ABSTRACT
Some 20 novels written by young authors who were under the age of 20 at the time of publication or writing have won prestigious literary awards in Japan since the late 1970s. This chapter examines how these teenage authors represent their own age group, with a special focus on the relationships adolescent characters have with adults – parents and teachers – and with friends. An analysis from a narrative perspective reveals obvious changes between the way teenagers were represented by award-winning young authors (e.g., Wataya Risa) during the first years of the 2000s, and the representations seen in works by authors from earlier generations (e.g., Nakazawa Kei). This chapter argues that the relationship developed by adolescent characters with adults today is no longer shaped by inter-generational conflict but is characterized by a general indifference, or even by a difficulty with antagonistic relationships in general.
