Images of men and boys in the young adult literature – analysis based on certain examples

Abstract

The purpose of the article is the analysis of the ways of perceiving men and boys in young adult literature: Fanfik, Slash, Fluf written by Natalia Osińska as well as Hurt/Comfort and Angst with happy ending by Weronika Łodyga. The author points out the role of the popular literature in the lives of youth and presents the values of modern teenagers. She draws attention to the occurring of social shift which is important for the research. Next she analyses the characters in the matter of role in the novels, age, sexual identity and orientation. The images of men and boys turned out diversified in these novels which were strongly affected by set factors. Feminist and queer critique also shapes the way we perceive men and boys. At the end the author attempts to analyse how the shown images are influenced by gender of the novels’ writers.