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Nobody Does It Better: How Cecily Von Ziegesar’s Controversial Novel Series “Gossip Girl” Spawned The Popular Genre of Teen Chick Lit

Naugle, Briel Nichole
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1205333187

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture.
An amalgamation of two overlooked and often dismissed genres (young adult fiction and chick lit), the burgeoning popular fiction genre of teen chick lit has yet to be defined and discussed in critical detail. The popularity of teen chick lit novels amongst their target audience is undeniable as book sales of the archetypal series, Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl, exceed 4.5 billion copies as of 2007. Clearly, the novels resonate with teen readers in ways yet unknown to those outside the Millennial generation, to whom these novels are targeted. Using John Cawelti’s theories of conventions, inventions, and formula, a genre analysis of teen chick lit genre was completed to decipher the particular elements that differentiate teen chick lit from other genres such as traditional young adult literature. Since the genre is also culturally important, a brief examination of the sociological implications of the novels and the ways in which the novels reflect the changing social mores of the Millennial readers is included. This initial analysis of the genre answers the question what is this genre and what makes it unique from traditional literature aimed at young adult females? Through a close reading of the texts of the series, I contend that the author Cecily von Ziegesar helped to create a new literary genre by using conventions found in other forms of literature in a unique way; that is, by incorporating borrowed conventions (such as explicit sex) from other genres and placing them into a genre that has been historically censored against such conventions, von Ziegesar transformed the “conventions” into “inventions,” to use Cawelti’s terms. Through repetition of these “inventions” in the following volumes of the series, the “inventions” became “conventions” and a new genre was created to contain these conventions.
Esther Clinton (Advisor)
80 p.
Teen Chick Lit; Gossip Girl; John Cawelti; Cecily Von Ziegesar; Chick Lit; Inventions; Conventions; Genre

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Naugle, B. N. (2008). Nobody Does It Better: How Cecily Von Ziegesar’s Controversial Novel Series “Gossip Girl” Spawned The Popular Genre of Teen Chick Lit [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1205333187

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Naugle, Briel. Nobody Does It Better: How Cecily Von Ziegesar’s Controversial Novel Series “Gossip Girl” Spawned The Popular Genre of Teen Chick Lit. 2008. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1205333187.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Naugle, Briel. "Nobody Does It Better: How Cecily Von Ziegesar’s Controversial Novel Series “Gossip Girl” Spawned The Popular Genre of Teen Chick Lit." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1205333187

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1205333187
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.