Young adult literature as a mirror of the society

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-175
Author(s):  
N. S. Zelezinskaya
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Young Adult Novel ◽  
Special Children

The article discusses contemporary young adult and post-adolescent literatures, which respond to the modern world with its catastrophes and challenges in a more acute manner than fiction for adults. A new literary genre, the problem young adult novel needs a comprehensive literary analysis. The age bracket of the genre, which is still open for discussion, is examined by the author in detail. While young adult fiction has a different agenda from children’s literature, it often surpasses ‘grown-up’ books in terms of issues raised and their relevance, which is especially true for the problem young adult novel, typically centred on a specific problem of modern society and featuring a teenage protagonist fighting for his/her survival. The main themes of the genre include deadly diseases, trauma, adaptation of special children in the society, suicide, abuse, murder, drugs, terrorism, and others. Little discussed and often tabooed in class or at home, these topics are raised by young adult literature, while teenagers get a chance to examine them and relive their anxieties with protagonists.

Reenvisioning space, mobilities and public engagement with young adult literature

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Hamilton-McKenna ◽  
Theresa Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Spatial Analyses ◽  
Literature Instruction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Teachers And Students

Purpose In an era when engagement in public spaces and places is increasingly regulated and constrained, we argue for the use of literary analytic tools to enable younger generations to critically examine and reenvision everyday spatialities (Rogers, 2016; Rogers et al., 2015). The purpose of this paper is to consider how spatial analyses of contemporary young adult literature enrich interrogations of the spaces and places youth must navigate, and the consequences of participation for different bodies across those spheres. Design/methodology/approach In a graduate seminar of teachers and writers, we examined literary texts through a combined framework of feminist cultural geography, mobilities and critical mobilities studies. In this paper, we interweave our own spatial analyses of two selected works of young adult fiction with the reflections of our graduate student participants to explore our spatial framework and its potential to enhance critical approaches to literature instruction. Findings We argue that spatial literary analysis may equip teachers and students with tools to critically examine the spaces and places of everyday life and creatively reenvision what it means to be an engaged citizen in uncertain and troubling times. Originality/value While we have engaged in this work for several years, we found that in light of the global pandemic, coupled with the recent antiracist demonstrations, a spatial approach to literary study emerges as a potentially even more relevant and powerful component of literature instruction.

Child

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Self Similar ◽  
To Come

In the conclusion of The Child to Come, the book asks, ‘What happens when the life figured by the child--innocent, self-similar human life at home on a homely Earth--no longer has the strength to hold back the vitality that animates it?’ This chapter looks at two kinds of texts that consider this question: Anthropocene cinema and Young Adult Fiction. By focusing on the role of human action, the Anthropocene obscures a far more threatening reality: the collapse of the regulative. In relation, both children’s literature and young adult literature grow out of and as disciplinary apparatuses trained on that fraught transit between the presumptive difference of those still in their minority and the socially necessary sameness that is inscribed into fully attained adulthood.

‘Live. And remember’: History, memory and storytelling in young adult holocaust fiction

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-174
Author(s):  
Vandana Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Holocaust Literature ◽  
Holocaust Education ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Human Rights Abuse

Young adult fiction has emerged as a crucial pedagogical tool for Holocaust education. According to scholars and writers, it promotes empathy and also encourages the readers to become a part of the process of remembering. However, this field of storytelling also grapples with the dilemma of traumatic subject matter and its suitability for young readers. The humanist conventions of young adult fiction are often in conflict with the bleak and horrifying core of Holocaust literature. Young adult novelists have tried to deal with these problematic aspects by using multiple narrative strategies to integrate the memories of genocide and human rights abuse with the project of growth and socialisation that lies at the heart of young adult literature. This paper examines the narrative strategies that make young adult fiction an apt bearer and preserver of the traumatic past. Specifically, these strategies involve fantastical modes of storytelling, liminality and witness testimonies told to the second- and third-generation listeners. These strategies modify the humanist resolution of young adult narratives by integrating growth with collective responsibility.

scholarly journals Uppståndna igen ifrån de döda: Kristna motiv i nyare skandinavisk barnlitteratur

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-119
Author(s):  
Björn Sundmark
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
General Population ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Religious Experiences ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
Aesthetic Form ◽  
Christian Practices ◽  
Confessional Discourse

The chapter discusses representations of Christian practices, religious experiences and biblical motifs in recent Scandinavian children’s and young adult literature. It is claimed that after an almost one hundred-year hiatus, during which overt Christian symbols, stories and experiences have been absent from mainstream children’s publishing, we are now witnessing a return of such religious expressions in fictional and aesthetic form. The books under scrutiny are from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and include critically acclaimed picture books as well as young adult fiction and crossover literature. It is argued that it is once again possible to bring up Christian motifs and stories in our post-secular societies, not because of increased faith in the general population, but because religious issues to a greater degree have become part of contemporary non-confessional discourse.

Young adult literature in translation: The state of research

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Kaja Makowska
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
The State ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
First Century ◽  
Circulation Rate ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Characteristic Style ◽  
Youth Language

The aim of the article is to examine the concept of young adult literature, provide its historical timeframe, identify its key components, and, finally, discuss young adult literature in translation by presenting the state of research on the topic. After analysing the concept of a young adult, the article moves on to provide a brief summary of adolescent fiction’s history, concluding that J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders largely contributed to the recognition of the genre. The paper mentions characteristic style choices employed by the authors of young adult fiction, the most prominent being the blend of registers or ‘code-switching’ between teen and adult speech, as acknowledged by Penelope Eckert and Chuck Wendig. Code-switching constitutes one of the main translation problems and is discussed at large in two compelling papers on the topic of young adult literature translation, namely Translating Young Adult Literature. The High Circulation Rate of Youth Language and Other Related Translation Problems in “The Catcher in the Rye” and “The Outsiders” by Saskia Tempert and Translating Young Adult Literature: Problems and Strategies. John Green`s “An Abundance of Katherines” by Loana Griguta. Both dissertations analyse the language of adolescent novels (in the twentieth and the twenty first century) and devise a list of strategies dedicated to adequately rendering English source versions into Dutch and Romanian, respectively. These writings indicate a growing interest in the field of young adult literature translation. The article expresses the hope that more scholars will elaborate on the topic.

Beyond Divisive Categorization in Young Adult Fiction: Lessons from Divergent

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-445
Author(s):  
Darren Cronshaw
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Mind Control ◽  
Youth And Young Adults ◽  
Politics Of Fear ◽  
Resisting Oppression

Abstract Veronica Roth’s Divergent is a young adult fiction and movie franchise that addresses issues of political power, social inequity, border control, politics of fear, gender, ethnicity, violence, surveillance, personal authenticity and mind control. It is possible a large part of the popularity of the series is its attention to these issues which young Western audiences are concerned about. The narrative makes heroes of protagonists who become activists for justice and struggle against oppressive social-political systems. What follows is a literary analysis of Divergent, evaluating its treatment of public theology and social justice themes, and discussing implications for Christian activism, especially for youth and young adults. It affirms the ethos in the books of resisting oppression, and questions assumptions about gender and abuse, violence and imperial control, personal authenticity and categorization, and difference and sameness.

Beyond the Blockbusters

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Hunger Games ◽  
Limited Perspective ◽  
The Many

While the critical and popular attention afforded to twenty-first century young adult literature has exponentially increased in recent years, the texts selected for discussion in both classrooms and scholarship has remained static and small. Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Hate U Give dominate conversations among scholars and critics—but they are far from the only texts in need of analysis. Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction offers a necessary remedy to this limited perspective by bringing together a series of essays about the many subgenres, themes, and character types that have been overlooked and under-discussed until now. The collection tackles a diverse range of subjects—modern updates to the marriage plot; fairy tale retellings in dystopian settings; stories of extrajudicial police killings and racial justice—but is united by a commitment to exploring the large-scale generic and theoretical structures at work in each set of texts. As a collection, Beyond the Blockbusters is an exciting glimpse of a field that continues to grow and change even as it explodes with popularity, and would make an excellent addition to the library of any scholar, instructor, or reader of young adult literature.

Popular culture’s enduring influence on childhood: Fairy tale collaboration in the young adult series The Lunar Chronicles

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-315
Author(s):  
Alexandra Lykissas
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
The People ◽  
Literary Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Type

Fairy tales have a long history of providing educational morals for young women, particularly children. The lessons from older fairy tales have long influenced the metanarratives regarding how women should act in our culture and contemporary versions are no different. Contemporary adaptations of these fairy tales, however, have moved the genre beyond restrictive metanarratives and are now offering new solutions to 21st-century problems like authoritarian rulers. In Marissa Meyers’ Lunar Chronicle series (2012–2015), the characters interact and work together to overcome the villain. This collaborative fairy tale is a new type of fairy tale adaptation in which the characters work together instead of focusing on their individual happily-ever-afters. My article uses postmodern and feminist literary theories along with close-reading literary analysis to examine how this young adult series shows how young adult literature has become political and is able to address adult problems in ways that are easier to process for younger readers. I focus on how the series uses the character of Levana to examine how authoritarian rulers maintain control over the populace, in order to show how the characters then work together to overthrow Levana to free the people from her oppression. This series uses collaboration to show the reader how to resolve possible problems within their own lives. Working in community then becomes as a solution for young adults who may feel disenfranchised or lonely in our increasingly divisive world. Cooperation also becomes a transgressive move against the tendency to become segregated from those around us.

scholarly journals Gender dan identitas dalam sastra di mata remaja

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Sandya Rani ◽  
Wening Udasmoro
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Gender Role ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
Adolescent Readers ◽  
Identity Based

Young adult literature is one of the literary genre which implied teenage audience or adolescent. It is often confused with what can be exactly considered as children literature. Adolescence as a group of age, is placed in between childhood and adult people. Through an adolescent fiction, Lupus, this research sees gender as an effect and as a tool which could influence the adolescent’s identity. Based on theory of social practice, the things that are usually done by the teenagers in everyday life will be considered as a common sense although it is opposed to normative matters, such as a choice of their gender role. Adolescent readers in this case, are not fully aware of gender and identity, but they define those things related to the construction of sociocultural context.

Vom prophetischen Traum zum krankheitsbedingten Delirium

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Iris Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Young Adult Novel ◽  
Academic Discussion

Artikelbeginn:[English title and abstract below] Die Phänomene des Traums und Träumens als allnächtliche Konfrontation mit dem Fremden und Anderen des wachen (Er-)Lebens (vgl. Engel 2003, S. 153) wie auch der wachen Persönlichkeit üben eine nachhaltige Faszination aus, die maßgeblich auf ihre ambivalente Charakteristik zurückzuführen ist. Der/die Träumende befindet sich in einem Stadium jenseits der Realität, in einem Dazwischen von Leben und Tod, und ist »mit einer Erlebenswelt und einer Erlebensweise konfrontiert, die [Manfred Engel zufolge] auf ebenso evidente wie rätselhafte Weise anders sind als die des wachen Lebens« (ebd.).   From Predictive Dreaming to Pathological DeliriumNew Interpretations of Seldom-Addressed Types of Dreams in Children’s and Young Adult Literature All major categories of dreams identified in psychoanalysis occur as literary dreams in children’s and young adult literature. However, there are some categories, such as predictive dreams and pathological delirium, which have rarely been addressed in the academic discussion. Using a transdisciplinary approach, this article analyses the characteristics and functions of both types of literary dreams in texts for young readers, in each case looking at a historical and a contemporary text in order to be able to trace its specific development. The article begins with an introduction of the characteristics and historical sources of literary dreams of both types. Then, with passing references to other texts that influenced the tradition of each type of literary dream, an analysis of Lou Andreas-Salomé’s novella Wolga (1902) and Siobhan Dowd/Patrick Ness’s young adult novel A Monster Calls (2011) addresses the predictive dream, while an analysis of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tale Nußknacker und Mausekönig (1816) and Libba Bray’s young adult novel Going Bovine (2009) addresses pathological delirium. The conclusion draws attention to the fundamental similarities between these two types of literary dreams and their functions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document