Research Catalog

Title

African American adolescent female heroes : the twenty-first-century young adult neo-slave narrative / Melanie A. Marotta.

Author

Marotta, Melanie A.

Publication

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2023]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxix, 144 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

"In the wake of the second wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, inequalities and disparities were brought to light across the publishing industry. The need for more diverse, representative young adult literature gained new traction, resulting in an influx of young adult speculative fiction featuring African American young women. While the #BlackGirlMagic movement inspired a wave of positive African American female heroes in young adult fiction, it is still important to acknowledge the history and legacy of enslavement in America and their impact on literature. Many of the depictions of young Black women in contemporary speculative fiction still rely on stereotypical representations rooted in American enslavement. African American Adolescent Female Heroes: The Twenty-First-Century Young Adult Neo-Slave Narrative investigates the application of the neo-slave narrative structure to the twenty-first-century young adult text. Author Melanie A. Marotta examines texts featuring a female, adolescent protagonist of color, including Orleans, Tankborn, The Book of Phoenix, Binti, and The Black God's drums, as well as series like the Devil's Wake series, Octavia E. Butler's Parable series, and the Dread Nation series. Taken together, these chapters seek to analyze whether the roles for adolescent female characters of color are changing or whether they remain re-creations of traditional slave narrative roles. Further, the chapters explore if trauma, healing, and activism are enacted in this genre"--

Series Statement

Children's literature association series

Subject

• Slavery in literature
• Young adult literature, American
• African American women in literature
• African American women heroes
• African American young adults > Books and reading
• Afrofuturism
• Science fiction, American > History and criticism
• Speculative fiction, American > History and criticism
• Science fiction, American
• Speculative fiction, American
• African American young adults
• United States

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Acknowledgments and dedication -- Introduction: visibility and inclusivity -- Chapter 1. Sherri L. Smith's "Orleans" and Karen Sandler's "Tankborn": the female leader, the neo-slave, and twenty-first-century young adult Afrofuturism -- Chapter 2. The safety of space in Nnedi Okorafor's "The book of Phoenix" and "Binti" -- Chapter 3. Afrohorror and the gendered narrator: progression and regression of the adolescent female activist character in the "Devil's wake" series and the "Parables" series -- Chapter 4. The biracial female protagonist, trauma, and memory in A. J. Hartley's "Steeplejack" -- Chapter 5. Self-image and narration in the young adult steampunk novels "The black god's drums" and the "Dread nation" series -- Notes -- Works cited -- Index.

Call Number

Sc D 23-467

ISBN

• 9781496844972
• 1496844971
• 9781496844989
• 149684498X
• 9781496844996 (canceled/invalid)
• 9781496845009 (canceled/invalid)
• 9781496845016 (canceled/invalid)
• 9781496845023 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2022053774

OCLC

1355791484

Author

Marotta, Melanie A., author.

Title

African American adolescent female heroes : the twenty-first-century young adult neo-slave narrative / Melanie A. Marotta.

Publisher

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2023]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Children's literature association series

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Research Call Number

Sc D 23-467