Ploughing the Field: A Discussion About YA Studies

Abstract

In 1996, Caroline Hunt asked whether “the theoretical criticism of YA literature [would] ever reach the standard already seen in children's-literature criticism” because, at the time, “it seem[ed] unlikely that this turbulent field [would] ever produce such criticism in quantity; its roots were formed in other soil” (10). Despite her concern, in the nearly two and a half decades that have passed since Hunt made this claim, YA Studies has become a thriving part of academic discourse. With the launch of both the International Journal of Young Adult Literature (IJYAL) and the YA Studies Association (YASA), 2020 marks a turning point. While both organisations are distinct, they seek to propagate, cultivate, and harvest YA scholarship and to continue the work of this rich and fertile field of research. Though our (perhaps overzealous) use of farming terminology offers a light-hearted response to Hunt’s claim, the metaphor is a useful one because not only is YA scholarship organic and blossoming, it is also open to productive disruption in the manner of ploughing, as the following discussion demonstrates. We have collated the perspectives of sixteen scholars (see Table 1) who research, teach, and/or publish work that intersects YA Studies and who have roles in one or more of the Editorial Board of IJYAL and the Executive Board or Advisory Committee of YASA, in order to examine the past, present, and potential future of YA scholarship.

Keywords

• young adult literature
• young adult studies