Today saw the completion of my literature review and my survey overview. I continue to worry a lot about going over my word count, but I only have three sections left, so we will see how they go. Less to say about my writing today, as it mostly involved me going through all of the literature I had gathered, pulling quotes, and writing, as well as adding to my reference sheet. I wrote more today than I did yesterday, about 3.5k, which was quite nice. I'm hoping to be done my rough draft by the end of next week, if not earlier, which I think it quite reasonable, especially if I keep going at my current rate (I've already written over a third of my dissertation, at least as far as the word count goes). I still need to write my methodology, which I think I will be doing next, my survey results analysis, and my conclusion.
Below the cut today you will find a subsection of my literature review - the history of queer YA. I've also included my section on terminology, which covers why I've chosen to use the term 'queer' throughout my essay, because if I'm gonna keep showing y'all excerpts of my rough draft, we're gonna need to cover that. I feel the need to once again emphasize that this is also the very first draft.
1.4 Terminology
When undertaking studies involving the LGBTQ+ community, a discussion of terminology becomes necessary to understand who is being encompassed by the terms being utilized. As we move outside of the heterosexual, cisgendered paradigm, language becomes far more complicated as the heteronormative structure of the english language has necessitated a great degree of creativity from the LGBTQ+ community in order for them to describe and categorize their gender(s) and sexual orientation(s). This community exists under many terms. ‘Gay’ is often used as a blanket term, though this fails to take into account persons whose gender deviates from the cisgender norm, and is also associated with male cisgendered persons over other members of the community. LGBT has become the most common acronym in use, though it is also often seen in its expanded forms, such as LGBTQ+, LGBTQIAP, and LGBTQQIP2SAA. Another set of acronyms utilized as a blanket term is GSM (gender and sexual minorities) and GSD (gender and sexual diversities), though they are significantly less common. However, all of these terms represent what is ultimately a need to narrowly define and label persons whose gender and sexual orientation fall outside of the heterosexual, cisgendered norm. In an effort to remove from this dissertation the unwieldy and flawed acronyms discussed above, the term ‘queer’ is used throughout as a blanket term for all individuals who fall outside of the gender binary and/or heterosexuality, though it remains problematic in its reductionist and homogenizing effect. While the term ‘queer’ has largely been used as a derogatory term for homosexual individuals since the early 20th century, it has recently begun to be reclaimed by many activists as a gender-neutral term for persons whose sexual orientation falls outside of the heterosexual, cisgendered norm. The term ‘heterosexual’ will similarly be used as a blanket term when discussing heterosexual, cisgendered individuals, as those who identify outside of the gender binary rarely identify as heterosexual, given the terms decisive ties to a gendered relationship between a cisgendered man and a cisgendered woman.
3.4 History of queer YA
Queer characters began appearing in YA fiction as part of a trend in ‘new realism’ which occurred from 1967 to 1969 and saw plots characterized by “candor, unidealized characters and settings, colloquial language, and plots that portrayed realistic problems that did not necessarily find resolution in a happy ending” (Jenkins, 1998). As was stated earlier, the first of these books to deal with the theme of queerness, and the social predjudice surrounding it, was John Donovan’s I’ll Get There: It Better Be Worth the Trip which was published in 1969. Prior to this, queer content in YA fiction was restricted to “angry epithets and the occasional shadowy character included to represent the oddities - or the dangers - of the adult world” (Jenkins, 1998). From the time that queer characters first appeared in YA novels in 1969 to the early stages of contemporary queer YA in 1997, there were ninety-nine novels published featuring queer characters in the USA; however, the majority of those portrayals, especially post 1983, involve a queer secondary character, rather than a queer protagonist. Since queer characters were introduced to YA fiction, there has been a relatively steady rise in the numbers of characters published every year: from 1969 to 1984, thirty-one titles were published (1.9 titles per year); from 1985 to 1992, thirty titles were published (3.75 titles per year); and from 1993 to 1997 thirty-eight titles were published (7.6 titles per year).
Though Donovan’s groundbreaking novel contained a protagonist struggling with his own attraction to another boy, the YA literature published between 1969 and 1992 shows a distinct trend away from YA literature that showed the protagonist struggling with their own feelings of same-sex attraction towards literature which saw heterosexual protagonists confronting issues to do with their reactions to and relationships with queer secondary characters, whether friends, siblings, relatives, or a teacher (Jenkins, 1998). For those queer characters depicted, they overwhelmingly were white and middle class, with an approximate population of 5% non-white queer characters (Jenkins, 1998). The gender gap in queer YA was also significant, with gay males significantly outnumbering lesbians three to one, and with novels strictly segregated by gender - queer YA novels either contained lesbians or gay men, never both (Jenkins, 1998). While the time period of 1969 to 1996 saw significant changes in the social status and visibility of queer people in society, the YA literature being published failed to reflect this, with little change in the content of queer YA other than the introduction of the AIDS epidemic (Jenkins, 1998). The lack of evolution demonstrated in the representations found in queer YA from its emergence to the late 1990s demonstrates how “a genre can become more aware of a social issue without necessarily providing the reader with transformative experiences”. In short, YA fiction with queer characters has failed to evolve alongside social changes.
Your first draft is going so well! I remember when I had my first draft in hand. It felt like a weight had been lifted. One thing wasn't clear to me. Are the figures you quote of titles published per year all American figures or more broad than that?
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