Seeing Oneself: A Contextual Analysis of Diversity in Commonly Read Young Adult Literature

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to observe the quality and variance of the representations of culturally and linguistically diverse populations within commonly read young adult literature. This study was conducted through the use of qualitative and quantitative contextual analysis methodologies, and consisted of a sample of nine commonly read young adult novels. The literature were analyzed through the theoretical lenses of critical race theory, the transactional theory of reading, and multicultural pedagogy. The literature were coded for representations of race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexuality, disability and illness, and socioeconomic status. These themes were then coded and analyzed based on varying emerging sub-themes, such as tokenized race representations, the use of accents to represent language, and various other subthemes. The main findings included the frequency of the representations of the previously stated populations. Out of the 1,195 coded representation samples found within the literature, race was present in 48 samples, ethnicity in 128 samples, language in 149 samples, gender in 282 samples, sexuality in 279 samples, disability and/or illness in 201 samples, and socioeconomic status in 108. The quality of the samples were also analyzed, and are contained within this study.