A Genre Against Them: Regulating Young Adults Through Literature
Abstract
Young adult literature is not doing its job. Many critics have defined it as a genre for and about adolescents, but a close look at the definition in comparison to the content of the genre reveals cracks in the foundation. The genre might be about young adults, but in too many ways it is not for young adults: it is against them. A genre for young adults is one that is empowering, one that counters societal messages that consistently tell adolescents they should stay in their place. There are, of course, many things the genre does do to empower adolescents, like providing mirrors and windows into worlds other than their own; but, in small yet crucial ways, the genre is doing a very poor job at serving the audience it claims to champion.
Published
2019-12-18
Issue
Section
Emerging Voices
Essays and articles published in The Looking Glass may be reproduced for non-profit use by any educational or public institution; letters to the editor and on-site comments made by our readers may not be used without the expressed permission of that individual. Any commercial use of this journal, in whole or in part, by any means, is prohibited. Authors of accepted articles assign to The Looking Glass the right to publish and distribute their text electronically and to archive and make it permanently available electronically. They retain the copyright and, 90 days after initial publication, may republish it in any form they wish as long as The Looking Glass is acknowledged as the original source.
