Adolescent Literature Paper

This was my first essay for Adolescent Literature. The requirement was that we had to choose something that our lecturer had said in class and disagree with it (without references). This was such a new writing experience for me as I have never had this much flexibility with a paper. I also wrote this the weekend when I was very sick with a high fever so im very pleased with my efforts :)

I got an A!!! (very excited!) And comments said it was a very "witty and provocative piece of writing" :)

Enjoy

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Psychoanalyzing Adolescent Literature diminishes textual integrity.

Prioritizing underlying sexual innuendos within Adolescent Literature (AL) has become a controversial approach to analyzing texts as it detracts from the true message of the story and how adolescents can access the text.  Adults and university students schooled in Freudian psychoanalysis derive these sexual understandings from the texts, tempting them to lose sight of the fundamental values and themes of AL.  I question the very roots of psychoanalysis due to the fact that regardless of what text you read, you can interpret elements sexually. For instance, if I simply take this innocent Betty Crocker recipe for Caramel S’more Cups, I can impose an overtly sexual perspective.

Caramel S’more Cups

1.       Make cookie dough as directed on package, using butter and egg. Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. Place 1 ball into each muffin cup.

2.       Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven; firmly press 1 candy into center of each cookie until flush with cookie top. Top each with 3 marshmallows. Bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool 30 minutes. Loosen edges of cookie with small metal spatula and remove to cooling racks. Cool completely.

3.       Place chocolate chips in small resealable freezer plastic bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until chocolate is smooth; cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle chocolate over marshmallows. Let stand until hardened, about 10 minutes.

Crocker, Betty (2013). Caramel S’more Cups. Retrieved 13^th July, 2013 from http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-smore-cups/9916aa44-083c-4507-8db9-49d0a92f62f7

I can conclude through using a psychoanalytical lens that this recipe depicts a male masturbating or genital stimulation and climax of a male from a partner.  Parallels between dough and penis, puffed and erection, and drizzle and climax, illustrates the sexual nature of this recipe. 

 

To the demise of any texts, lies psychoanalysis.  A recipe does not intend to incorporate sexual innuendos and by trying to find it, the original context and meaning of a recipe becomes lost. Freudian Psychoanalysis of AL by adults undermines the intent of the genre, which specifically aims to entertain and educate the target audience. In recent times renowned AL texts such as Hansel and Gretel, and Sleeping Beauty by the Brothers Grimm, The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Anderson and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (AAIW) by Lewis Carroll, have all had their success and credibility diminished ultimately due to the growing popularity of psychoanalysis. This essay by no means suggests that these texts do not have the capacity for psychoanalysis, but proposes that this practice should not take place. These stories, rich with values, morals and thematic motifs, do not deserve dominating sexual innuendos.

 

Hansel and Gretel highlights the notion that a text may lose its impact when adults enforce an overtly sexual dual audience into the fairytale. Whilst fairytales contain specific intent to entertain both reader (adult) and listener (child), the sexualized nature that some adults study and consider inherent to the text must not consume the focus of AL. Psychoanalysing Hansel and Gretel, readers can draw parallels with the “stroke of the axe” during the nighttime, to the sound of intercourse. Freudian views have also drawn the conclusion that the “little bone” Hansel holds out from his cage specifies his limp erection and lack of sexual arousal. I question to what understanding does this accomplish? How can reading a fairytale in this psychoanalytical fashion help further the story and develop meaning? The integrity of the work becomes damaged due to people remembering these sexual images rather than the story that illustrates elements of taking caution and encourages individual thought.  The power of the phallic imagery overthrows and permanently spoils the beauty of the fairytale.

 

Similarly to Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty by the Brothers Grimm, has experienced psychoanalysis that renders it less capable of performing successfully as AL that entertains, educates and engages the intended audience. Due to psychoanalysis of fairytales becoming widespread, the integrity of Sleeping Beauty has waned as overtly sexualized readings have developed into widespread knowledge. Readers now view the “prick” of the spindle with sexual connotations that relate to loss of virginity or the beginning of menstruation and bleeding. The changing authority of the parents also alludes to sexual connotations as it represents the growth from innocence to sexual activity of Sleeping Beauty.  The Brothers Grimm only edited and compiled these stories from people who had them in their families for generations. I contend that neither the original storytellers nor the Brothers Grimm inserted these sexual images purposefully for generations to glean a sexual understanding from the texts. The over-reading of the story has led to its diminished reception as audiences now forget the emotions created when reading it in their youth as the story becomes tarnished with overtly sexual images.

 

The Tinder Box, by Hans Christian Andersen, loses some form of its credibility when people apply psychoanalysis and create sexual images that Andersen did not intend.  This particular story may not have the universal audience of Hansel and Gretel or Sleeping Beauty; however the fairytale remains relevant to the understanding of how over-reading can destroy the perception of the true meaning of a text. Through over-reading, the elements of story and the feelings captured when readers first read fairytales, specifically in their youth, become tainted when they view the text in a sexual manner. For instance, once the line “you have a very fine sword and a large knapsack” links with a Freudian reading of images of male genitalia, the perception of the story irrevocably alters. Unlike the Brothers Grimm who collected their stories, Andersen wrote his own fairytale which allowed him to write what he intended. I argue that Andersen would intentionally word his stories to present an overtly sexualized reading for adults.  In AL, adults hold all the power as they control the children’s journey into these worlds of fairytales. Children cannot read at the time when these fairytales entertain and educate them most; therefore it becomes the role of the adult reader to tell these stories. With the knowledge of the sexual imagery and bawdy innuendo from a psychoanalytical view, how can adults consciously deliver The Tinder Box the way that Andersen intended? The integrity of the text becomes lost as a parent would not consider a text that includes a plethora of sexual innuendos appropriate for a child, which then also places children’s literature into the realm of academics and not with the intended children’s audience. 

 

AAIW also exemplifies how psychoanalysis and over reading can weaken Carroll’s true intent and damage the emotional connection to the text made as a child. This book lacks ordinary narrative logic; however the sophisticated parody and linguistic problems make this novel stand the test of time. Applying psychoanalysis can fundamentally transform a reader’s fond perceptions of the novel’s innocence, and therefore make them reluctant to share it with future generations. Psychoanalysts view AAIW as a complete journey into the sexual awakening of Alice. They see the hole that she falls down as a symbol of a vagina and her entering the world, the notion of her “fanning” herself as masturbating and the “sea of tears” as semen. Once viewed through a psychoanalytical lens, the readers’ perceive the text in a sexual manner, fundamentally alerting their former view. Freudian ideas also compare the growing of Alice when she eats the cake, as an erecting penis; then the idea of talking to her shoes and socks represents the wearing of a condom. It has also become widely known that the Caterpillar’s mushroom shape symbolizes sexual virility and the phallic image of a penis. Also in the scene Alice becomes exasperated as she must discover how to use the mushroom to control her fluctuating size, which parallels to the idea of bodily frustrations during puberty.  These examples only depict a minute selection of sexual imagery within AAIW that have become part of widespread knowledge about the text. Once discovering these ideas, it becomes very difficult to re-imagine your initial feelings towards the text as there remains a constant reminder of phallic symbols. These interpretations subvert Carroll’s original intent, who constructed the novel’s structure predominantly to entertain an adolescent audience in a logically verse nonsensical way.  I contend that reading this text or AL in a psychoanalytical way neither furthers understanding of the text nor provides further meaning that would enlighten the target audience. Through this psychoanalytical examining of AAIW, it remains clear that the intent of the text becomes challenged, as parents will stray from the texts due to their sexual nature.

 

Psychoanalysis of a text results in a damaging view of its content as the text losses its textual integrity. Through taking this sexualized approach to viewing texts, the original intent becomes irrelevant and children readers ultimately suffer from this sexualized manner of interpreting text.  Parents do not want their children subject to these texts that have become widely known as highly phallic stories. Whilst the texts still remain universally popular, for those people that have the psychoanalytical knowledge the texts will always have this second, enforced layer of meaning that damages preconceived ideas about the beauty of the text.