realistic and fictional settings

Robina R., Esme (author), M., Keerthana (author)

In a world where survival is dictated by those in power, control extends beyond politics to the very essence of life itself. This study analyses The Maze Runner and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes through the lens of biopower, a concept introduced by Michel Foucault to describe how modern societies exercise control over populations through the regulation of life, health, and bodies. Both novels depict dystopian worlds where authority figures manipulate and control individuals, reflecting the broader dynamics of biopower. Concepts in relation to biopower – like the control of power through life and death games and the control of the body and mind – will be analysed. The study adopts a Foucauldian analytical methodology and critical discourse analysis, focusing on how power dynamics in these novels reflect Foucault’s concepts of biopower and biopolitics. Through close textual analysis and critical interpretation, the study explores how these dystopian narratives utilize power structures that regulate the bodies and lives of characters, drawing connections to contemporary societal issues like surveillance and government control.

• Language: English
• Keywords: biopower, biopolitics, surveillance, manipulation, disguise, power
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 239-255
• Numbering: Letn. 19, št. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178685
• UDC: 32:1-047.56
• ISSN on article: 2350-4218
• DOI: 10.4312/ars.19.1.239-255
• COBISS.SI-ID: 271148035
• Publication date in RUL: 05.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Ars & humanitas : revija za umetnost in humanistiko = journal of arts and humanities
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2350-4218
• COBISS.SI-ID: 269590528

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Razkrivanje biomoči na podlagi distopičnih romanov : primerjava realističnih in fiktivnih okolij

Abstract

V svetu, kjer preživetje narekujejo tisti na oblasti, se nadzor razteza onkraj politike in sega v samo bistvo življenja. Ta študija analizira romana The Maze Runner in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes skozi prizmo biomoči, koncepta, ki ga je uvedel Michel Foucault, da bi opisal, kako sodobne družbe izvajajo nadzor nad prebivalstvom z regulacijo življenja, zdravja in teles. Oba romana prikazujeta distopična svetova, kjer avtoritete manipulirajo in nadzorujejo posameznike, kar odraža širšo dinamiko biomoči. Analizirani bodo koncepti v povezavi z biomočjo, kot sta nadzor nad močjo skozi igre življenja in smrti ter nadzor telesa in uma. Študija uporablja foucaultovsko analitično metodologijo in kritično analizo diskurza, s poudarkom na tem, kako dinamika moči v teh romanih odraža Foucaultova koncepta biomoči in biopolitike. S podrobno besedilno analizo in kritično interpretacijo študija raziskuje, kako ti distopični pripovedi uporabljata strukture moči, ki uravnavajo telesa in življenja likov, ter vzpostavlja povezave s sodobnimi družbenimi vprašanji, kot sta nadzor in državni nadzor.

• Keywords: biomoč, biopolitika, nadzor, manipulacija, krinka, moč