Feminist and LGBTQ+ Studies

Abstract

Dystopian literature has long been recognized for its critical engagement with political, social, and ideological structures, often revealing deep-rooted anxieties about the future. While these narratives expose systems of control and oppression, their referents are concrete and proximate in relation to the historical situation of the author (Norledge 11). As a result, they also reflect the biases of the societies in which they were written, in this case, the gender bias.

This dissertation examines how Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley and Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury depict the monopolization of knowledge, focusing on how access to knowledge is largely reserved for male characters both the so-called heroes (Bernard Marx and Guy Montag) and the authoritative figures who define their worlds (Mustapha Mond and Captain Beatty). By analysing their journeys, this study explores the gendered dimension of intellectual power in these dystopian novels. Their female counterparts are portrayed as obstacles to enlightenment, reinforcing a pattern in which women are denied access to critical thought. Furthermore, the male figures of authority are the ones deciding what is worth knowing, demonstrating how dystopian societies mirror real-world structures of intellectual control.

Innis’s theory of the monopolization of knowledge and Foucault´s theory of power and knowledge, will serve as a framework for the study of Huxley´s and Bradbury´s dystopian novels, arguing that dystopian literature can reflect and perpetuate contemporary gender hierarchies through the management of knowledge. While previous scholarship has analysed themes such as censorship, consumerism, and political control in these works, the gendered distribution of knowledge remains underexplored. By integrating gender studies and communication theory, this research sheds new light on the structural inequalities embedded in early dystopian fiction, revealing how these novels reinforce the marginalization of women within intellectual and ideological spaces.

Biography

Recently finished the master in Cultural and Literary studies the Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (UNED), graduated from English Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2024. Scholarship recipient at the University of Helsinki through the Erasmus 22/23 program and former tutor for the Erasmus Students Network. Has participated in several conferences and seminars, such as the 13th International Conference on Chicano Literarture and Latino Studies in Santiago de Compostela, and the last one being the Seminar on Gender Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.