Understanding the adult world through literature: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and A complicated kindness

Jane Mattisson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This article explores how adolescent literature—here defined as literature about adolescents and not specifically for adolescents—from different centuries and different social/ religious communities enables adolescents to come to terms with the mysteries of the adult world, and more specifically, with the rules of that world based on the analysis of three Canadian novels—Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea and A Complicated Kindness, the first two by Lucy Maud Montgomery and the third by Miriam Toews. Having won considerable critical acclaim, these novels appeal to adolescents and adults alike by offering a timeless exploration of the concerns of the protagonists facing most adolescents, irrespective of their nationality, faith or philosophy.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)19-28
    Number of pages9
    JournalForeign Literature Studies / Waiguo Wenxue Yanjiu (Wuhan)
    Volume29
    Issue number6
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

    Swedish Standard Keywords

    • General Literary studies (60203)

    Keywords

    • Adolescent
    • catharsis
    • identification
    • identity

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Understanding the adult world through literature: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and A complicated kindness'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this