Hello, all. I wanted to post some possible questions to get the blog discussion started for this week. Of course, feel free to respond to other issues, ideas, or texts of interest.
This week's focus is on the definition of YA lit. What is it? When did it begin? Why did it begin? What will happen to it in the future?
1. The first couple of articles summarize and categorize some recent YA novels of interest to critics. Do any of them intrigue you? Why?
2. Do you think "YA Lit" is an actual "genre"? Why or why not?
3. Seelinger Trites discusses the postmodern YA novel. Do you think the unstated purpose of most YA books is to inculcate teens into the cultural milieu in which they will live and work, a world that will ask them to follow rules and abide by societal norms? Or do you think most YA authors would describe their purpose as encouraging teenagers to break out of restrictive social/cultural structures and "make their own way" in the world? In other words, in your opinion (and based on books you've read) do you think most YA lit encourages compliance or independence? Integration or rebellion?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts,
Janet
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8 comments:
Janet, I really enjoyed the short summaries provided in the Young Adults' Choices for 2006 and 2005 Honor lists. They reminded me of the power and importance of book talks. I try to incorporate several book talks a week into my teaching to help motivate students, and as I found myself interested in various books on the lists, I was reassured that the time was well spent.
As I read through the descriptions and reviews, I highlighted the titles that most interested me. I then ordered them on Amazon.com. Of the books I ordered, I am especially eager to read "Elsewhere," to see how the author plays out the reverse aging of Lizzie and her grandmother. I also ordered "The Beckoners" as bullying is something I must help students and athletes deal with on a day to day basis. I can't wait to get my hands on the books and review them for myself!
I really liked the first article summing up some picks of YA lit. I definitely want to check some of them out.
As far as YA lit as a genre, I think it deserves a place. The characteristics, including theme, characters, and structure seem to make them their own. If they weren't their own, we wouldn't have YA sections. Many of these books, I feel, don't encourage nor discourage rebellion and such. Every time I finish a YA book, I feel a sense of closure. I also tend to think about certain issues more. This genre is one that raises awareness regarding many issues teens face on a regular basis: identity, sexual orientation, habits, etc. I think many of these books are beneficial to all ages of YA and adult readers.
As I get through the rest of the texts, I want to approach more of these points. Until then... have a good weekend!
This week’s readings gave me an opportunity to catch up with the field of YA Lit. As I’ve mentioned, YA Lit. has slipped off my radar in the past 10 years or so. I’m impressed with the broad range of styles that’s now available in YA Lit., and many of the books sound quite interesting. Like Joy, I’m intrigued by Elsewhere, and I’m sure it’ll eventually find its way onto my reading list. Twilight sounds good too.
As for whether YA Lit. is an actual “genre,” well, I suppose that depends upon how we’re defining “genre.” If we consider genre as a literary category that contains short stories and novels that share common structural and/or stylistic conventions (such as “romance,” “adventure,” or “gothic”), then YA Lit. is not a genre, since it seems to include within it many of these types of literary works. It’s difficult to define a genre by its intended audience, since once a work of literature is published, neither the author nor the publisher has any control over who buys and/or reads the work. I think Tomlinson and Lynch-Brown’s definition of YA Lit. is useful: “a body of literature appropriate for individuals at a certain stage of development.” This definition is inclusive, accounting for the various genres within YA Lit. and mindful of the fact that appropriateness seems to rely more heavily upon individual differences among readers rather than upon some pre-defined target demographic.
I’m not sure whether I buy Seelinger Trites’s ideas about postmodernism and the YA novel. Her categorizations (adolescent lit. vs. children’s lit.; Bildungsroman vs. Entwicklungsroman, romantic transcendence vs. modernist alienation vs. postmodern assimilation into capitalist culture) might be handy and useful in some ways, but—like all generalizations—they disguise notable exceptions and perhaps fail to highlight some historical trends. For example, her description of Buckley’s definition of the Bildungsroman (p. 11) takes no note of its similarity to the heroic monomyth (see Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces). This kind of carelessness bothers me, especially when she gets a book title wrong, too (Eliot’s novel is called The Mill on the Floss, not A Mill in the Floss). Aside from this quibbling, I think she vacillates somewhat in her analysis of YA Lit. as a postmodern genre. She states that the “narrative of growth in postmodernism…becomes constituted as an acceptance of one’s cultural habitat” (p. 18) and that “the YA novel teaches adolescents how to exist within the (capitalistically bound) institutions that necessarily define teenagers’ existence” (p. 19). OK, so hold on just a second—do you mean to tell me that Holden Caulfield accepted his cultural habitat? And is the YA novel simply a didactic work (“the YA novel teaches”)? And “necessarily”?
Well, Seelinger Trites backtracks a little by the end of the chapter. She concludes by asserting that the YA novel “problematizes the relationship of the individual to the institutions that construct his/her subjectivity” and that YA novels “tend to interrogate social constructions, foregrounding the relationship between the society and the individual” (p. 20). So which is it—does YA lit. “teach” or “problematize/interrogate”? This might be a minor semantic distinction, but I think it’s an important one, considering the magnitude of her statements.
If Seelinger Trites believes that YA lit. aims to indoctrinate adolescents into contemporary consumer culture, her characterization abrades my concept of YA lit. I’ve always regarded YA novels as works that encourage adolescents to question authority and become empowered to forge their own identities (à la Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn). Indeed, adolescence is the time of life when such rebellion is actually expected and, to some extent, tolerated. Perhaps Seelinger Trites is right, and the nature of YA lit. has changed. It will be interesting to test her theory against the works we’ll read this semester.
Jim
I really enjoyed all the readings of this week because they gave me a very comprehensive introduction about the world of YA and YA lit. In the first class I was frustrated because I was missing the basic background knowlege about YA lit. so I started to search the web to find definitions of YA lit. but I was not satisfied of what I have found. Finally, I got all the answers of the questions that I have been looking for, this week's readings gave me the energy to continue discovering more...thanks Janet...
Responding on your question "Do you think "YA Lit" is an actual "genre"? Why or why not?" I do think that it is a genre. It might share some features with other genres but it still has its unique characteristics that make it different. If a trade book has the following characteristics "the main character is a teenager...the protagonist's actions and decisions are major factors in the plot's outcome, the events &problems are related to teenagers, and the dialouge reflects thier speech, the point of view is that of an adolescent and reflects an adolescent's interpretations of events and people" then it should be listed under the distingished YA lit. genre. Even if the audience are a mixture of adults and YA it is still a unique form of lit. I do agree with Jim that It’s difficult to define a genre by its intended audience but if it is read by any one it still keeps its feature as a unique genre.For example children' literature is witten for young children but it is read by parents, teachers, and young children. I'm addicted to Picture books although they might not be written for my age but I still enjoy reading them.
I like to high light another point of the themes offered in today's YA books. When I read the lists of the best books either those judged by scholars or by young readers it gave a positive view of the available YA books. But when I was looking at the books that are shelved in the book stores I got the negative side of it. I noticed that Adult publishers are journeying into new and potentially dangerous subjects.under the justification of YA books as reflections of the real world, they tend to publish books that are dealing with issues that hadn't been dealt with before: oral sex, male rape, drug addiction,voilence, etc. There seem to be no boundaries any more.The problem is that if these issues continue to be published they will be part of the non-questionable norms, and no young adult will recognize thier consequences. I do think that there should be some scrutiny on YA books to protect the leaders of tomorrow.
The three articles offering lists of various notable YA books seems to contain a reasonably broad cross-section of titles that might potentially appeal to a wide readership. I was personally more drawn to the range of titles in the 2005 Honor List because the list contains books on a diverse range of general topics. There were many titles on this list with which I am already familiar (having read reviews and skimmed chapters at the bookstore) and others which I would be interested in reading. In the past year or so I have found myself spending many hours at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Von's and the library reading or simply perusing the books in their respective YA collections; I have always focused on children's literature, but recently, perhaps because I've seen a positive trend in the publication of more interesting (and less generic) YA novels, I have been reading more and more YA novels. I used to be rather more cynical about the overall quality of YA literature, but recently I've seen novels that challenge reader expectiations in creative ways. Some of the books on the 2005 Honor list are examples of this trend.
I was, however, slightly puzzled by the following quote in this article in which Donelson, Blasingame, and Nilsen state: “[…] brave teachers of mature high school students might want to invite their students into a children’s literature unit focused on Newbery Award winners” (Donelson et al. 90). Why do the authors of this piece refer to “brave teachers”? I have found that Newbery Award winning books do not, on the whole, tend to be the most subversive, challenging or confrontational; rather, they tend to be canonical and I would argue more "conventional" than liberating.
In response to the question "Is YA literature an actual genre?" I think we would have to agree on definitions of both genre and narrative: how do we define "genre"? There are as many definitions of "genre" as there are "narrative", and there are also many different defitions of YA literature. Other questions to consider might include the following: What do we mean by "Young Adult"? Who really determines if a book belongs in the YA section of a library or bookstore (or in the children's, or adult section)? If the term "YA" largely a publishing construct?
Janet, I think your question "Does YA literature encourage compliance or independence? integration or rebellion?" is also an important one to consider, not only in terms of YA lit, but also children's lit (and I would go so far as to say "adult" lit as well). Perhaps this depends as much upon the author as on the reader? Do authors write with a didactic purpose and with a clear sense of the implied audience? Or do authors write to tell good stories and in doing so assume that their readers will have an aesthetic literary experience the emerges from their interaction with the text? While there were some fairly strong comments made about Seelinger Trites' chapter, I cannot help but point out that this chapter (and Seelinger Trites' statements) could be taken out of context, since this is the first of 6 chapters. In the preface, Seelinger Trites makes mention of the fact that when she first began teaching her YA course in 1994 she assumed that YA literature would contain "many rites of passage and initiations, patterns of growth, conflicts, Oedipal crises, confessional first-person narrators, and identity crises" (Preface ix). Gradually, however, she found that there was more to YA literature: "Books for adolescents are subversive - but sometimes only superficially so. In fact, they are often quite didactic; the denouements of many Young Adult novels contain a direct message about what the narrator has learned" (Preface ix). Ultimately, Seelinger Trites identifies power as the primary pattern found in YA literature and perhaps this explains some of the ideas she raises in the first chapter (and one of this week's readings): "Although the primary purpose of the adolescent novel may appear to be a depiction of growth, growth in this genre is inevitably represented as being linked to what the adolescent has learned about power" (Preface x). She also goes on to assert that adolescents find themselves in a "contradictory position [...] within our culture" (Preface xi).
I thought these quotes were worth mentioning in light of our reading of Chapter 1 and some of this week's comments.
Just a note, I tried to post a response just now, and I received an error message. Needless to say, my original post is lost in cyberspace. Therefore, I am going to sum it up since I can't rewrite my original longer response... here it goes:
As I finish these readings, I have several reactions, basically in regards to the Seelinger Trite chapter.
First, since I am currently teaching American Romanticism and Transcendentalism, I really connected to the idea of YA themes being similar to Romanticism, the idea of individualism and individual power (pp. 18-19). In fact, my students really seemed to have an interest in this era as well. I think many YA themes revolve around these concepts of finding the individual self.
In regards to Bildungsroman vs. Entwicklungsroman, I want to discuss this more in class. This part of the reading was more confusing to me. I don't want to flat out say that I think it's being overanalyzed, but that is my direction of thought. Maybe I am more negative towards it because this was the first time I had heard the terms.
As far as the YA lit genre question, I will restate my original post and say that I agree that since YA lit contains so many genres, it really isn't its own genre; but I do feel it is unique and deserves that recognition.
I also was interested to learn about the history of YA lit/themes in the last reading. I think students would be interested in learning that they are experiencing life changes that have been around for many, many years. In fact, I wouldn't mind attempting to teach a short unit on this history at some point.
I am interested to see what comes up in this week's discussion, as I am getting more and more ideas for my presentation and final project.
That is a brief summary of my original post. Note to self and everyone here: COPY AND PASTE before posting!
I am taking Lisa’s advice to copy and paste. I, too, just finished all of this week’s readings, and thus saved my comments until. As Joy stated, I enjoyed reading the first three articles of book summaries. It helped to reintroduce me into YA books, outside the typical classical novels. Many I have marked for future reads, Elsewhere, Inexcusable, A Wreath for Emmett Till, Godless, The Burn Journals etc. etc. What enticed me about these novels was a trend towards open discussion concerning anything and everything: drugs, suicide, self inflicted pain, religion, rape, to name a few. The topics presented in books have changed drastically from the 80’s…thus I agree with Bushman that YA Literature in present and beyond will offer “more variety, less stereotyping of characters and plots and more sophisticated and varied approaches to problems connected with racism and ethnic identification.” Approaching topics such as these through novels creates a means for vicarious living through the novels and a chance for students to explore different life experiences. As stated in Bold Books for Teenagers, “Fiction is a marvelous vehicle for bringing up issues that might cause discomfort or controversy, because the talk is centered on something that someone else is experiencing, making it easier to challenge the actions and beliefs of characters than those of classmates or teachers.” This is why I LOVE fiction! It is a means of self exploration and discovery through the text and discussion. It gives us a chance to explore options and respect other’s decisions and differences. However, I do agree with Nisreen that by opening up the category of YA lit to “anything goes,” we may be exposing young adults to topics they are naive to, and not mature enough to handle. This is where the censorship of teachers, respected adults and parents should come in. However, sadly, not every child has that adult leader in their life (that is where the boundaries can become dangerous?) Thoughts on this? Another key to a point I brought up last week, regarding the importance of literature as a means of discussing text and textual experience.
This leads into Janet’s question concerning what YA novels are trying to convey: “compliance or independence, integration or rebellion?” With the varying topics listed above, it seems most steer towards independence and rebellion. However, through these motives sometimes the characters and maybe even, the readers, learn that in the end they are choosing to comply. Thus, YA novels provide a perfect forum for “foregrounding the relationship between the society and the individual,” as stated by Trites.
I had a very different take on Tomlinson and Lynch than Jeff described in his recent blog. I agree with the authors that a primary reason for reading YA books in the classroom, even if they are for free reading assignments, is for enjoyment and escape. This is would be the biggest reason why most adults read, as well. And while, I believe that classical and canonical literature has a place in the classroom, I firmly believe that reading based on the student’s choice should have a place, as well. I firmly agree that “when young people have access to and can choose reading material that is interesting to them, they read more, become better readers, and consequently do better in all content areas.” When thinking about this statement, I think it’s important to explore a wide spectrum of students. Not all high school students are high achievers or even for that matter, college bound. Sometimes getting them to engage with a text and even pick up a book at all is a chore. If the student has some choice regarding what they read they will no doubt learn to like reading a little more, and thus with more practice become better readers. No one likes to be forced into anything. Subsequently, sometimes by engaging in a book of choice, students become less reluctant to read the required “classical” forced literature. Since, the classical, old stuff is often boring and way above their ability levels. I believe Lisa stated this a little when talking about teaching the romantic period.
I am interested to discuss in tomorrow’s class opinions on just how reluctant administrators are to include YA books? The topic was explored a little under “Research on Young Adult Literature.” The article stated that the books were noted as being controversial, but also the teachers and administrators seemed unaware of most YA titles. Do you think there will be a coming trend or switch to teach more YA lit?
Staci
I might be operating under a more traditional view of genre, but it seems like we could come up with a hefty list of what Jim called "common structural and stylistic conventions" and if a novel has a majority of these characteristics, I'd feel comfortable saying it's YA. This would allow for some individuality in the titles, which is going to happen with any genre anyway. I know that every time that YA trait was mentioned in this week's readings, I said to myself, "Yup, I've seen that in thirty different books before." --Not that I've read that many titles, but I've read a shelf-load of students' summaries.
As for Trites's empowerment vs. dominance or compliance vs. independence deal… I'm pretty sure that a number of postmodern critical theories (especially theories with deconstructive designs) are sincerely intended to piss people off. Reading this stuff I often hear this little voice saying, "the world operates this way because I say so." ☺ While reading it, I try to position myself in the audience watching the carnival of academia at play, and then I don't get as upset… usually.
On the other hand, sometimes when I look at the majority of students in my classroom and think about their patterns of behavior and the circumstances in which they live, I'm scared that these theories might be on track. Can a young person (or any of us for that matter) escape taking up a role in this capitalist society that we live in? You have to buy gas to drive to your college class. You need groceries because you can't grow it all and can it all and store it all away to get you through the winter. I wouldn't even know how to make decent-tasting peanut butter, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't live without that, especially the crunchy kind.
Focusing in on teens… honestly is there any authentic rebellion happening? Haven't we seen it all before? I would argue that what we view as rebellion is more than accepted and tolerated, it's embraced and celebrated. The social construct provides a variety of attractive forms of new and improved rebellion for you to choose from. What brand of cigarettes do you prefer? Have you checked out Hawthorne Height's newest Emo CD? My computer is wicked fast, and my blog is ten times longer that yours! When's that new HP book coming out anyway? Are you still reading that trash? ☺
You can't escape the discourse that you "read" everywhere around you because you're living in it. As a soundtrack I hear Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" in the background. Then I tried to figure out where Ponyboy stood in relation to power at the end of The Outsiders. The kid has had his ass kicked by the social construct of his time. He's recovering from few days of unconscious fever, one of his friends has died, another friend has been killed by the police, and he might barely pass his English class if he can figure out a decent theme (they called essays themes, that kills me). And what has Pony learned… Greasers will always be Greasers at an economic, political disadvantage and Socs will always be Socs with all the breaks and popular opinion on their side.
Yet somehow the author can't end it there. YA requirement number sixteen point two: a hopeful closure lightly sprinkled with romantic transcendence. 'Remember you can see the sunset from both sides of the tracks.' We sense that Pony hasn't had all of the fight kicked out of him. Realistically though, I wouldn't predict that Ponyboy's going to start the revolution, or even that he is going to get out of joining the machine of adulthood, but we do sense that he's better equipped to be an agent of change at least in some fashion if he can get his head straightened out.
A final couple of notes and then I'll shut up. We've had some questions about audience determining YA lit. With S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders) and Christopher Paolini (Eragon) both being authors that wrote these novels while they themselves were young adults, it makes it pretty tough to say that these aren't YA novels. The widening audience for this literature does complicate the issue. With the reviews of 2006 titles that we read in the course packet for this week, some of that subject matter begs for adult guidance in presentation. I don't want to discount the critical abilities of our students, but for some it might not take much to push them over the edge. I also wonder if we might someday soon have kids writing for an eager and willing adult audience. How weird would that be?
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