Conference paper
Not just another ball game: young adult and adult football fictions are different
International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) Biennial Congress: Fear and Safety in Children's Literature, 20th (Brisbane, Australia, 04-Jul-2011–08-Jul-2011)
2011
Abstract
Current media attention on the crossover novel highlights the increasing permeability of the boundaries between young adult and adult fiction. This paper will focus upon some of the difficulties around definitions of young adult fiction before considering the fiction of football, or soccer as it is more commonly known in Australia. The football genre exhibits a number of discrete and identifiable differences between young adult and adult readerships including, for example, the role of the protagonist, and the narrative's distance from the game. This paper will use Franco Moretti's Mapping as Distant Reading model of abstraction to highlight and unpack these and other characteristic differences in the narratological and stylistic techniques employed across adult and young adult texts. Close reading analysis of the adult football fiction Striker (1992) by Hunter Davies and young adult football fiction Lucy Zeezou's Goal (2008) by Liz Deep-Jones' will further illustrate the range of tensions and divergences as they are reflected across those readerships. The texts have been selected because they speak to themes of fear and safety; Joe Swift (Striker) is driven by a need to move away from childhood poverty and insecurity, while Lucy Zeezou shelters a homeless friend. With both protagonists being kidnapped for ransom for example, the texts have also been selected for their striking similarities in form and content.
Details
- Title
- Not just another ball game: young adult and adult football fictions are different
- Authors
- Lee McGowan (Author)
- Publication details
- 11
- Conference details
- International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) Biennial Congress: Fear and Safety in Children's Literature, 20th (Brisbane, Australia, 04-Jul-2011–08-Jul-2011)
- Date published
- 2011
- Copyright note
- Copyright © Copyright 2011 Lee McGowan.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Creative Industries - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451107902621
- Output Type
- Conference paper
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