Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: The Uprising of the Marginalized Society and Its Relation with Knowledge in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Uprising of the Marginalized Society and Its Relation with Knowledge in The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Fiona Ferdiana

Abstract
Analyzing Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, this paper draws on postcolonial
theory, paying particular attention to the work of Edward Said about power and
knowledge, to analyze the districts’ uprising. Postcolonial criticism generally
examines the relationship between the center and the marginalized. Edward Said,
in his theory Orientalism, examines how the center sees the marginalized in the
networks of power and its inseparable relation with knowledge. In Catching Fire,
the Capitol is the center and seen as superior and the Districts in Panem are the
marginalized and seen as inferior. Based on the theory above, applying it to the
novel set in the future, will make us think not only about how Said’s theory about
power and knowledge is not always true with the presence of humanity, but also
how the existence of colonialization is still happening and will present in the
future.
Keywords: Postcolonial, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Said, Power, Knowledge,
Humanity.