Ep. 2. What the Heck is a Teenager? How YA Found its Readers.
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Howdy Howdy!
Our second episode is out on YouTube!
In this episode we discussed how Teenagers were “invented” in the United States in the early 20th century thanks to a variety of factors: life expectancy, the enlightenment, rise of global literacy, public education, and the end of child labor laws. We touched on how after the implementation of public high school in the 1940s, teenagers began to grow more independent and develop youth culture. Early examples of young adult literature emerged, including S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.
Check Out our Episode Sources:
A Brief History of Young Adult Fiction – JSTOR DAILY. https://daily.jstor.org/history-of-young-adult-fiction/.
“Brief History of Adolescence & Youth Development.” Mass Cultural Council, 30 May 2019, https://massculturalcouncil.org/creative-youth-development/boston-youth-arts-evaluation-project/brief-history-of-adolescence-youth-development/.
“American Literature.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/American-literature.
Dowell, Ken. “The Invention of the Teenager.” Off the Leash, 26 Oct. 2019, https://offtheleash.net/2016/01/31/the-invention-of-the-teenager/.
Hafford, Michael. “A Brief History of the Teen.” Medium, MEL Magazine, 21 June 2017, https://medium.com/mel-magazine/a-brief-history-of-the-teen-ad9d240720d5.
Herz, S.K., & Gallo, D.R. From Hilton to Hamlet: Building bridges between young adult literature and the classics. Westport, Greenwood, 2005.
Hine, Thomas. The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager: A New History of the American Adolescent Experience. Perennial, 2006.
Hinton, Susan E. The Outsiders. Penguin Books, 2019.
Magazine, Smithsonian. “How ‘Young Adult’ Fiction Blossomed with Teenage Culture in America.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 7 May 2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-young-adult-fiction-blossomed-with-teenage-culture-in-america-180968967/.
“The Origin of the Teenager.” Boundless Theatre, 19 Jan. 2021, https://boundlesstheatre.org.uk/we-are-boundless/the-origin-of-the-teenager/.
Roser, Max, et al. “Life Expectancy.” Our World in Data, 23 May 2013, https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy.
Roser, Max, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. “Literacy.” Our World in Data, 13 Aug. 2016, https://ourworldindata.org/literacy.
Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye. LITTLE, BROWN, 2019.
Savage, Jon. Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture. Faber & Faber, 2021.
Strickland, Ashley. A Brief History of Young Adult Literature | CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/15/living/young-adult-fiction-evolution/index.html.
Thompson, Derek, et al. “A Brief History of Teenagers.” The Saturday Evening Post, 2 Sept. 2018, https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/02/brief-history-teenagers/.
EP 1. What is Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Literature.
Our first episode is out on YouTube!
In this episode we discussed elements of the Fantasy genre, the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, sub-genres of both, and what characterizes a book as Young Adult Literature.
Episode Sources:
Herz, S.K., & Gallo, D.R. From Hilton to Hamlet: Building bridges between young adult literature and the classics. Westport, Greenwood, 2005.
“What Is the Fantasy Genre? History of Fantasy and Subgenres and Types of Fantasy in Literature – 2021.” MasterClass, www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-the-fantasy-genre-history-of-fantasy-and-subgenres-and-types-of-fantasy-in-literature.
“What is Science Fiction Writing? Definitions and Characteristics of Science Fiction Literature- 2021” Masterclass, www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-science-fiction-writing-defition-and-charcteristics-of-science-fiction-literature#what-are-the-common-characteristics-of-science-fiction.