This dissertation examines the use of genetic discourse in post-DNA American fiction, tracing the dystopian arc stretching from early twentieth century eugenics to contemporary genetic engineering. The texts I consider—novels by Thomas Pynchon, Katherine Dunn, Octavia Butler and Richard Powers—grapple with popular scientific concepts in order to express a deep unease about the nature of the body and its relationship to identity. Specifically, I examine the changes that occur as genetic language is transferred from popular science writing to novels. Key terms such as "gene," "code" and "writing" shift from descriptive language meant to limit and control representation, to literary metaphors whose power comes from their expansive flexibility. My analysis recognizes that literature and science do not exist solely in opposed disciplinary fields but also operate and interact with one another in popular and political settings. This dissertation develops a new model of reading science and literature which both expands our understanding of literary texts and provides the tools to understand how literature impacts scientific policy.

Critics often consider the texts I study to be ambiguous or open-ended. My recognition of the inherently dystopian discourse of contemporary genetic language allows a new interpretive framework in which a textual resolution is accessible to literary study. I demonstrate that literature which engages with this language is compelled to address those dystopian features, a compulsion which structures narrative forms previously viewed as unresolved.