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.
English Research Sources 