Narratives of Violence, Myths of Youth: American Youth Identity in Fictional Narratives of School Shootings
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Narratives of Violence, Myths of Youth: American Youth Identity in Fictional Narratives of School Shootings Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kathryn E. Linder, M.A. Graduate Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee Linda Mizejewski, Advisor Valerie Kinloch, Co-Advisor Rebecca Wanzo Copyright by Kathryn E. Linder 2011 Abstract Throughout the 1990s in the United States, a series of suburban school shootings perpetrated by young, white males disrupted contemporary perceptions of American youth, often a population configured in terms of ideal whiteness. In conjunction with sensationalized media coverage of school shootings, various fictional portrayals of suburban youth violence also emerged throughout this period as what Henry Giroux has called “public pedagogy” that served to further influence national perceptions of youth. In this body of film, television and literary narratives, school violence is often related to other national concerns surrounding American youth identity such as deviant sexuality and teen pregnancy. While a good deal of scholarly attention has focused on popular representations of education and youth generally, little has been written about these specific fictionalizations of school shootings and what they signify. This dissertation offers a feminist, discursive analysis of these fictional narratives of suburban school violence and argues that rampage violence narratives are intricately connected to national anxieties regarding youth, citizenship, threats to white masculinity, and American identity. In order to illustrate the complexities of themes present across popular culture mediums, my research delves into the purpose of the narratives and what they signify about contemporary American youth identity. Thus, my dissertation will explore representations of youth violence from a variety of angles that prioritize intertextual connections. Specifically, I offer a comparative analysis of portrayals of urban versus ii suburban school violence, explore the creation of gay male shooters as protagonists, and analyze fictional female shooter characters and teen pregnancy storylines. As well, my dissertation examines the genre phenomenon of young adult novels portraying school violence in order to place these novels in dialogue with other “adult” narratives. Throughout my dissertation I explicate the ways in which school shooting narratives reflect and challenge political and academic debates that situate American youth as current and future citizens in the U.S. iii Dedication For Ben. Thank you for journeying with me day by day, sometimes being pulled along, sometimes carrying me, but mostly just walking by my side. iv Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation, I never once felt alone. The community of writers and thinkers that have contributed to this project are numerous and all have made the process a joy and a privilege to complete. First and foremost, I thank my committee members Linda Mizejewski, Valerie Kinloch, and Rebecca Wanzo for their thoughtful feedback, comments, and advice on each chapter and on the project as a whole. I also offer my gratitude to my writing group members, Alexis Martina and Na’im Tyson, who provided both intellectual and emotional support throughout this writing journey. To my colleagues at UCAT and WAC, thank you for your understanding on those days when I was distracted by my latest chapter draft. Thank you also for the time and space you gave when I was physically present in the office, but not really there because I was just using the space to work on my writing. To Mom, Sarah, Megan, Ralph, Judy, Beth, and Matt – thanks for always checking in on how things were going even when you did not really know (or care) what I was writing about. Tori, thank you for your constant support and unwavering confidence in my abilities. And Ben, who gets the whole dedication page for this project, thank you for giving up the living room for a year so that I could write and research whenever I wanted. You can have it back – for now. v Vita June 2001…………………………….Tualatin High School 2005……………………………..…...B.A. English, Whitworth College 2007…………………………….........M.A. Women’s Studies, The Ohio State University 2005 to 2006…………………………Graduate Research Associate, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University 2006 to 2009…………………………Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University 2008 to 2010…………………………Graduate Consultant, Writing Across the Curriculum, The Ohio State University 2009 to 2010…………………………Doctoral Intern, University Center for the Advancement of Teaching, The Ohio State University 2011-present…………………………Assistant Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, Suffolk University Fields of Study Major Field: Women’s Studies vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………...…ii-iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………v Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………viii Introduction: Narratives of Violence, Myths of Youth……………………………………1 Chapter One: Dangerous Liminalities, Constructed Criminalities: A Comparative Analysis of Urban and Suburban/Rural Youth Violence Narratives…………………….33 Chapter Two: Heteronormativity and the Queer Rampage Killer: Youth Identity, Masculinity, and Sexual Citizenship……………………..………………………………80 Chapter Three: Violence, Pregnancy, Agency: The Birth of the Female Shooter……...113 Chapter Four: Protection and Prevention vs. Democratic Participation: Power, Citizenship, and Voice in YA Literature about Rampage Violence………………...….153 Conclusion: Narratives as Myths: Situating Fictional Rampage Violence Within a Larger Narrative of Youth Identity………………………………………………………….….191 References…………………………………………………………………...……….…209 vii List of Tables Table 1. Urban School Violence Narratives……………………………………………..43 Table 2. Suburban Rural School Violence Narratives…………………………………...44 Table 3. Taxonomy of Youth Violence Narratives…………………………………..52-54 Table 4. Selected Examples of Subordinated Masculinities in Rampage Violence Narratives………………………………………………………………………………...98 Table 5. Female Involvement in Suburban/Rural School Violence Narratives…...120-121 Table 6. Female Involvement in Urban School Violence Narratives…………………..122 Table 7. White Female Violence, Teen Sexuality, and Pregnancy in Suburban/Rural School Violence Narratives…………………………………………………………….137 Table 8. Minority Female Violence, Teen Sexuality, and Pregnancy in Urban School Violence Narratives…………………………………………………………………….138 Table 9. Female Youth Pregnancy in Rampage Violence Narratives………………….146 Table 10. Young Adult Literature Featuring Rampage Violence Post-2000..……….…157 Table 11. Eight Part Definition of Abstinence-Only Sex Education…………………...201 viii List of Figures Figure 1. Cyclical Influence of Realities and Fictions of Youth Violence……………..114 ix Introduction: Narratives of Violence, Myths of Youth An “Epidemic” of Youth Violence Since 1990,1 there have been over two dozen “rampage” school shootings in junior high and high schools across the United States, the majority of the shootings perpetrated by young white males (Newman 2004, 308-309). The “rampage” shootings of the late 1990s, defined “by the fact that they involve attacks on multiple parties, selected almost at random” (Newman 2004, 15), have been referred to as an “epidemic” of violence among white suburban and rural youth (Snyder 1999, A25). Media coverage of these school shootings often focuses on the impact of these events on U.S. society and American youth identity. Indeed, media scholars noted the shift from coverage of initial school shootings where the violence is “salient exclusively because of its impact on the individuals involved and the community in which it occurred” to media coverage of later shootings such as the 1999 Columbine shooting in Littleton, Colorado, when media responses “highlighted the societal significance of the cases” (Muschert and Carr 2006, 756-757). The Columbine high school shooting was considered to be the deadliest school shooting in American history up to that point and “represented the violent destruction of a 1 While school shootings were perpetrated before 1990 in the United States, the 1990s have been identified as the beginning of a phenomenon of rampage shootings that occurred repeatedly throughout the decade. In her book, Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings, Katherine Newman cites two shootings in 1992 and 1995 respectively, one shooting in 1993 and 1996 respectively, four shootings in 1997, three shootings in 1998, and four shootings in 1999 for a total of 17 rampage school shootings in the 1990s in the United States. 1 cherished American idea: that schools in the suburbs and the countryside were havens of peace and safety” (Associated Press 2009, np) for American youth. The relationship between American youth identity and school shootings has been cemented through the choices in media coverage that followed the spectacle of the Columbine high school media event. As Patricia Leavy and Kathryn Maloney argue in their comparative analysis of the media coverage of the suburban Columbine shooting in 1999 and the Red Lake School shootings of 2005, which took place on an American Indian reservation, “the press gave Columbine a face, the ‘all-American’