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Entre femmes et jeunes filles : le roman pour adolescentes en France et au Québec

University of British Columbia

Novels destined for adolescents are generally aimed at a gender specific audience, the sex of the main character often determining that of the intended reader. The modern concept of adolescence is essentially based on male images of independence and restlessness, and these remain in conflict with what is still regarded as acceptable <<feminine>> behaviour. Based on the premisses that both adolescence and gender are social constructs, this study aims to explore the representation and construction of female adolescence in contemporary novels for young adults in France and Quebec. My primary corpus is comprised of novels published since 1985, written by women and aimed specifically at adolescent girls. I refer to recent North American sociological and psychological studies of teenage girls to examine the relationship between the cultural context within which the novels are written and received, the literary form adopted, and the construction of a gendered identity for both author and reader. This study is divided into two parts. The first two chapters present a chronological overview of novels for adolescent girls in France and Quebec from the 193 0s to the present. In Chapter One, the novel of adolescence for adults, which preceded the first series published for young girls, provides a point of departure to examine fictional representations of adolescence. A discussion of the novel <<a l'eau de rose>> and the similarities between popular romance fiction and young adult series leads to a closer look at novels for adolescent girls as a branch of consumer literature. Chapter Two discusses contemporary trends in young adult fiction. Leaving behind the didactic approach that characterized earlier novels, whose main function was to prepare teenagers for their future role as responsible citizens, the contemporary novel plays a more therapeutic role, reassuring readers that they are not alone in their struggle towards adulthood. Using a corpus of about forty novels (published between 1985 and 1995), I examine publishing practices, editorial constraints and the paratext, linking the specificity of French and Quebecois novels to broader cultural differences. The second half of the thesis concentrates on a smaller sample of novels and looks at the text as a communicative tool between two generations of women. Chapter Three analyses the mother-daughter relationship in the novels, which often echoes the maternal relationship established between author and reader, and may also be reflected in the narrative structure and form. Chapter Four continues the discussion of the transmission of values from women to adolescent girls, providing an analysis of the tensions between sexuality, femininity and feminism.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-07-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/10171

French

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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