This project explores the narrative arcs of strong female characters in Young Adult (YA) fantasy literature. Taking up Rosemary Jackson’s assertion that fantasy literature can ‘subvert patriarchal society,’ this thesis examines the fantasy ‘legacy code’ of strong and subversive female characters who settle into a stereotypical performance of gender after finding fulfillment in the heteronormative roles of lover, wife, and mother. This pattern is exemplified by Lady Éowyn of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and The Return of the King (1955), and reproduced by Hermione Granger of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series – consisting of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). In contrast Keladry of Mindelan in Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series – consisting of First Test (1999), Page (2000), Squire (2001), and Lady Knight (2002) – demonstrates the impact ‘refactoring’ fantasy ‘legacy code’ has on the narrative conclusions of female characters. Using Judith Butler’s theory on the performative nature of gender and building on Farah Mendlesohn’s computer programming analogy of ‘legacy code,’ this thesis illustrates the ways in which fantasy literature often fails to be the literature of subversion Jackson envisions, and demonstrates how refactoring aspects of a female character’s narrative exemplifies subversive narrative conclusions for young adult readers of fantasy literature. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis examines the ways in which a heteronormative ‘legacy code’ – exemplified by Lady Éowyn in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – has been perpetuated in literature marketed towards young adult readers by Hermione Granger in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and ‘refactored’ by Keladry of Mindelan in Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series. Starting with Rosemary Jackson’s analysis of fantasy literature as a genre with subversive potential and with Judith Butler’s assertion that gender is performative, this thesis analyses the narrative arcs of Éowyn, Hermione, and Kel and demonstrates how the continual representation of strong female characters finding fulfillment in the roles of lover, wife, and mother is limiting, and highlights the subversive potential in ‘refactoring’ heteronormative ‘legacy code.’

Relational bullying, although covert in nature and difficult for adults to notice and identify, is becoming increasingly prevalent among young children and teens. The success of bibliotherapy as preventative and intervention practices for bullying shows that portrayals of relational bullying in quality children’s literature would be effective in reducing and preventing it. However, relational bullying is rarely portrayed in children’s literature. My goal was to find quality children’s realistic fiction literature that portrays relational bullying in Newbery award-winning books, and to bring them to the attention of teachers. After creating a table to determine what types of bullying, if any, were portrayed in the 21 Newbery Medal and Honor realistic fiction children’s literature (1996-2016), the books were read in their totality, and analyzed for any portrayals of relational bullying, including the experience of bullying from the eyes of the bully, victim, and bystander. The bullying portrayed in the literature was described, as well as the characteristics of the bully and victim. Only 10 out of the 21 books read contained portrayals of bullying in the plot. Using this information, future research will include creating a website for teachers, other educational professionals, and parents, to help bring quality children’s literature portrayals of relational bullying to their attention. The hope is that teachers will begin to use the findings of this study as a resource with their students, to prevent or address relational bullying in their classrooms, and to recommend it to school psychologists, counselors, and parents, as needed.

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As long as disparities persist in the way women are treated as compared to their male counterparts, the issue of gender will continue to call forth literary productions. For this reason, female writers are on a mission to dismantle the stereotypes that keep women confined to societal roles. Grounded in a feminist framework, this study focuses on the gender disparity theme in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. The aim is to examine how these writers represent the trauma of women living in an African patriarchal system. The traumatic experiences of the female characters in both texts for this study are analyzed using Judith Herman’s Psychological trauma and Bessel Van der Kolk’s trauma theory to explain women’s struggles and their responses to traumatic experiences. A content analysis of the novels shows that resilience and agency are achievable and that one way to achieve agency is through interdependence which is a crucial dimension often overlooked in existing scholarly engagements.

The purpose of the study is to highlight the possibilities that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone can contribute to in the value-based work in teaching, as well as how the content can be used as a tool in teaching. This is with the hope that it will lead to an increased understanding and interest among teachers in how children’s and youth literature and value-based work can be combined. The study is a qualitative literature analysis based on Nikolajeva’s (2017) narratological literature analysis model. In the selection of literature, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2014) was chosen, which was the Harry Potter novel that was easiest for the author to access. The study’s analysis highlights three different subcategories: social responsibility, inclusion and exclusion, and laws and regulations. The result of the analysis shows that the book contains several events that can be related to the basic values ​​in the value base. Among other things, various scenarios emerge that students can relate to such things as exclusion, social community, and dilemmas. The study also shows that some rule violations can be related to what is morally right. The content of the book can contribute to the value-based work in teaching through the various events, which can be linked to students’ identifying with the story and which similarities and differences exist between the world in the novel and the real one. The content of the book can also be sued as a pedagogical tool, in that its content can capture students’ interest, which can lead to an increase in motivation. Important conclusions from this study are that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone can be useful for value-based work, and also children’s and youth literature in general can be useful in teaching. / Studiens syfte är att belysa vilka möjligheter Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone kan bidra till i värdegrundsarbetet i undervisningen, samt hur innehållet kan användas som pedagogiskt redskap. Detta med förhoppningen om att det ska leda till en ökad förståelse och intresse bland lärare om hur barn- och ungdomslitteratur och värdegrundsarbetet kan kombineras. Studien är en kvalitativ litteraturanalys som utgår från Nikolajevas (2017) narratologiska litteraturanalysmodell. I urvalet rörande litteratur valdes Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone (2014) som var den enklaste romanen i serien för författaren att få tillgång till. Studiens analys belyser tre olika subkategorier: socialt ansvar, inkludering och exkludering och lagar och regler. Resultatet av analysen visar att boken innehåller flera händelser som kan relateras till de grundläggande värdena i värdegrunden. Det framkommer bland annat olika scenarion som elever kan relatera till som utanförskap, social gemenskap och dilemman. Studien visar även på att vissa regelbrott kan vara relaterade till vad som är moraliskt rätt. Bokens innehåll kan bidra till värdegrundsarbetet i undervisningen genom de olika händelserna, som kan kopplas till elevernas igenkänning och vilka likheter och skillnader som finns mellan Harry Potter världen och den riktiga. Innehållet i boken kan också bidra som ett pedagogiskt redskap, genom att dess innehåll kan fånga elevers intresse som kan leda till att motivationen ökar. Viktiga slutsatser med denna studie är att Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone kan vara användbar för värdegrundsarbetet, och även barn- och ungdomslitteratur överlag kan vara användbart i undervisningen.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Apartheid het die oorgrote meerderheid Suid-Afrikaners se lewens onherroeplik beinvloed. Dit is daarom te verstane dat dit in die Suid-Afrikaanse literatuur, insluitende die Engelse Suid-Afiikaanse jeugliteratuur, neerslag gevind het. Ten einde die studie in konteks te plaas, word in die eerste drie hoofstukke 'n historiese oorsig van die apartheidsera, Engelse Suid-Afrikaanse volwasse literatuur, en Engelse Suid-Afrikaanse kinderen jeugliteratuur, gegee. Die hoofgedeelte van die studie word vervolgens bespreek, en is in die volgende drie hoofstukke verdeel: • Die uitbeelding van sosio-ekonomiese toestande gedurende die apartheidsera, soos byvoorbeeld van afsonderlike woongebiede en aparte openbare geriewe. • Die uitbeelding van die onderwystoestande, veral van die Bantoe-onderwysbeleid. • Die uitbeelding van die veiligheidsmagte (polisie en weermag), insluitende die beeld van hierdie magte in die bree gemeenskap. Ten slotte word verskillende ooreenkomste wat na vore gekom bet in die bestudeerde Engelse Suid-Afrikaanse jeugromans waarin apartheid uitgebeeld word, bespreek. Daar word ook gekyk na die waarde van hierdie jeugromans. / Apartheid had a irrevocably influence on the lives of the majority of people in South Africa. Therefore it is understandable that it would be portrayed in South African literature, including the English South African youth literature. To put the subject in context, the first three chapters ofthe thesis deal with a historical overview of the apartheidera; South African English adult literature; and South African English children's literature. The main part of the thesis has been divided as follows: • The portrayal of socio-economic conditions, e.g. separate residential areas and public amenities. • The portrayal of the education situation, especially the Black Education policy. • The portrayal of the security forces (police and army), including the images of these forces in the broader community. To conclude the thesis, similarities in the youth novels portraying apartheid are discussed. The value of these youth novels is also looked into. / Information Science / M. Inf.

This project is an exploration of 20th century dystopian literature through the lens of germ theory. This scientific principle, which emerged in the late 19th century, asserts that microorganisms pervade the world; these invisible and omnipresent germs cause specific diseases which are often life threatening. Additionally, germ theory states that vaccines and antiseptics can prevent some of these afflictions and that antibiotics can treat others. This concept of a pervasive, invisible, infection-causing other is not just a biological principle, though; in this paper, I argue that one can interpret it as an ideological framework for understanding human existence as a whole. Particularly, I believe that authors of prominent 20th century dystopian novels applied the tenets of germ theory in order to explore the potential “pathogens” that furtively exist within the human mind. These pseudo-germs are various human tendencies that, when left “untreated” by governments, create nonnormative members of society. In the eyes of dystopian regimes, it is precisely this nonnormativity that poses a lethal threat, in that it challenges the continued existence of society with the current ruling body at the helm. In this paper, I trace love (both sexual and familial) and individuation (as a function of social hierarchy, recreational activities, and the use of language) as social disease-causing pathogens in George Orwell’s 1984 and in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

This diploma thesis thematically follows up one of subgenres of young adult popular literature - paranormal romance. Its main aim is to create a comprehensive definition of this subgenre on the basis of interpretation of representative sagas - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence, Finale), Nightshade by Andrea R. Cremer (Nightshade, Wolfsbane, Bloodrose, Snakeroot), Wings by Aprilynne Pike (Wings, Spells, Illusions, Destined) and Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares). The thesis was divided into eight chapters. In the first chapter we have outlined the historical development of paranormal romance, in the second part we focused on its genre characteristic. In the third and fourth chapters we tried to create a prototype of heroine and hero of this subgenre. The fifth part is about the steady plot schemes in paranormal romances. In the sixth chapter we have tried to determine a model form of relationship main pair of lovers in the analyzed subgenre. In the seventh part we discussed conflict between everyday reality and the supernatural and the social hierarchy in the fiction world of paranormal romances and we introduced supernatural species and races that...

This dissertation uses a feminist cultural materialist approach that draws on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Luce Irigaray to examine the neglected genre of postwar-Cold War American teen girl romance novels, which I call female junior novels. Written between 1942 and the late 1960s by authors such as Betty Cavanna, Maureen Daly, Anne Emery, Rosamond du Jardin, and Mary Stolz, these texts create a kind of hieroglyphic world, where possession of the right dress or the proper seat in the malt shop determines a girls place within an entrenched adolescent social hierarchy. Thus in the first chapter, I argue that girls adherence to consumer-based social codes ultimately constructs a semi-autonomous female society, still under the umbrella of patriarchy, but based on female desire and possessing its own logic. This adolescent female society parallels the network of women who produced (authors, illustrators, editors) and distributed (librarians, critics) these texts to teenaged girls. Invisible because of its all-female composition, middlebrow status, and feminine control, yet self-governing for the same reasons, the network established a semi-autonomous space into which left-leaning authors could safely (if subtly) critique American social and foreign policies during the Cold War. Chapter Two examines the first generation of the network, including Anne Carroll Moore, Bertha Mahony, Louise Seaman, and May Massee, who helped to create the childrens publishing industry in America, while Chapter Three investigates the second generation, including Mabel Williams, Margaret Scoggin, and Ursula Nordstrom, who entrenched childrens and adolescent literature in publishing houses and library services. In Chapter Four I explore the shifting concept of what constitutes quality within these texts, with an emphasis on the role of authors, illustrators, and critics in defining such value. Chapter Five investigates the use of female junior novels within the classroom, paying particular attention to the role of bibliotherapy, in which these texts were used to help teenagers solve their developmental tasks, as suggested by psychologist Robert J. Havighurst. A brief conclusion discusses the fall of the female junior novels and their network, while a coda addresses the republication of these texts today through the nostalgia press.