Ungdomslitteratur - kompleksitet og dannelse

Abstract

Motivated by the aesthetics of contemporary Young Adult fiction, we seek to examine the potential that these novels contain concerning processes of personal formation, education and identity. Many young individuals encounter difficult subjects such as responsibilities, friends, misunderstandings, sex and intoxications, at a much higher level than they have yet experienced. Regarding these subjects, young individuals will contemplate others in order to make sense of society, and take position in it. However, ‘others’ need not be real, as the choices that fictional characters make also can be weighted. Some novels even contain protagonists going through the same particular stage in life, offering the young individual an opportunity to reflect upon various possibilities of identity, and the consequences of these. The genre is called Young Adult fiction, and is the subject focused upon in the following project.

This project contains an analysis on the three Danish Young Adult novels, Dig og mig ved daggry by Sanne Munk Jensen & Glenn Ringtved, Komatøs by Ronnie Andersen and Louis 121092-2922 by Johanne Algren. Starting out, we seek to investigate the genre of current Danish contemporary realistic Young Adult novels. In doing this, our primary theoreticians are Lone Billeskov Jansen, Ayoe Quist Henkel, Martin Blok Johansen and Bodil Kampp. Thereafter, we examine whether the novels fit into these definitions. In order to analyze the novels, we use text analytic theory from Annemette Hejlsted, and point out some deficiencies regarding the theory. Having classified the novels we add a psychological perspective on what potential the three novels hold in helping young readers forming an identity, borrowing theories from Bernt Gustavsson, Wolfgang Klafki and Erik Homburger Erikson. Finally, we conclude that all three novels invite the young readers to consider the aesthetics and values of identity. Concerning the potential in helping to develop a young readers we find that Dig og mig ved daggry and Komatøs holds more potential than Louis 121092-2922.