The silences of desire: Prohibitions and tolerance in young adult Greek novels

Kaliakatsou Ioanna, Greece

Erotic love constitutes a basic structural element of the right of passage to adulthood in young adult novels as well as being a linguistic construct. The manner in which the narrator deals with erotic desire in young adult novels is the object of the present study. A comparative analysis of novels written in the first decades of the twentieth century as well as contemporary novels will highlight the self-censorship undertaken by authors whose aim is to preserve the power/knowledge system. The study concludes that the narrator in young adult novels creates contradictory discourses; presents a secretive version of the erotic relationship or desire, in accordance with social conventions, while at the same time insinuating the Promethean force of desire.