Adolescence, Youth Fiction and literary metaphors: Aidan Chambers’ pioneering work

Abstract

This paper investigates the representations of adolescence in British author Aidan Chambers’ Dance Sequence,
engaging specifically with a close reading of the youth novels Now I Know (1987) and This Is All. The Pillow
Book of Cordelia Kenn (2005). Using an interdisciplinary perspective that intertwines adolescent literature studies,
cognitive linguistics and cognitive narratology based on postcognitivist approaches to the study of literature, the
research analyses the water metaphors Chambers uses for adolescence, showing how these help deconstruct prejudices and consolidated age norms about adolescence itself, thus giving it new meaning and restoring its agency.