Maturation, Consumerism and Young Adult Literature: the Perpetual Adolescent in Fiction by M.T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld
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Maturation, Consumerism and Young Adult Literature: The Perpetual Adolescent in Fiction by M.T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld Emma Kate Wortley A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of English, Media and Performing Arts The University of New South Wales August 2010 PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: WORTLEY First name: EMMA Other name/s: KATE Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: EMPA Faculty: FASS Title: Maturation, Consumerism and Young Adult Literature: The Perpetual Adolescent in Fiction by M.T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This thesis argues that the scholarly conception of young adult literature as an aid to maturation is problematised by a strong cultural association between consumerism and juvenilisation, and that such tensions are most evident in contemporary young adult books with an ‘anti-consumerism’ gloss. Scholarship centres on the idea that young adult literature functions primarily as an aid in the adolescent reader’s quest for maturity, underpinned by a conceptualisation of adolescence as a tumultuous period of identity formation requiring adult guidance. However, the young adult novel is also a profit-driven consumer product aimed at a particular marketing demographic, the teenager. The ways young adult literature ‘sells’ itself and an ideology of consumerism to the teenager have begun to receive critical attention in the past couple of decades. This period has also seen the emergence of young adult books in which the implied rhetorical purpose is to interrogate consumerism. Building on such scholarship, I draw on the ‘perpetual adolescent’ stereotype to analyse the tension between the ‘maturing adolescent’ and the ‘consuming teenager’ in case studies of ‘anti-consumerism’ books by contemporary authors M.T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld, with reference to a number of other texts. Also emerging largely in the last few decades, the perpetual adolescence thesis posits an erosion of traditional ‘adulthood’ in post-World War II Western consumer society, expressing a strong cultural anxiety regarding the apparently juvenilising nature of consumerism. I argue that M.T. Anderson’s Feed (2002) and Burger Wuss (1999) characterise perpetual adolescence as the inability to make ‘adult’ rational decisions in a consumer society, and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series (2005-2007) and So Yesterday (2004) portray perpetual adolescence as the freedom to defer ‘adult’ stability through continual stylistic redefinition. Though Anderson’s portrayal is more pessimistic and Westerfeld’s more celebratory, both authors ‘sell’ a consumer lifestyle associated with the teenager by, for example, conveying the idea that consuming in a non-conventional way is radical. These books make overt a tension between the ‘maturing adolescent’ and the ‘consuming teenager’ that has always underpinned young adult literature, and show that the ‘consuming teenager’ requires more attention for a fuller understanding of the genre. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature Witness Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ………………………………………...................................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed …………………………………………….......................... Date …………………………………………….............................. ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed.................................................................................... Date................................................................................................. To mum Acknowledgements Eternal love and gratitude to my mother, and thanks to my family, workmates and dearest, dearest friends. Thanks to my supervisors, particularly Paul Dawson for his invaluable support and guidance. Portions of the Introduction, Chapter Four and Chapter Six were presented at the International Research Society for Children’s Literature conference in Kyoto, Japan, in July 2007 and subsequently published in International Research in Children’s Literature (Wortley 2009). Abstract This thesis argues that the scholarly conception of young adult literature as an aid to maturation is problematised by a strong cultural association between consumerism and juvenilisation, and that such tensions are most evident in contemporary young adult books with an ‘anti-consumerism’ gloss. Scholarship centres on the idea that young adult literature functions primarily as an aid in the adolescent reader’s quest for maturity, underpinned by a conceptualisation of adolescence as a tumultuous period of identity formation requiring adult guidance. However, the young adult novel is also a profit-driven consumer product aimed at a particular marketing demographic, the teenager. The ways young adult literature ‘sells’ itself and an ideology of consumerism to the teenager have begun to receive critical attention in the past couple of decades. This period has also seen the emergence of young adult books in which the implied rhetorical purpose is to interrogate consumerism. Building on such scholarship, I draw on the ‘perpetual adolescent’ stereotype to analyse the tension between the ‘maturing adolescent’ and the ‘consuming teenager’ in case studies of ‘anti-consumerism’ books by contemporary authors M.T. Anderson and Scott Westerfeld, with reference to a number of other texts. Also emerging largely in the last few decades, the perpetual adolescence thesis posits an erosion of traditional ‘adulthood’ in post-World War II Western consumer society, expressing a strong cultural anxiety regarding the apparently juvenilising nature of consumerism. I argue that M.T. Anderson’s Feed (2002) and Burger Wuss (1999) characterise perpetual adolescence as the inability to make ‘adult’ rational decisions in a consumer society, and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series (2005-2007) and So Yesterday (2004) portray perpetual adolescence as the freedom to defer ‘adult’ stability through continual stylistic redefinition. Though Anderson’s portrayal is more pessimistic and Westerfeld’s more celebratory, both authors ‘sell’ a consumer lifestyle associated with the teenager by, for example, conveying the idea that consuming in a non-conventional way is radical. These books make overt a tension between the ‘maturing adolescent’ and the ‘consuming teenager’ that has