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The Characteristics of Child-to-Adult Crossover Literature

Anggraini, Theresia Enny

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Teaching and Learning.
Unlike general or canon literature, children’s and young adult literature are not usually taught to undergraduate students at English departments in Indonesia and in the United States. The phenomenon is worth questioning because according to experts, children’s and young adult literature have basic structures and themes similar to the mainstream or canon literary works. In reality, however, most readers do not choose the texts based on such classification. They read the books that are of interest to them. Many children read books intended for adults, while a good number of adults read books written for children or young adults. These books, a famous example of which is the Harry Potter series, are called crossover literature. Based on a review of the literature, it is difficult to define the features or characteristics of crossover literature because they are so various (Falconer, 2009). However, reading the description of many crossover books discussed in Beckett (2009), there seems to be a pattern of characteristics that can be found in most crossover books. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, was to find patterns or characteristics of crossover literature, with the focus on child-to-adult crossover fiction. Qualitative research methodology was employed in this research: specifically, content analysis method was selected since this research involved analyzing texts rather than people as research subjects. There are 14 novels analyzed in this research, all published between 2005 and 2012. Findings from my research reveal a pattern of characteristics in the 14 books analyzed for this dissertation relating to the nine elements of crossover literature discussed in the analysis; however, there were also exceptions found in each book. Of the 14 books reviewed, all have at least seven of the nine characteristics discussed in the research. All of the books match six of the characteristics which include: character, plot, style, theme, symbol, and uniqueness or novelty. There are two implications of the study. The first involves literary scholarship itself. Hopefully this project will enrich literary study because research on crossover literature is rare, especially in relation to the characteristics of crossover literature. The second implication is for educators. Hopefully this research will help educators identify literature that appeals to a broader audience, from children to adults. Several suggestions for future research include: involving readers from different ages to read the crossover books and express their opinions about the works; including more books that establish the patterns and characteristics of crossover literature; and doing comparative study between crossover and non-crossover books to discover differences between the two.
Linda Parsons, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Barbara Lehman, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Evelyn Freeman, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
259 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Anggraini, T. E. (2015). The Characteristics of Child-to-Adult Crossover Literature [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1440027648

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Anggraini, Theresia. The Characteristics of Child-to-Adult Crossover Literature. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1440027648.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Anggraini, Theresia. "The Characteristics of Child-to-Adult Crossover Literature." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1440027648

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)