Persephone and Hades Revisited: Modern Retellings of the Myth in Young Adult Literature (original) (raw)

This thesis examines how Greek mythology, a topic that has already enjoyed popularity in Western literature for a long time, is incorporated into literature for young adults, specifically focusing on two novels that retell the Persephone myth: Abandon by Meg Cabot and The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter. In this regard the concept of intertextuality is traced back to its origins in Bakthin’s theories, and to the ideas of French scholars Gerard Genette and Michael Riffaterre. The use of mythological intertexts in Young Adult Literature (YAL) is also of interest here. These theories are further extended with an examination of certain concepts of gender theory, such as, agency, power relations, and gender systems, as these are notions important to the discussion of patriarchal metanarratives found in the source material. Although Greek mythology has been a topic explored by various scholars, not only in connection to literary studies, but also in regard to modern art or history, academic reviews of it as theme in YAL have so far been limited. One reason for this is that YAL, as a specific literary field, is merely a few decades old, thus, compared to other areas, relatively new. The discussion of the primary literature takes these considerations into account, and is mainly concerned with the intertextual relations between the Persephone myth and its modern retellings. In general both novels incorporate aspects of the myth in their plots, and the authors use certain techniques, such as paratextual references, to achieve an even closer connection to the mythology. However, the degree, to which characters or events from the myth are adopted, varies to a considerable amount. This is also true for the extent to which the aforementioned metanarratives are represented in the retellings. The research shows that authors of Young Adult literature also take inspiration from ancient material such as the Greek myths, as these are, to a certain degree, also concerned with issues important to adolescent readers, like coming of age, first love, or parent-child relationship. The thesis highlights these possible points of overlap, and indicates possible points of departure for future research.