Date of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Humanities
Committee Chair
Eric Tribunella
Committee Chair School
Humanities
Committee Member 2
Alexandra Valint
Committee Member 2 School
Humanities
Committee Member 3
Emily Stanback
Committee Member 3 School
Humanities
Committee Member 4
Kate Cochran
Committee Member 4 School
Humanities
Abstract
This project argues that young adult literature forces the young fat body to disappear within texts, although that disappearance might occur in different ways and signify different meanings. Some stories, like The Planet of Junior Brown, allow the fat protagonist to disappear literally by removing them physically from the narrative and relinquishing their agency to normative characters. Other texts, like 45 Pounds (More or Less) or Huge, allow the fat protagonists to disappear through weight loss, indicating that fat characters must lose weight in order to be successful in normative society. Regardless of how the disappearance takes place, whether it is metaphorical or physical, young adult literature suggests that fat youth cannot exist within normative spaces.
Exploring the fat youthful body in adolescent literature allows scholars to reexamine and redefine contemporary youth. First, the project examines three foundational young adult texts featuring fat characters (The Planet of Junior Brown, Blubber, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes). Then, it explores contemporary issues—like mental disability and weight loss–– in young adult novels about fat characters. A conclusion argues for the importance of fat characters in young adult literature, speculates about the future of fat characters, and advocates for a redefinition of normative young adulthood.
Copyright
Stephens, 2020
Recommended Citation
Stephens, Mary, "The Disappearance of Fat Youth in YA Literature" (2020). Dissertations. 1769.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1769