Faculty of laughter : uses and effects of humour in young adult literature

Abstract

This study aims to review the uses and effects of humour in Young Adult literature. Surveys have shown that Young Adult readers consistently identify humour as a preferred feature in literature. The stud_\ traces the development of Young Adult literature as a distinct genre from both children's and adult literature. It finds that Young Adult literature developed in the 1960s, along with the recognition of the teenage years as a separate developmental phase. It traces the cognitive development of humorous appreciation in Young Adults, evolving from a taste for the more obvious types of humour such as slapstick and insult, to an appreciation of word play, empathetic humour, satire and irony. Adults and children have differing perceptions of what is funny, and the implications of these differences are considered. I lumour is not necessarily found only in comical fiction, but can also be used to convex more serious themes and messages in an accessible form. Three books (Huckleberry Finn, Anne of Green Gables and The Catcher in the Rye) which have become classics with the Young Adult audience are analysed to show how the humour works and to identity other features which give them both reader appeal and literal} merit. A range of contemporary novels for Young Adults is examined on the same terms.