Postmodernism and Young Adult Fiction

Postmodernism and Young Adult Fiction

            In order to understand postmodernism we must first place a definition on it. Although ambiguous at times, postmodernism can be defined as texts after World War II or texts that break away from traditional narratives such as modern literature or anything to previous to that. Playfulness, intertextuality, non-linear narratives, pop-up pictures, breaking traditional literary rules, and distortion are some characteristics that may define postmodernism in young adult fiction.

Is postmodern young adult fiction limited to just entertainment value or does it have a scholarly and literary value? While entertaining, young adult fiction contributes to the literary progression that is postmodernism. Postmodernism is happening now and although we may not completely grasp the significance of this literary era, I believe that children’s books and young adult fiction will hold their literary value. The combination of past themes that are presented differently gives these texts literary values. Like postmodernism, young adult fiction needs to be defined. Young adult fiction normally has a teenager as a protagonist and this type of genre is marketed heavily towards teenagers.

The following selective annotated bibliography shows a wide range of various sources that specifically scopes in on postmodernism in young adult fiction. Works in this collection positivelyand negatively criticize postmodernism in these texts and how some are used in the classroom setting. Different texts are discussed including: novellas, pop-up children’s books, graphic novels, and novels in this collection.

This annotated bibliography may prove beneficial to teachers, students, and scholars, and parents in various ways. Teachers and parents can use these sources to examine progression in their child’s or student’s academic career. Students in high school or higher education might use these sources to better define postmodernism. Scholars’ usage of these sources would mainly focus on the literary impact that these texts have made.

Bodmer, George R. “The Post-Modern Alphabet: Extending the Limits of the Contemporary Alphabet Book, from Seuss to Gorey.”. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 14.3 (Fall 1989): 115-117. Rpt. in Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 100. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.

This source is a critical essay that compares the writers of modernism and postmodernism in order to see differences and maybe even progression. Dr. Seuss and Edward Gorey are the two authors that are profiled because of their picture books and non-traditional vocabulary. Not only does Dr. Seuss touch on new words, but also on new worlds. The article is mainly pointing out a stretch and strain of traditional literature in order to achieve more wonder.

Boje, David M. “Stories of the Storytelling Organization.” Academy of Management Journal 38.4 (1995): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

This source has a lot of information so I zoomed in under different titles. The author claims that Walt Disney made storytelling darker using the play Tamara. Tamara is targeted towards children and uses premodern, modern, and most importantly postmodern structure. Walt Disney set out to transform storytelling and that is exactly what he did. Disney also uses these non-traditional frameworks to construct theme parks, movies. cartoons, and other commodities.

Chappell, Drew. “Sneaking out after Dark: Resistance, Agency, and the Postmodern Child in JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series.” Children’s Literature in Education 39.4 (Dec. 2008): 281-293. Rpt. in Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 183. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.

This source is a critical essay that focuses mainly on the postmodern child in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The article first explains to readers the function of postmodernism then it goes into postmodernism. The article places emphasis on how the protagonist should avoid the traditional closure in a story. Ambiguity, complexity, agency, and resistance are some of the postmodern qualities that the article mentions about the Harry Potter series.

Coats, Karen. “Fish Stories: Teaching Children’s Literature in a Postmodern World.” Pedagogy 1.2 (Spring 2001): 405-409. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

This source begins by comparing Dr. Seuss with Dickinson and Hardy in order to set up an invisible hierarchy of writers. Coats claims that students take children’s literature courses because they expect a simple and easy workload. Using concepts of postmodern ideology, she explains to us how beneficial examining children’s literature is. Piety, domesticity, oppression, dominance, capitalism, and imperialism are all examples of what we should look for when analyzing a text. Coats’ colleagues compare her simplistic stories to that of fish stories, but she offers them a chance to see methodological pluralism and literacy challenges at work when exploring children’s texts.

Daniels, Cindy L. “Literary Theory and Young Adult Literature.” The ALAN Review, Winter 2006. 78-82. Web. 24 Oct.2013.

Daniels advocates that we separate young adult literature from children’s literature while simultaneously placing no genre above the other. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is a focal point in this argument that young adult literature needs to take on more serious literary criticism. Although postmodernism is not talked about, there seems to be quite a few postmodern texts discussed. Overall, this article discusses the notion that young adult literature has not really been explored yet and needs to be considering that there are so postmodern texts making contributions to the literary canon.

El-Tamami, Wiam. “The Simple Little Picture Book: Private Theater to Postmodern Experience.” The Free Library. Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 1 Jan 2007. Web. 24 Oct.

2013.

This source makes the argument that picture books are not just for children. This particular article advocates that we should not remove pictures out of texts just because we

become proficient readers. The author compares picture books to that of poetry because both take on a deeper meaning than just the literal. Picture books have a tendency to try on

different frames. Overall, this source suggests that picture books hold more literary value than given credit for.

Lewis, David. “Postmodern Picturebooks: Play, Parody, and Self-Referentiality (review).” Project MUSE. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, Spring 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

This excerpt for this text tells us that within the past two decades that people are experimenting with different ways to write children’s books. The article discusses briefly that

people are still having a hard time placing a specific and precise label on postmodernism. This article also tells us that authors are producing these children’s books quickly and in doing

so keeping the literary world busy. With so much publishing of postmodern picture books audiences can see a drastic almost strange change in fiction.

Loo, Hannah. “Children in Postmodern Literature: A Reconstruction of Childhood.” hilo.hawaii.edu. University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Fall 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Loo points out those children who are reading postmodern texts are experimenting with adult worlds and adult issues. The author focuses heavily on her belief that postmodern

texts for children are becoming increasingly more adult themed. Loo claims that there is a paradox between what children are expected to experience and what they actually do

experience. Overall, this article calls into question whether or not those postmodern texts are minimizing the disparity between adult and children literature.

Nicosia, Laura. “Louis Sachar’s Holes: Palimpsestic Use of the Fairy Tale to Privilege the Reader.” ALAN Review: (Summer 2008). Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

This article uses Sachar’s Holes to examine the postmodern retelling of fairy tales. The article goes onto to examine how the narrative affects readers in the sense of chronology. The

article claims that children’s literature and young adult fiction is starting to reach literary scrutiny that could be compared to that of adult canonical texts. The writer advocates

breaking away from traditional chronological order and he uses Holes as an example. In Holes there are two narratives going on at the same time, one questions what is real and the

other focuses on the past or the magical.

Seyfried, Jonathan. “Reinventing the Book Club: Graphic Novels as Educational Heavyweights.” Knowledge Quest 36.3 (2008): 44-48. MetaPress.com, n.d. Web. 24. Oct. 2013

The article starts off as a type of memoir describing why this man wants to set up a book club for graphic novels. Seyfried discusses how the visual arts in such texts provide an

entertaining narrative. From Seyfried’s experiences middle school students seem to have a positive reaction to the formatting of graphic novels. Seyfried claims that graphic novels

provide a bridge between the gap of entertainment and prose texts. He ends the article with suggestions about how to approach the graphic novel to young minds.

Spitz, Ellen. “Postmodern at Bedtime.” New Republic. 26 January 2010.Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

This article examines the retelling of the famous story about the three little pigs. It also calls into question to whether or not we have lost something by retelling the story.

Fear is the main theme that has been completely discarded in the new version of the three little pigs and the author questions whether removing it harms of helps the story telling.

He leans towards the story being more harm than help.

Wasik, Joann. “The Bad Place: Why Kids Love Dystopias.” WeAreTeachers Blog, 21 May 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

The author discovers that kids do not only love dystopian texts, but they love new dystopian texts. The author claims that kids can relate to dystopian texts, but only on a much

smaller scale. In dystopian works normally there is an authoritative overseer in which characters have conflict with. Wasik states that most of these scenarios in these texts leave

readers wondering what they would do if they were to experience that. Wasik makes these works out to be a more grotesque and dark version of the little engine that could story.

Yearwood, Stephenie. “Popular Postmodernism for Young Adult Readers: Walk Two Moons, Holes, and Monster.” ALAN Review 29.3 (Spring-Summer 2002): 50-53. Rpt. in

      Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol. 89. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.

This source is a critical essay that reviews a book for further investigation into postmodernism and young adult literature. The article reviews Walk Two Moons, Holes,

and Monster and uses them to approach postmodernism in young adult fiction, but at the same time tries to define postmodernism. The article also talks about postmodernism

young adult fiction as a great way to bring up old themes.

Zwaggstra, Michael. “Postmodernism in the Classroom.” Adventist Review. N.p., 18 April 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

The article claims that postmodernism negatively affects the classroom. It also states that postmodernism takes away from biblical values. The writer goes onto to claim that

postmodernist writers have no new ideas, when they pretentiously think they do. This article’s writer claims that postmodernism deemphasizes the role of the teacher because it

encourages children to think freely. This article is useful because it does provide a counter argument to the positive side of postmodernism in the classroom.

Journal of Children’s Literature

This journal focuses on teaching and academic scholarship regarding children’s literature. This journal publishes twice a year and is a product of the Children’s Literature Assembly which is under the National Council of Teachers of English. The three editors of this journal are Miriam Martinez from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Jonda McNair from Clemson University, and Sharon O’Neal from Texas State University.

This journal targets preschool through middle school teachers, librarians, and scholars of children’s literature. The Journal of Children’s Literature allows for anyone to submit for publication as long as the author follows their guidelines. At least two members of the editorial board review these articles. Submissions are not limited to just article entries, but also include interviews. The fall 2009 issue had an example of this when they interviewed Marilyn Nelson and Jerry Pinkney.

In fall 2013 the Journal of Children’s Literature published an interesting article titled “Take 5: The Legacy of Jazz in Picturebooks.” This article did not focus on the teaching of children’s literature, but it seemed to provide an extensive background on Jazz. This article uses picture books as an outlet to discuss Jazz’s history and influence. Another article titled “Reflections on the Development of African American Children’s Literature” goes into depth with African American culture. These articles tend to have a historical element in them and they use children’s literature to discuss it. It seems that both of these authors wrote in a scholarly format and that this would not appeal to a parent or someone who did not have an interest in dissecting children’s literature. Overall the majority of articles do not focus on being teaching aides, but rather they use children’s literature as an outlet to discuss various topics. These articles do not possess an overwhelming amount of jargons and are not incomprehensible, but they do zoom in on a specific scholarly audience. Although their mission statement says that they devote their journal to both teaching and scholarship in children’s literature, it seems like this journal leans more towards the scholarship side of children’s literature rather than the teaching side.

http://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/journal.html

ALAN Review

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English produces the ALAN Review. This journal only publishes in the fall, winter, and in the summer and mainly publishes articles on literature for adolescents and the teaching of adolescent literature. Submissions include: research studies, papers presented at professional meetings, surveys of the literature, literature critiques, articles about authors, studies that include how different genres and/or cultures affect literature, articles that propose different ways to teach adolescent literature, and interviews of authors. Steven Bickmore, Jacqueline Bach, and Melanie Hundley are the current editors of this journal.

Many of the individual members of ALAN are middle, junior, and senior high school English teachers. University faculty members in English and Education fields, adolescent literature researchers, librarians, authors, publishers, and other related areas that involve reading teachers and teachers are also readers of the ALAN Review. All 50 states and some foreign countries have ALAN members in them.

This journal has a very particular style in which they want authors to write. The ALAN Review suggests that every author’s topic possess a clear topic and contain scholarly information about that topic. They also strive for practicality because they ask that each article be useful in a classroom setting or while studying adolescent literature. The ALAN Review’s website lays out its guidelines so that if an author is interested in publishing they know the proper protocol.

When searching for this review via Google, the first two websites that appear are the most helpful. The first website allows a researcher or reader to look up old issues, while the second website provides background information. The second website also shows where the guidelines are located.

Examining titles and articles readers have a better understanding of this journal’s primary audience. The summer 2010 issue has a few articles discussing graphic novels and also contains an interview. Looking through most of these issues, it appears that authors want these articles used as teaching aides, which suggest to readers that this journal is adamant about publishing articles specifically with an audience of grade school teachers in mind.

Reading through these articles, readers would not encounter too many jargons. It appears that the authors of these articles aim to reach a wide range of audience. The articles do not necessarily use an informal style of rhetoric, but rather a very comprehensible one. Anyone from a high school junior to an instructor at a college would be able to understand these articles. This wide range of comprehension allows this journal to be successful because not only does it reach a wide range of people, more specifically it reaches a wide range of educators.

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/

http://www.alan-ya.org/the-alan-review/

English Journal

The English Journal publishes out of Urbana, Illinois and is a print journal although it can be found through Tennessee Tech’s online library and through Google. This particular journal is a part of the National Council of Teachers of English, which is a publication that devotes its time to the learning of English and the English language at all education levels. Julie Gorlewski and David Gorlewski are the main editors.

Although Tennessee Tech’s library will allow you to access this journal by searching specifically under the journal tab, I believe that this journal is more accessible with the help of Google. After hitting enter, clicking on the first link will take you to the English Journal’s homepage. After doing this click on the small link below the journal’s picture in the middle of the page, it should read access back issues. This link will allow readers to access previous articles.

Anyone can submit to this journal as long as it reaches certain guidelines. Any topic can be discussed as long as it has the “foreground of classroom practice and contextualize it in sound research and theory.” People who review these manuscripts preferably teach 6^th grade through college. As well as publishing manuscripts, they also publish original photography and original cartoons. This journal promises that each manuscript will have at least two reviewers and a response within three months. Clicking on the call for manuscripts link, readers can see what upcoming themes are as well as a section for general submissions.

Digging through previous issues I decided to examine the November 2008 issue, which addresses the issue of does homework help. The table of contents provides readers with scholarly articles and selective poems. I read through the article “Doing Our Homework on Homework: How Does Homework Help?” and found the article balancing scholarship and entertainment. Sallee and Rigler wrote this article to provoke thought and they are successful at it because they do not use jargons or write to impress. The authors wrote to make people think, which makes it comprehendible to everyone from university professors to high school students.

Another issue I decided to dissect is the January 2004 issue that revolves around the theme of popular culture. The table of contents provides interesting article titles such as “Using Graphic Novels, Anime, and the Internet in an Urban High School,” “From Sheryl Crow to Homer Simpson: Literature and Composition through Pop Culture,” and “Using Film to Increase Literacy Skills.” This particular issue gives entertaining titles as well as more conventional scholarly titles.

After reading “From Sheryl Crow to Homer Simpson: Literature and Composition through Pop Culture” and “Doing Our Homework on Homework: How Does Homework Help?” I conclude that this journal likes to border between entertainment and scholarly information. The English Journal publishes articles that are not full of jargons or abstract theories. Writers who divulge in literary criticism and theories would probably not be accepted into this journal regardless of how much they integrated their articles into a classroom setting. They would be denied for stylistic writing reasons and not for their ideas. The English Journal prefers to publish articles and issues that while scholarly can be read by different social and educational classes.

http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej