Growing up with Trauma; Representations of Sexual Trauma in Young Adult Literature

Abstract

Summary This thesis examines the ways in which young adult literature represents sexual trauma inflicted on adolescent protagonists. The appliance of trauma theory to the novels I have chosen shows how trauma is represented as well as the inherit didactic intention of this representation. For these purposes I have chosen three stylistically different young adult trauma narratives and a collection of comics: Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak (1999), Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) and Phoebe Gloeckner’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2002) and A Child’s Life and Other Stories (1998). The aim of the thesis is to see the connection between young adult trauma narratives and trauma theory and the different ways in which the trauma is represented. By analyzing the representation, voice and symptoms of trauma that can be found in the novels, the author’s didactic message and their awareness of their audience can be found. The thesis will demonstrate the connection between both young adult theory and trauma theory and I will explore the teaching value of these novels as a way of helping those who have experienced sexual trauma as well as informing those who have not.