The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels
Drawing on third-wave feminist and Bakhtinian literary theories, this article argues that the feminist possibility of young adult romance novels largely lies in the extent to which the authors’ narrative choices encourage readers to grapple with questions related to love, pleasure, and relationships...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jprstudies.org/2023/06/the-feminist-possibilities-of-heteroglossic-spaces-in-contemporary-young-adult-romance-novels/ |
| _version_ | 1797316128350928896 |
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| author | Amy Noelle Parks |
| author_facet | Amy Noelle Parks |
| author_sort | Amy Noelle Parks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drawing on third-wave feminist and Bakhtinian literary theories, this article argues that the feminist possibility of young adult romance novels largely lies in the extent to which the authors’ narrative choices encourage readers to grapple with questions related to love, pleasure, and relationships, rather than in parsing the author’s intended or unintended feminist (or anti-feminist) messages. This article examines the techniques diverse authors of young adult romances use to open up heteroglossic spaces in their texts. Specifically, it examines how these authors of young adult romances invite readers to consciously attend to the ways that love and relationships might operate in their lives. In particular, the analysis explores the feminist possibilities of love triangles and the use of dialogue to raise reader questions about their own beliefs about the nature of love. These dialogic craft choices are contrasted with more authoritative ways of approaching issues of love and pleasure in fiction to argue that romance is at its most liberatory when it poses questions rather than provides answers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:14:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6917fab857704818b156cec29b47c919 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2159-4473 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:14:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-6917fab857704818b156cec29b47c9192024-02-12T16:54:10ZengInternational Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)Journal of Popular Romance Studies2159-44732023-06-01121117The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance NovelsAmy Noelle Parks Drawing on third-wave feminist and Bakhtinian literary theories, this article argues that the feminist possibility of young adult romance novels largely lies in the extent to which the authors’ narrative choices encourage readers to grapple with questions related to love, pleasure, and relationships, rather than in parsing the author’s intended or unintended feminist (or anti-feminist) messages. This article examines the techniques diverse authors of young adult romances use to open up heteroglossic spaces in their texts. Specifically, it examines how these authors of young adult romances invite readers to consciously attend to the ways that love and relationships might operate in their lives. In particular, the analysis explores the feminist possibilities of love triangles and the use of dialogue to raise reader questions about their own beliefs about the nature of love. These dialogic craft choices are contrasted with more authoritative ways of approaching issues of love and pleasure in fiction to argue that romance is at its most liberatory when it poses questions rather than provides answers.https://www.jprstudies.org/2023/06/the-feminist-possibilities-of-heteroglossic-spaces-in-contemporary-young-adult-romance-novels/bakhtinian analysisfeminismyoung adult romance |
| spellingShingle | Amy Noelle Parks The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels Journal of Popular Romance Studies bakhtinian analysis feminism young adult romance |
| title | The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels |
| title_full | The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels |
| title_fullStr | The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels |
| title_short | The Feminist Possibilities of Heteroglossic Spaces in Contemporary Young Adult Romance Novels |
| title_sort | feminist possibilities of heteroglossic spaces in contemporary young adult romance novels |
| topic | bakhtinian analysis feminism young adult romance |
| url | https://www.jprstudies.org/2023/06/the-feminist-possibilities-of-heteroglossic-spaces-in-contemporary-young-adult-romance-novels/ |
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