Front cover image for Disturbing the universe : power and repression in adolescent literature

Disturbing the universe : power and repression in adolescent literature

"Trites argues that the development of the genre over the past thirty years is an out-growth of postmodernism, since YA novels are, by definition, texts that interrogate the social construction of individuals. Drawing on such nineteenth-century precursors as Little Women and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Disturbing the Universe demonstrates how important it is to employ poststructuralist methodologies in analyzing adolescent literature, both in critical studies and in the classroom. Among the twentieth-century authors discussed are Blume, Hamilton, Hinton, Le Guin, L'Engle, and Zindel." "Trite's work has applications for a broad range of readers, including scholars of children's literature and theorists of postmodernity as well as librarians and secondary-school teachers."--Jacket
Print Book, English, ©2000
University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, ©2000
Criticism, interpretation, etc
xv, 189 pages ; 25 cm
9780877457329, 9780877458579, 9781587293337, 0877457328, 087745857X, 1587293331
43798413

Disturbing the Universe

POWER AND REPRESSION IN ADOLESCENT LITERATURE
By Roberta Seelinger Trites

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PRESS

Copyright © 2000 University of Iowa Press
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-87745-857-9

Contents

Preface......................................................................................................................................................ixChapter 1  "Do I dare disturb the universe?" Adolescent Literature in the Postmodern Era.....................................................................1Chapter 2  "I don't know the words" Institutional Discourses in Adolescent Literature........................................................................21Chapter 3  "Maybe that is writing, changing things around and disguising the for-real" The Paradox of Authority in Adolescent Literature.....................54Chapter 4  "All of a sudden I came" Sex and Power in Adolescent Novels.......................................................................................84Chapter 5  "When I can control the focus" Death and Narrative Resolution in Adolescent Literature............................................................117Chapter 6  Conclusion The Poststructural Pedagogy of Adolescent Literature...................................................................................142Notes........................................................................................................................................................153Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................163Index........................................................................................................................................................177


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