scholarly journals How Does Male Readership Impact Character Portrayals in Contemporary Young Adult Adventure Novels?

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella Goncea ◽  
Denise Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
Fantasy World ◽  
Adventure Fiction ◽  
Character Portrayals ◽  
Adventure Novels ◽  
Traditional Roles

Adventure fiction has traditionally followed a male protagonist in their search for selfhood and saviorhood. In the case of contemporary adventure fiction, authors are likely to follow the conventions of the adventure story in order to fit the genre’s stereotypes, which in turn reinforce gender stereotypes. This research paper discusses how contemporary young adult adventure novels typically perform within society’s narrowly defined perception of male readership. While the novels attempt to perpetuate powerful female roles, the male characters fit the fantasy of traditional, male adventure stories. After analyzing traditional stories such as Paradise Lost and Beowulf and modern novels such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I conclude that there are disparities between the portrayal of male and female characters: from the main hero to the minor characters to the antagonists, young adult adventure novels tend to follow traditional tropes in order to satisfy male readers. Even if the authors subvert the patriarchal tropes by adding female heroines or helpful minor characters, the overall work of literature creates a fantasy world that reinforces the traditional roles and desires expected of young boys. In time, these portrayals could encourage male readers to act patronizingly or dismissively toward girls and women.

scholarly journals ‘DEATH’S OTHER KINGDOMS’: DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE IN SOME RECENT FANTASIES FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-153
Author(s):  
Molly Brown
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Adolescent Readers

Trites (2000:117) argues that death is a biological imperative that possibly operates even more powerfully on the human mind than sexuality. In this article it will be suggested that coming to terms with the inevitability of mortality is a key maturational task, but that popular young adult fantasies dealing with immortal vampires or decaying zombies usually offer little or no support to adolescents struggling to deal with this issue. By contrast, it will be suggested that novels such as those in Terry Pratchett’s Johnny Maxwell series, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea series and Philip Pullman’s His dark materials trilogy provide adolescent readers with safe spaces in which to explore not only the threat of death, but a range of social and religious approaches to the problem. In this way, young readers may be encouraged to accept themselves, in Heidegger’s (1962 [1927]:304–307) terms, as ‘Being-towards-death’ and eventually even be empowered by such an acknowledgement.

scholarly journals Of Men and Masculinity: The Portrayal of Masculinity in a Selection of Award-Winning Australian Young Adult Literature

Knygotyra ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 228-259
Author(s):  
Kasey Garrison ◽  
Mary Mary ◽  
Elizabeth Derouet
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Father Figures ◽  
Library Education ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Verbal Bullying

This research investigates the portrayal of masculinity in Australian young adult novels published in 2019. The novels were taken from the 2020 Children’s Books Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year for Older Readers Notables List. Established in 1946, these annual awards are considered the most prominent and prestigious in Australian children’s and young adult literature and are likely to be accessible and promoted to young readers in schools and libraries. The three texts studied were Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, The Boy who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews, and This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield. Using a Critical Content Analysis methodology (Beach et al., 2009), researchers completed a review of the literature and theories around masculinity and chose to analyse three exemplary texts using the attributes of the Hegemonic Masculinity Schema (HMS) and Sensitive New Man Schema (SNMS) as described by Romøren and Stephens (2002). Attributes from the HMS include traits and behaviours like being violent, physical or verbal bullying, and hostile to difference while attributes from the SNMS include being supportive, affectionate, and considerate and respectful of the space and feelings of others (especially females). In this method, researchers identify examples of the attributes within the main characters and minor characters from each of the three books, recording quotes and noting critical incidents depicting aspects of masculinity. Notable findings of the research include the acknowledgment and portrayal of a particular conception of hegemonic masculinity in the selected novels often informed or shaped by the presence of dominant father figures and the absence of the concept of “the mother.” The characters who aligned to the schema used within this research are often overshadowed by a dominant father figure who conformed to an extreme version of hegemonic masculinity and who shaped their child’s actions even if the fathers were absent from the novel. The research reveals commonly held conceptions of masculinity aligned to those used in the schema and demonstrated that young adult literature, like popular media, can be used as a vehicle for the dissemination of such concepts and reveal contemporary understandings of it. Outputs from this research include the development of a modified and more contemporary schema which could be applied to future research. Significantly, this interdisciplinary research bridges the library, education and literature fields to examine the different ways maleness and masculinity are depicted to young adult readers in prize-nominated Australian young adult novels.

The Magician, the Savior, and the Cyborg

2021 ◽  
pp. 194-212
Author(s):  
Lucia-Mihaela Grosu-Rădulescu
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Behavioral Psychology ◽  
Visual Text ◽  
Gender Specific

The chapter analyses female protagonists in recent young adult movies with a focus on the educational side of such productions. The text approaches femininity and empowerment of three well-known heroines: Hermione (from the Harry Potter series), Lyra (from His Dark Materials Season 1 TV series), and Alita (from Alita: Battle Angel). The chapter centers on the roles played by the three characters in the economy of the respective cinematic productions and on how their girlhood is framed by the visual text. The author's purpose is to unearth interpretations of gender-specific roles that impact the young viewers and their understanding of femininity. The chapter intends to open a conversation about the implication of possible worlds theory and social cognitive theory in interpreting depictions of girlhood in fantasy and Sci-Fi young adult movies. From the magician (Hermione) to the (supernatural) savior (Lyra) and ending with the cyborg (Alita), the analysis will also take into account tenets of feminism, Techno Feminism, and behavioral psychology.

The Coming-of-Age Experience in Chicanx Queer Novels What Night Brings and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

2020 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Carolina Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Universe

This chapter establishes a dialogue between Chicanx canonical coming-of-age and queer young adult novels What Night Brings (2004) by Carla Trujillo, and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. These writers have destabilized the traditional Chicanx coming-of-age genre by placing two social outcasts and queer characters as their protagonists. In these two novels the main characters do not integrate with the rest of their peers; they are both knowledge seekers and outsiders. Additionally, these main characters have a queer sexuality, and they, along with other characters, break from gender binaries and gender stereotypes.

Contemporary Werewolf Schemata: Shifting Representations of Racial and Ethnic Difference

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Ethnic Difference ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
Twilight Series

Because of the current fantasy trend to represent lycanthropy as a genetically inherited or inborn feature, with werewolves frequently belonging to werewolf families and/or packs, many contemporary narratives for children and young adults encourage readings of lycanthropy as a metaphor for racial or ethnic difference. Diverse representations of lycanthropy, from monstrous and sympathetic werewolves to benevolent and idealised werewolves, non-essentialist werewolves, and incommensurable werewolves thus suggest shifting conceptions of race and ethnicity. The divergent ideological implications of these distinctive werewolf schemata are analysed in a variety of contemporary children's and young adult fantasy texts, including Maggie Pearson's Owl Light ( 1996 ), Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate ( 1997 ), Patrick Jennings's The Wolving Time ( 2003 ), J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997–2007), and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005–8).

Typical and Optimal Aging in Women and Men: Is There a Double Standard?

1995 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Sara Canetto ◽  
Patricia L. Kaminski ◽  
Diane M. Felicio
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Double Standard ◽  
Optimal Aging ◽  
And Gender

Gender stereotypes of typical and optimal, mentally healthy aging were examined with sixty-year-old and seventy-five-year-old women, men and gender-unspecified older people as target persons. Respondents were young adult individuals ( N = 232) and their older adult relatives/acquaintances ( N = 233). Perceptions of typical aging varied depending on the age of the respondent, the target gender and the target age. Gender stereotypes were more pronounced than age stereotypes: respondents described same-gender targets more similarly than same-age targets. Older women were rated higher on dimensions related to nurturance while older men were rated higher on intellectual competence and autonomy. Perceptions of optimal aging were not found to be affected by the gender of the respondent or target. Views of optimal aging, however, were influenced by respondent and target age. These findings suggest a double standard of aging for typical but not for optimal aging.

A Novel Idea: Portrayals of Lesbians in Young Adult Sports Fiction

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
LeeAnn Kriegh ◽  
Mary Jo Kane
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Women's Athletics ◽  
Broadcast Journalism ◽  
Related Field ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Sport Media ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Character Portrayals

Over the past two decades, sport media scholars have demonstrated that female athletes are portrayed in ways that trivialize and undermine their accomplishments as highly skilled competitors, thus denying them power. More recently, scholars in a related field of knowledge—homophobia in women’s athletics—have also addressed the various ways in which power is denied to sportswomen. Although scholars within both bodies of knowledge have investigated institutional structures, ideologies and practices by which men continue to monopolize sport, few studies have explicitly linked sport media scholarship to the literature on homophobia in women’s athlet. An additional limitation in both fields of knowledge is that analyses focused primarily on adult female athletes; examinations of adolescent females are virtually nonexistent. A final limitation is that the vast majority of studies have focused on print and broadcast journalism, thereby ignoring another influential medium, young adult sports fiction. Therefore, the purpose of our investigation was to extend the knowledge base in three ways: 1) to explicitly link two bodies of knowledge concerned with women’s athleticism--sport media and homophobia/heterosexism; 2) to focus on a population that has been sorely neglected; and 3) to investigate a rich new area of analysis-young adult literature-particularly as it relates to the presence, and characterization of, lesbians in sport.The sample consisted of novels meeting the following criteria: (a) published for a young adult audience, (b) featured a female athlete as protagonist, (c) had sport as a major characteristic of the story, and (d) and be published during or after 1970. Using a qualitative methodology, we examined themes and character portrayals related to the suppression and oppression of young sportswomen in general and lesbians in particular. More specifically, we were interested in whether manifestations of homophobia in women’s athletics (e.g., silence and denial) were present in the novels under consideration. Results indicated that a lesbian presence was subverted in numerous ways, ranging from explicit verbal attacks on female protagonists accused of being “freaks,” to more subtle, apologetic constructions in which female athletes were characterized as ultra-feminine. These findings suggest that the homophobic and heterosexist coverage given to sportswomen in print and broadcast journalism extends into young adult sports fiction.

Representations of Britain and British Colonialism in French Adventure Fiction, 1870–1914

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyn Cornick
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
British Colonialism ◽  
French Society ◽  
Colonial Culture ◽  
Jules Verne ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Adventure Fiction ◽  
French Colonial ◽  
Adventure Novels

Recent scholarship has rediscovered the plural manifestations of a colonial culture in France, emerging after 1870 and reaching its apogee in the early 1930s. The period between 1870 and 1914, when France was undergoing rapid modernisation and was fully engaged in the process of consolidating its distinct national identity, constitutes the richest period for the impregnation of French society by this culture. This article reveals how images of British colonialism contrasted with representations of French colonial practice across a number of examples of popular adventure novels written between 1867 and 1903 by contemporaries and imitators of Jules Verne: Alfred Assollant, Paul d'Ivoi and Colonel Driant.

scholarly journals Myth of Don Juan and Don Juan like a Psycho in the Drama of A.P. Chekhov’s “Fatherlessness”

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Anatoly S. Sobennikov
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Don Juan ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Literary Images ◽  
Individual Features

In A.P.Chekhov’s drama «Fatherlessness» great attention is paid to the myth of Don Juan and its psychotype. The system of characters in literary context is studied in gender psychology aspect as well. In this process a violation of gender stereotypes and roles, feminity of male characters and masculinity of female ones is noted. The author opposes a scientific knowledge about a woman and a man with romantism in relations between the sexes in literature. It is declared that «Fatherlessness» is the first step to a new art antropology: the old socio-moral principal of typing gives place to a new one – individualization. Attempts of characters to identify themselves with «heroes» in living own life in accordance with literary images are discredited with the author’s irony. In the personal existence of the characters, in behavior men and women only their individual features become decisive and meaningful.

scholarly journals Ladies First: Gender Stereotypes Drive Anticipatory Eye-Movements During Incremental Sentence Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Guerra ◽  
Jasmin Bernotat ◽  
Héctor Carvacho ◽  
Gerd Bohner
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Gender Attitudes ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
Anticipatory Eye Movements

Immediate contextual information and world knowledge allow comprehenders to anticipate incoming language in real time. The cognitive mechanisms that underlie such behavior are, however, still only partially understood. We examined the novel idea that gender attitudes may influence how people make predictions during sentence processing. To this end, we conducted an eye-tracking experiment where participants listened to passive-voice sentences expressing gender-stereotypical actions (e.g., “The wood is being painted by the florist”) while observing displays containing both female and male characters representing gender-stereotypical professions (e.g., florists, soldiers). In addition, we assessed participants’ explicit gender-related attitudes to explore whether they might predict potential effects of gender-stereotypical information on anticipatory eye movements. The observed gaze pattern reflected that participants used gendered information to predict who was agent of the action. These effects were larger for female- vs. male-stereotypical contextual information but were not related to participants’ gender-related attitudes. Our results showed that predictive language processing can be moderated by gender stereotypes, and that anticipation is stronger for female (vs. male) depicted characters. Further research should test the direct relation between gender-stereotypical sentence processing and implicit gender attitudes. These findings contribute to both social psychology and psycholinguistics research, as they extend our understanding of stereotype processing in multimodal contexts and regarding the role of attitudes (on top of world knowledge) in language prediction.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document