ABSTRACT
The opening chapter of this volume explores how negative emotions and outcomes were foundational in the development of queer literature and the imagination in 20th-Century Western contexts—and how these foundations affect the way we critique, interpret, and feel about queer YA literature and culture today. It examines how contemporary queer YA criticism has tried to distance youth texts from the negative feelings and outcomes present in earlier queer texts. It then highlights how reparative approaches illuminate unexpected and underexplored ways of interpreting queer youth culture, and overviews the approaches and trajectories implemented in this book.
