Transgressing Boundaries? Romance, Power and Sexuality in Contemporary South African English Young Adult Fiction

Abstract

Although sexuality is now regarded as one of the dominant ways of representing access to power in young adult fictions, adolescent sexuality, and even teenage romance, has remained relatively unexplored in South African examples of the genre. Works that do depict sexual relationships have generally worked to deliver didactic warnings of the potential dangers of engaging in any form of sexual activity. This article explores and examines whether, and how, adolescent sexuality is depicted and portrayed in contemporary South African young adult fiction written in English. The focus is on a range of works published during the years of the transition to democracy in South Africa, beginning in 1989. The article posits three broad categories of the genre, and concludes that the third of these at last gives evidence of a welcome move towards more openness and innovation.