The Ideologies of War in Young Adult Literature

Abstract Young adult (YA) novels about war attempt to make sense of violence and horror for young readers, and they provide them with a chance to explore how war impacts those who participate in and witness it. This chapter situates modern YA war novels within two contexts: the long-standing tradition of war literature for adults, and sociocultural explanations for large-scale violence in modern war. It examines how various ideological positions, including the theory of just war and the othering of an enemy, are presented and critiqued in several novels that focus on American soldier narratives in the American Revolution, World War II, and the modern conflict in Iraq. This examination reveals how some novels offer perspectives that reinforce dominant ideologies and narratives about war while others open space for young readers to explore critiques of war and its consequences.