Flipping the bird at answers

In comments on my recent post about claims that YA literature is ‘intrinsically of less cultural value than the real books’, Linnet Hunter raised some interesting questions about the perception of YA literature in Australia

I was going to reply with a comment, but I was compelled to delve deeper into the subject.

Reviewing Space

The first question – ‘How much reviewing space is given in national newspapers to this section of publishing?’ – seems most relevant, but is problematic: literary magazines receive little newspaper coverage as well, but few would doubt their intrinsic cultural worth. Review editors of national newspapers are allocating space according to their idea of their readership, which doesn’t include YA readers. Trade publications like Bookseller + Publisher, and various library magazines, represent YA in greater proportions, which suggests that certain publishing sectors rate the value of YA quite highly.

Famous YA Writers

The second two questions – ‘How many writers of YA books can you name?’ and ‘Which YA writer is the winner of the largest (financially speaking) writing prize in the world?’ – would have to be asked of a grand-scale sample if they are to reveal popular attitudes. Perhaps this has been done already, and I simply haven’t discovered it.

Yoof Suf’rage

The question of youth suffrage has more to do with general attitudes to youth than attitudes to the literature published for them. Young adults do not hold the keys to the perception of YA literature beyond the capacity to ‘vote’ with their (or their parents’) money, and teenage-choice awards such as the INKY Awards.

Prices

As Thuy Linh Nguyen commented, it might be that YA books are cheaper because they are generally shorter, and designed to be consumed as a relatively disposable product. They are rarely released in hardback, and they are often designed according to a genre-specific aesthetic, rather than book- or story-specific.

Some Other Thoughts

I recall more claims that we are experiencing a ‘Second Golden Age’ of YA – claims that are much more easily substantiated by sales figures that suggest young people read heaps, which suggests that the most important demographic do rate the genre.

The increase of YA representation on the lists of such publishers as Text, and A&U also supports this claim. Then there’s the recent emergence of YA-specific publishers: black dog books and Ford Street Publishing.

Whether this renaissance of YA has been reported on by the mainstream press or not merely reflects the editorial policies of the majors, which have long-since begun to distance themselves from matters of real social importance, such as youth literacy.

The reasons that Linnet posited for the lower price of YA books are more emotive than reasoned: no publisher or bookseller would deliberately undermine the value of their products or their creators’ intelligence.

Something that might be contributing to the cultural perception of YA is the general bad perception and portrayal of youth. This still doesn’t explain the source of the misconception that YA literature is intrinsically of less value than ‘real’ literature.

Basically

I remain unconvinced that youth literature is under some sort of attack from, or even a passive dismissal by, people out to discredit it as a literary artform. I continue to wonder about where these claims arise from. Who has an interest in undermining the cultural worth of YA literature? Who’s doing it?

If it is merely the community of producers and advocates of the genre feeling self-conscious about enjoying YA as adults, then we need to curb such an insidious inferiority complex, lest YA dig itself into a pit of self-determined cultural irrelevance. If, on the other hand, certain proponents of other forms of literature are leading a charge against YA, then we need to challenge that, because engendering a reading culture among young people is paramount to our literary future.