ERIC Number: EJ1306002
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Sep
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0045-6713
EISSN: N/A
A Three-Dimensional Jigsaw Made of Pliable Bits: Analysing Adolescent Identity as an Intertextual Construct in Aidan Chambers' Postcards from No Man's Land (1999)
Children's Literature in Education, v52 n3 p326-341 Sep 2021
YA fiction is well known for a prevalence of narratives that explore identity and identity change. Critics have constructed multiple theoretical frameworks that help put into words the workings of adolescent identity in these novels. This article adds to that discussion by analysing Jacob, the main character of Aidan Chambers' "Postcards from No Man's Land," (The Bodley Head, London, 1999), through the framework of Julia Kristeva's intertextual theory, where any socio-cultural element can be an intertext, from a specific song to a political ideology. By returning to Kristeva's original broad interpretation of textuality, I consider Jacob's identity itself a text, shaped by the intertexts in his socio-cultural environment. My analysis then focuses on how Jacob's process of identity development is empowered through the various intertexts with which he is presented over the course of "Postcards'" narrative.
Descriptors: Fiction, Adolescent Literature, Identification (Psychology), Adolescents, Social Influences, Cultural Influences, Environmental Influences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A