Beyond Relevance To Literary Merit
Anna O. Soter and Sean P. ConnorsBeyond Relevance to Literary Merit:Young Adult Literature as “Literature”“Thus the act of recognizing literature is not constrained by something in the text, nor does it issue from anindependent and arbitrary will; rather, it proceeds from a collective decision as to what will count as literature,a decision that will be in force only so long as a community of readers or believers continues to abide by it.”—Fish, 11Wfor its acceptance as “Literature” by high school teachhen Melanie Hundley, on behalf of theers. We have found, both in our teaching and in ournew editors of The ALAN Review—Stevenpersonal reading, that a considerable body of youngBickmore, Melanie Hundley, and Jacadult literature can withstand the test of close literaryqueline Bach—asked us (Anna and Sean) to write ascrutiny. We consequently argue that the next move iscolumn for their first issue of the The ALAN Reviewto engage those who might otherwise question youngon the theme, “Young Adult Literature Gaining Statureadult literature’s literary merit in what Peter Elbowat the High School,” we responded with a resoundingdescribes as a “believing game” (1), thereby helping“Yes!” Anna’s work in promoting the literary qualithem become more receptive to the possibility thatties of young adult literature and her seminars withyoung adult literature is not onlymiddle and high school teachersabout subjects and themes that areon the application of a platter ofWe take the stand in thisrelevant to adolescent readers, butcritical approaches to a wide rangethat its treatment of those subof young adult novels, speaks tocolumn that young adultjects and themes reflects a level ofoutgoing editors Jim Blasingamesophistication that invites seriousand Lori Goodson’s assertion thatliterature has alreadyinterrogation on the part of readersyoung adult literature is “quality”come of age in terms ofeager for a marriage of intellectualliterature (3). Likewise, Sean’sand affective engagement (cf. Soter,work with aspiring teachers amongitsrelevancetoadolesFaust, and Rogers).the college juniors and seniorsWe support our assertion withwho take his required introductorycents. We also believetwo vignettes, the first drawn fromcourse in young adult literaturefocuses on a similar attribute.that the time is ripe for us Sean’s teaching at The Ohio StateUniversity. For the past few years,We take the stand in this colSean has taught a course that isumn that young adult literature has to push for its acceptancedesigned to introduce undergradualready come of age in terms of itsas “Literature” by highates interested in pursuing a careerrelevance to adolescents. We alsoin secondary education to the fieldbelieve that the time is ripe for us,school teachers.of young adult literature. Duringand for The ALAN Review, to push62The ALAN Reviewm62-67-TAR-Fall09.indd 62Fall 20099/1/09 4:47 PM
that time, he has found that a good number of students—particularly those who are English majors—enter the course holding strong ideas about youngadult literature’s educational value. Most studentsreadily acknowledge young adult literature’s relevanceto adolescent readers; they are less apt, however, torecognize its literary merit.To challenge their thinking, Sean opts to begin thecourse by asking the students to work in small groupsand answer the question, “What are the defining characteristics of ‘Literature’?” His intention is to establisha foundation that will allow them to read with an eyetoward determining for themselves whether or notthe characteristics they associate with “Literature” areevident in the assigned novels. The exercise invariablyproves vexing for the majority of students. Faced withthe need to unpack their definition of “Literature,”they struggle. Asked to explain why they think thisis the case, they often tell Sean that they have notconsidered this question before and, perhaps more significant, their perceptions of what “counts” as “Literature” have been shaped largely by the texts they readas high school and university students, the majorityof which, not surprisingly, were canonical and writtenfor an adult audience. That literature for adolescentsmight be stylistically complex, that it might withstandrigorous critical scrutiny, and that it might set forththoughtful social and political commentaries has simply not occurred to them.That the adult literature customarily studied inhigh school is challenging is acknowledged by most,if not all, English teachers. Similarly, it is a given thatstudents other than above-average readers lack themotivation needed to study advanced literary texts(Marshall, Smagorinsky, & Smith). Recognizing this,we find that we are confronted by a number of questions. What makes a body of literature appear to be“grown up”? What defines a body of literature as worthy of the title “Literature”? Is it that the adult literature typically selected for study in high schools constitutes what we collectively consider to be a “body ofknowledge that [students] should share with others”(Marshall, Smagorinsky, & Smith 23)? Is young adultliterature not viewed as the kind of literature that conveys this implicitly valued “body of knowledge,” theresult of which causes it to be regarded as, at best, asupplementary form of reading material? Does MarkusZusak’s The Book Thief not qualify as “Literature” inthe same way that Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as aYoung Man does, and, if so, why not? Is not Cormier’sThe Chocolate War on a par with Hardy’s The Mayorof Casterbridge?Many would argue that the young adult novels wehave identified here should not be compared with thecanonical literary texts; indeed, some would suggestthat such comparisons are drawn at the expense ofthe young adult novels. We believe, however, that theaforementioned young adult novels do indeed qualifyas “Literature,” and that they, along with the otheryoung adult novels we refer to in this column (amongothers) are deserving of literary study preciselybecause they have literarymerit. To demonstrate thisWe believe . . . that thepoint, we would like toshare a second vignette.aforementioned youngStudents, whetherundergraduate or graduate, adult novels do indeedgenerally have a moderqualify as “Literature,”ate to strong backgroundin canonical literature andand that they . . . (amongtypically assert a stronglove of literature. Theyothers) are deserving oftend do be curious aboutliterary study preciselyyoung adult literature, butare not convinced thatbecause they have literaryit is as rich, as deep, aspowerfully moving, and asmerit.complex as the literaturethey are accustomed toreading. Knowing that Sean’s undergraduates and herown graduate students in a seminar on Young AdultLiterature and Literary Theories either have strongbackgrounds in English literature or have taught English for many years in middle and high school settings,Anna decided to challenge their thinking.At the start of Anna’s course named above, Annapresents students with a list of 20 excerpts—tendrawn from young adult novels and ten from literature written by canonical authors, although not themost commonly taught novels. Each excerpt is “blind”(author and title are omitted) and consciously selectedfor its lack of clues to the protagonists’ age or circumstances; the intention is to have students focus exclusively on the texts’ stylistic aspects—sophisticationof insight, depth in treatment of character, thematiccomplexity, and fine, incisive writing that lures read-63The ALAN Reviewm62-67-TAR-Fall09.indd 63Fall 20099/1/09 4:47 PM
ers in. Given the students’ strong literary background,she assumes that they have reasonably strong beliefsabout what does and does not constitute “quality”literature.After distributing the excerpts, Anna asks students to identify which excerpts are drawn from YAnovels and which are drawn from canonical texts. Theresults, albeit informal to date, reveal that detecting sources is far more challenging than the studentsanticipate. They freely admit that when they identifyan excerpt as coming from a young adult text, it isusually a guess based oninferred clues about a character’s age or circumstancRites of passage, idenes. Some have memories oftity issues, placement ofreading a young adult novels (e.g., Naylor’s Shiloh;self in the larger socialTaylor’s Roll of Thunder,Hear My Cry; Spinelli’s Maand cultural context, andniac Magee) when in upperdiscovery of self in termselementary and/or middlegrades, but because theseof (and against) definedstudents typically fill theranks of highly proficientroles . . . are not . . . theliterary readers, their litersole domain of adolesary diet in the middle andhigh school years quicklycence. To the contrary,shifts to an exclusive focuson canonical texts. What isthey are issues that conimportant to note, howcern all of us as humanever, is that they rarelymake a selection based onbeings, regardless of age.style—that is, they do notargue that one excerpt ismore simplistic in its portrayal of character, setting, or perspective. The resultsof this informal experiment inevitably surprise thestudents and pique their interest in young adult novels; they begin to suspect that YA novels have “moreto offer” than they originally thought, an observationthat is shared each time this experiment is conducted.This does not surprise either of us, however.Rites of passage, hero journeys, and identity issuesare a common preoccupation among all writers—weseek to discover ourselves in terms of the contexts inwhich we find ourselves; we seek to grow no matter how afraid we are or how painful the passagetoward growth may be. To be sure, rites of passage,identity issues, placement of self in the larger socialand cultural context, and discovery of self in terms of(and against) defined roles are very much issues thatconfront young adults as they emerge from childhood.They are not, however, the sole domain of adolescence. To the contrary, they are issues that concern allof us as human beings, regardless of age.Much like literature written for adults, we believethat young adult literature is capable of providingthoughtful social and political commentary that raisesquestions about complex issues—immigration (AnNa’s A Step from Heaven), the exploitation of children(Patricia McCormick’s Sold), sexual orientation (M.E. Kerr’s Deliver Us from Evie), terrorism (Cormier’sAfter the First Death), roles of men and women incontemporary culture, social and political responsibility (M. T. Anderson’s Feed), the individual challengeof social and political institutions (Suzanne Collins’sHunger Games), social conformity, religion (Pete Hautman’s Godless), poverty, political morality (WalterDean Myers’s Fallen Angels), patriotism (Collier’sMy Brother Sam Is Dead), the strength of individuals to face disaster (Paul Volponi’s Hurricane Song: ANovel of New Orleans), and the individual in search ofenduring truths (Gary Paulsen’s The Island), amongothers.In their initial encounter with young adult novels,and prior to their extended reading in our courses,our students have argued that young adult literaturelacks the sort of artistic mastery evidenced in canonical texts. Yet neither of us regards the sort of engagingwriting that draws readers into a work of fiction as theexclusive property of adult literature. The dramatic,unapologetic, sparse replay of a violent moment in aschool football game that introduces us to the protagonist of The Chocolate War serves as an example:They murdered him.As he turned to take the ball, a dam burst against the sideof his head and a hand grenade shattered his stomach. Engulfed by nausea, he pitched toward the grass. His mouthencountered gravel, and he spat frantically, afraid that someof his teeth had been knocked out. Rising to his feet, he sawthe field through drifting gauze but held on until everythingsettled into place, like a lens focusing, making the worldsharp again, with edges. (1)Likewise, one might consider the opening passagefrom Mary Stolz’s Cezanne Pinto: A Memoir:64The ALAN Reviewm62-67-TAR-Fall09.indd 64Fall 20099/1/09 4:47 PM
In 1860, when I ran from the plantation in Virginia, I decidedto be twelve years old. Could’ve been anywhere from nineto fourteen, but as Frederick Douglass, that great man said,you might as well ask a horse how hold he is as a slave.Twelve sounded all right to me, then. Now my beaky nose ispushing the ninety mark (or past it, who knows?) and oneday follows another like one boxcar coupled to another boxcar, all of them back of an engine going nowhere. This is anobservation, not a complaint. I have had a life crammed withlove, labor, exhilaration, exhaustion, rage, pain, pleasure.And now? (3)As we do with our students, so, too, would we challenge readers to ask what makes one novel worthy ofthe title “Literature” and another not. Is not a goodstory a good story no matter what the age for which itis written? Can we declare, definitively, and with good“scientific” evidence, that the following excerpts fromtwo adult novels written by authors who are high onthe canonical pedestal (each in their own countries,studied for the literary merits of their works) are moreworthily “literary’’ than the aforementioned examples?The first excerpt is drawn from the opening lines fromHuxley’s Island:“Attention,” a voice began to call, and it was as though anoboe had suddenly become articulate. “Attention,” it repeatedin the same high, nasal monotone. “Attention.”Lying there like a corpse in the dead leaves, his hair matted,his face grotesquely smudged and bruised, his clothes in ragsand muddy, Will Farnaby awoke with a start. Molly hadcalled him. Time to get up. Time to get dressed. Mustn’t belate at the office. (1)Or consider the opening paragraph of Hemingway’sThe Sun Also Rises:Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion ofPrinceton. Do not think that I am very much impressed bythat as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn. He carednothing for boxing. In fact, he disliked it, but he learned itpainfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew atPrinceton. There was a certain inner comfort in knowing hecould knock down anybody who was snooty to him, althoughbeing a very shy and thoroughly nice boy, he never foughtexcept in the gym. (3).Again, we ask what qualifies each of these openingparagraphs as adult/canonical literature, and whatdistinguishes them from the opening paragraphsexcerpted from the young adult novels cited earlier?We confess that we are hard-pressed to find a differ-ence in terms of quality of engagement. In both cases,we find that the capacity of each of the texts to drawus into the rest of the fiction is equally compelling;the opening lines suggest engrossing possibilities; theflavor is equally stylistically sophisticated.Appleman’s arguments for the incorporationof literary theory in high school classrooms echothose made by Soter. Yet, whereas Appleman focuses exclusively on canonical texts, Soter advocatesusing literary theory to gauge the literary quality ofyoung adult texts. Regardless, both authors assumethat the texts themselves can bear the scrutiny ofthe discerning, thoughtful, reflective reader. Literarytheory, argues Appleman,“sharpens one’s visionThe crossover successand provides alternativeways of seeing”; “bringsexperienced by J. K. Rowlinto relief, things we failto notice” in first readings;ing’s Harry Potter booksand “recontextualizes thehas motivated a numberfamiliar and comfortable,making us reappraise it”of accomplished authors(2). The chief differencebetween Appleman’s andthat have written for adultSoter’s work is that theaudiences to try theirlatter argues an additionalcase—specifically, for thehand at writing for teeninclusion of young adultnovels in the high schoolagers.classroom on the groundsthat this literature, today,is powerfully written and rivals the best of adult literature for enduring, compelling, deep subject matter andthemes. Like Phelan, we recognize that:Sophistication is not the same as difficulty (although the twomay sometimes overlap). Difficulty is a measure of a text’saccessibility, while sophistication is a measure of its skill inbending means to ends. Subjecting the text to the questionsprovided by literary theory is an excellent way of testing itssophistication. (xi)That young adult literature should have “grownup” so far as the issue of literary sophistication isconcerned is hardly surprising. Indeed, the crossoversuccess experienced by J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books has motivated a number of accomplishedauthors that have written for adult audiences to trytheir hand at writing for teenagers. Notable titles published in recent years include Sherman Alexie’s The65The ALAN Reviewm62-67-TAR-Fall09.indd 65Fall 20099/1/09 4:47 PM
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, JoyceCarol Oates’s Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, and JenniferDonnelly’s A Northern Light. Indeed, M. T. Anderson,whose two-part novel, The Astonishing Life of Ocatavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, is notable for itsliterary ambition, has attested to his commitment to“being part of [a] movement for true literature forteens, as opposed to simply books written for teens”(Goodnow par. 11).As we see it, the challenge in terms of the educational system rests in acknowledging what manyteachers already know—namely, that the keybenefit in adopting youngWe would argue that reladult literature as a corecurriculum for the studyevance is but one reasonof literature and literaryfor embracing young adult elements lies in its accessibility to young people.literature. It’s potentialTo be sure, the relevanceissue is significant. Weliterary sophistication,are all more readily ablecoupled with its treatment to connect to that whichspeaks to us because it repof complex social issues,resents experiences withwhich we can identify.are equally important.Librarians have long toutedyoung adult literaturebecause they, more than teachers, are familiar withwhat adolescents check out of school libraries andlocal community libraries. That said, we would arguethat relevance is but one reason for embracing youngadult literature. It’s potential literary sophistication,coupled with its treatment of complex social issues,are equally important. Glenn et al. reveal how youngadult literature provides teachers with the means forturning reluctant readers into avid readers. Yet theyalso chronicle how teachers can use such texts as anavenue for teaching close reading—the kind of readingthat is essential for successful performance on statestandardized tests, and the kind of reading, not coincidentally, that is valued in many high school Englishclasses.In conclusion, when we consider the state ofyoung adult literature as it exists today, it is impossible not to recognize the growth it has experienced.We have moved well beyond the sort of didacticfiction that was once written for adolescents (i.e., thejunior novel) and that we remember reading as kids.Indeed, like Mertz, we admit to having enjoyed reading many of those books, didactic as they were, and,as teenagers, we preferred them to the classics. Andyet we believe that, as a field, we continue to set forththe same, somewhat tired argument for using youngadult literature, one that focuses on its relevance toteenagers. This isn’t to suggest that such an argumentdoesn’t have its place. It does. We willingly concedethat young adult literature reflects the interests andconcerns of teenagers, and we suspect that mostsecondary teachers would agree. However, we alsobelieve that young adult literature has the kind ofliterary merit that canonical literature demonstrates.If we ever expect young adult literature to finda place in the classroom, then those of us who workin the trenches or who have a passion for thoughtful,smartly written books must be willing to subject it tothe same high standards we hold for adult literature.Indeed, as Daniels argu
The ALAN Review Fall 2009 62 Beyond Relevance to Literary Merit: Young Adult Literature as “Literature” Anna O. Soter and Sean P. Connors “Thus the act of recognizing literature is not constrained by something in the text, nor does it issue from an
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