by Vincenti Cortez, Gustavo Nicolas
No, this is not a real syndrome. No, you won't feel like a teenager reading this essay either. What may make you come back to the spring days of your life is "Post-Ironic Stress Syndrome" by the American writer Tricia Sullivan. This sci-fi story is just one brick on the wall in Jonathan Strahan's anthology, ''The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows." Sullivan's collaboration revolves around the life of a 1994 teenage girl called Maja and her role in space warfare. Shifting all the time from ordinary life to the battleground border, the plot is reminiscent of the 1950s sci-fi; but even when this may suggest you that Sullivan's work is outdated, it strongly stands as an appealing and modern reading for young adults.
Just take a look at the main character. Although her age is not clearly stated, Maja is said to be above the age of thirteen and under the age of eighteen. This tells us that she has already reached adolescence. And as a typical tendency of teenagers, everything that she shares with us is focused on her. These two characteristics coincide with Robert C. Small Jr's report about the features of young adult literature. But this is not any type of young adult literature, this is one of the modern type. Maja does not repress herself either when eyeing Cute Blond Guy up or when using slang expressions repeatedly. "Take that, ya sonuvabitch," or "Diego could only find his own butt by smell" are just some of the examples we can find of her unrestricted vocabulary use.
Another unconstrained issue is the usage of imagination when she shares moments with her father. Yes, when she is not involved in space warfare, she lives with her parents, Dave and Tracey; and when she approaches the former, she uses her teenage creative abilities to anticipate answers like "I’m thinking about having a sex change," or "I’ve decided to leave you all and move to Nepal." These are dialogues that never take place anywhere else that on her mind. Her speech definitely reflects teenage modern inventiveness.
Nonetheless, young adult literature does not only focus on the colloquial and innovative aspects of teens, it also takes into account the existential questions they ask themselves such as, "who am I?", or "where do I fit in?" And this is not ignored by Sullivan. Maja does not find her place in society. She is a friendless girl who only finds her place when using the 'M-ask', a device that takes her to M-space where she can fight against different enemies. And the fact that this accessory is a mask ought to have a hidden meaning. The search of self has always been the theme for young adults, but nowadays it has become more evident. As Maja looks for a place to belong to in M-space, up to date teenagers use social networks as the M-ask to find their place in the world. Besides, science fiction and short stories remain firm teenage favourites. Sci-fi represents a way to escape from the pressures of common life. But those escapisms can't last forever. So brevity complements the combo. Short and engaging is the secret of Sullivan's story's attractiveness for teens.
Thus, being a short sci-fi story, with the use of informal language and extraordinary creativeness, Post-Ironic Stress Syndrome portrays everything that today is shared among young adults. No syndrome will affect people when reading it, but anyone who carries out that task will effortlessly find a connection between this piece of literature and adolescents lives today.
First of all, let me tell you that when I read this phrase "Just take a look at the main character." I swear I could hear your voice! Ha, ha, ha!
ReplyDeleteSecond, it is an excellent paper Nico!
Third, when you wrote that the character used her imagination when she shared moments with her father, I would like to read about the context in which Maja imagine those answers because in my point of view it would add perhaps a better understanding of how the character relates with her father. Anyway I liked it and I felt connected with Maja because it used to think better answers on my head! Ha, ha, ha!
Thanks for your comments Lu! You are really kind, and you are also right. I could've made that paragraph a bit clearer by providing a better context. In my opinion that's one of the best lines in the story. I attach it here, so you, and all our classmates, can read it completely:
ReplyDelete"'Are you okay, Dave?' I asked in my Armenian accent. Some part of me was hoping he’d say no. No, I lost my job. No, actually, I’m thinking about having a sex change. No, I’ve decided to leave you all and move to Nepal. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Dave or that I wanted something bad to happen to him. It was just that this place, these people, this life, were all so boring."
Anyway, lucky you! I don't think I was so inventive as you and Maja when I was a teenager (well, I'm still one, haha). Such creative people have a lot of fun in their minds. Nowadays, I can say that luckily I have developed that skill! Haha.