y separately published work icon What Are Ya? single work   novel   young adult  
Is part of Central Secondary College Trilogy Jenny Pausacker , 1987 series - author novel
Issue Details: First known date: 1987... 1987 What Are Ya?
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Notes

  • Book 1 of the Central Secondary College Trilogy.
  • Prequel to Mr Enigmatic (1994).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • North Ryde, Ryde - Gladesville - Hunters Hill area, Northwest Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Angus and Robertson , 1987 .
      Extent: 146p.
      Reprinted: 1988
      ISBN: 0207159777 (pbk.), 0207153663
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Women's Press ,
      1991 .
      Alternative title: Get a Life
      Extent: 146p.
      ISBN: 0704349256, 0704342758 (pbk)
    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mammoth , 1995 .
      Extent: 209p.
      ISBN: 186330343X
Alternative title: Was Bist Du?
Language: German
Notes:
Ubersetzt von Ilse Utz
    • Frankfurt,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Alibaba ,
      1990 .
      Extent: 175p.
      ISBN: 3922723942

Works about this Work

If Truth is Stranger than Fiction, How Strange is Fiction? Jenny Pausacker , 2002 single work column
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 10 no. 2 2002; (p. 37-39)
Constructions of Female Selves in Adolescent Fiction: Makeovers as Metonym John Stephens , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 9 no. 1 1999; (p. 5-13)

In this article, Stephens examines the makeover as a 'specialized form of feminine discourse' (5) by looking at how it is represented in adolescent fictions. Stephens' comparative approach discusses several novels by Australian authors of children's literature in conjunction with discourses from popular culture and explores the links between teenage magazines and adolescent fiction. He uses Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity to highlight the dialogic relationship between identity as 'performance' and identity as 'expression' (5) pointing out that the former is often equated with nihilism, while (neo)humanist conceptualisations of the subject usually privilege 'expression' in narratives of adolescent identity formation: 'By realizing the physical or exterior body...the makeover metonymically expresses a character's unfolding inferiority...But when the fictions represent a character whose subjectivity is 'merely' performative...that character is apt to be radically alienated and possibly tragic' (5). For Stephens, the implicit function of makeover narratives is either transformative or cautionary based upon the notion that the 'transformed body' acts semiotically as a 'metonym of growth' (6). Stephens conludes that makeover narratives in teenage adolescent fiction for girls generally adhere to the dominant humanist paradigm of subjectivity in which 'self identity is defined by how an individual is valued by others' (5) and as the 'expression of a substantial self' which acts as a stable and innate ground for choice and agency' (12)

Untitled 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 9 no. 1 1995; (p. 57)

— Review of What Are Ya? Jenny Pausacker , 1987 single work novel
The Battleground Between Old and New Ideas Jenny Pausacker , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 3 no. 1 1995; (p. 8-9)
'Hide-and-Seek in a Huge Space' : Cultural Schemata, Selfhood and Voice in Jenny Pausacker's What Are Ya? John Stephens , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Children's Literature : Finding a Voice 1993; (p. 138-148)
Stephens discusses the voices society seeks to stifle, and provides an analysis of the silent voices in Jenny Pausacker's What Are Ya?
Untitled 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 9 no. 1 1995; (p. 57)

— Review of What Are Ya? Jenny Pausacker , 1987 single work novel
Recognising a Readership : Holden Caulfield and After Margaret Dunkle , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 96 1987; (p. 22-23)

— Review of What Are Ya? Jenny Pausacker , 1987 single work novel
A Teenage Romance, Sort of Lyn Dunlevy , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 August 1987; (p. B4 )

— Review of What Are Ya? Jenny Pausacker , 1987 single work novel
'Hide-and-Seek in a Huge Space' : Cultural Schemata, Selfhood and Voice in Jenny Pausacker's What Are Ya? John Stephens , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Children's Literature : Finding a Voice 1993; (p. 138-148)
Stephens discusses the voices society seeks to stifle, and provides an analysis of the silent voices in Jenny Pausacker's What Are Ya?
The Battleground Between Old and New Ideas Jenny Pausacker , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 3 no. 1 1995; (p. 8-9)
If Truth is Stranger than Fiction, How Strange is Fiction? Jenny Pausacker , 2002 single work column
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 10 no. 2 2002; (p. 37-39)
Constructions of Female Selves in Adolescent Fiction: Makeovers as Metonym John Stephens , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 9 no. 1 1999; (p. 5-13)

In this article, Stephens examines the makeover as a 'specialized form of feminine discourse' (5) by looking at how it is represented in adolescent fictions. Stephens' comparative approach discusses several novels by Australian authors of children's literature in conjunction with discourses from popular culture and explores the links between teenage magazines and adolescent fiction. He uses Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity to highlight the dialogic relationship between identity as 'performance' and identity as 'expression' (5) pointing out that the former is often equated with nihilism, while (neo)humanist conceptualisations of the subject usually privilege 'expression' in narratives of adolescent identity formation: 'By realizing the physical or exterior body...the makeover metonymically expresses a character's unfolding inferiority...But when the fictions represent a character whose subjectivity is 'merely' performative...that character is apt to be radically alienated and possibly tragic' (5). For Stephens, the implicit function of makeover narratives is either transformative or cautionary based upon the notion that the 'transformed body' acts semiotically as a 'metonym of growth' (6). Stephens conludes that makeover narratives in teenage adolescent fiction for girls generally adhere to the dominant humanist paradigm of subjectivity in which 'self identity is defined by how an individual is valued by others' (5) and as the 'expression of a substantial self' which acts as a stable and innate ground for choice and agency' (12)

Last amended 16 Dec 2014 09:39:21
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