Confusing Boundaries in The Lovebus: Constructing Consent in Dutch YA Fiction

Abstract

Confusing Boundaries in The Lovebus:Constructing Consent in Dutch YA Fiction Vera N. Veldhuizen (bio) After World War II, the German-inspired pedagogical foundations of Dutch children's literature, in which the world and childhood were presented as idealized and perfect, also known as the idealized children's world, or Heile Kinderwelt, came to a devastating end (Joosen and Vloeberghs 111–12). Children's literature became obligated to demystify life and to represent the gritty realities of the world and growing up. Although there is still a place for fantasy and idealized versions of reality within specific genres, like the fairy tale or highly popular gnome-stories, these genres moved to the periphery of the children's literature field as idealized visions of the world became outdated, and the psychological youth novel rose to prominence. In modern Dutch children's literature, it is neither rare nor shocking to encounter open discussions of themes ranging from eating disorders to mass murder, or from suicide to sex. This has particular implications for the responsibility placed on children and adolescents through their literature by society, as well as the moral didacticism of novels for young readers in the Netherlands. Youth literature has been an established part of the literary landscape in the Netherlands since the eighteenth century, strongly influenced by the German philanthropic approach to education which held that youth literature should be an integral part of any educational system (Ghesquière 15). The particular purpose of this integration was the teaching of moral lessons, which were deemed less abstract if a literary example were given. Modern approaches to YA are still indebted to this philanthropic approach, as both in scholarship and education YA is considered "a form of societal self-preservation: desirable mores are written down to be taught to future generations in attempts to socialise them within these moral framework" (Veldhuizen 8). Analyzing a piece of YA literature can therefore reveal the norms and values deemed important to communicate to the future. [End Page 201] However, literature is not just a mirror of society; it also has a cognitive impact on its readers. One factor that plays into this, is that literature is a safe zone in which readers can train their emotional and cognitive skills (Keen 350–51), empathic abilities (Stockwell and Mahlberg 132), and play with ethical choices without the risk of real-life consequences (Vermeule 6–7). This is because we react to fiction and reality in the same way (Stockwell 152); we treat fictional people, cognitively if not intellectually, as if they are real. What this means is that cognitive skills and an understanding of behavioral patterns are both necessary for and trained through our engagement with fictional texts. Both long and short-term studies demonstrate that fiction has an important, albeit potential impact on cognitive (particularly empathic) ability (Oatley 621). Because of this our moral framework, too, is shaped in part by our reading (Hoffman 63–93). This also includes adolescents, who, like younger readers, are also still developing their mind-modeling skills, empathy, and moral frameworks (Moshman 80). For the topic of sex, this means that YA literature has the potential to influence the way readers consider sexual mores, including consent specifically, throughout their adolescent as well as adult lives. Sexual development and exploration are currently seen as defining and critical features of normative adolescence in the Netherlands (Krebbekx 1326). Statistics Netherlands (CBS), a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical data about the Netherlands, and the Ministry for Health, Wellbeing and Sports even track sexual behaviors among adolescents starting from age twelve (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek). This information, which is open source and covers a range of topics from sexual behaviors (e.g., have you had sexual encounters?), to contraception (e.g., types used and how often), is often used to inform local and national legislation and spark further scientific research. However, although the government clearly considers tracking the sexual behaviors of adolescents important for public health, the idea of teenagers having sex is not always a comfortable one for adults (Kokkola 227), particularly parents, who often do not know how to approach adolescent sexuality. This is reflected in, among other places, legislation regarding...