A Modern Perspective of Love in Literature
A Psychological Perspective of Teen Romances in Young Adult Literature: Cheryl L. Dickson
Cheryl L. Dickson is a high school literature teacher and explains in her article “A Psychological Perspective of Teen Romances in Young Adult Literature” Dickson finds it impossible to ignore the “bantering of teenagers in love”. Dickson works against stereotypes of love when stating”
“I question who gives them the impression that love is always fireworks and roses”.
Controversially, Dickson blames the ‘media’ as she gives examples of teen movies such as “She’s All That” and television programs like Dawson’s Creek, she states: “It’s no wonder adolescents have unrealistic views of love”. “Teens watch these programs for a number of reasons. Most viewers enjoy the fantasy world they can enter, or they enjoy seeing other teens facing situations similar to situations they encounter. A problem occurs when teens expect their lives to be like their favorite character. Just as violence on television is hypothesized to increase real-life violence, television romance can likely affect views of real-life romance”.
Dickson adds that being a literature teacher creates the hope that literature could “undo television’s mistakes and bridge the gap between real love and fantasy love”. In our modern day and age it’s understandable that teenagers are influenced daily by the ‘next best thing’. Dickson sympathises with this, and compels the reader to empathise with her:
“In my mind, the literature had to be real fiction, not the supermarket romance novels. I believed teen romance series were likely to be just as damaging as teen movies.”
She then adds that she ‘predicted‘ that quality literature would more accurately portray images of teen love than teen romance novels. However, during my comparison of two novels from the Love Series published by Bantam Books and two novels recommended by the American Libraries Association, I learned that I had made some hasty assumptions.
Dickson creates a difference between ‘teen love‘ and ‘romance‘
Teen: a person aged between 13 and 19 years, (synonyms) a young adult, adolescent
Love: a strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone, (synonyms) affection, fondness, tenderness
Against
Romance: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love, (synonyms) passion, ardour, adoration, devotion; affection, fondness, intimacy, attachment.
Here, Dickson established how romance is a ‘mysterious‘ and a delved part of love. Against the definition of love, Dickson almost suggests that love, even though associated with romance, contradicts the idea that there is much more to romance than a ‘teen love‘; for instance, know one really understands love until they experience it, yet adolescents are melded with the harsh stereotypes of love in the media, and therefore are ‘let down‘ in a way when experienced.