Freedom, rebellion and adolescent identity in Ursula K. Le Guin's Annals of the Western Shore

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on Ursula K. Le Guin’s Annals of the Western Shore (2004-2007) series. Ursula Le Guin is a renowned fantasy and science fiction writer, and has won numerous awards for her work. The series is a fantasy trilogy for young adults (YA) , which explores the lives of a group of adolescents living in vastly different regions of the fictional Western Shore. It explores their struggle to come to terms with their supernatural powers or magical gifts, and how this struggle affects the formation of their identity. The protagonists all feel enslaved by their gifts in some way, and they have to learn to rebel against this enslavement in order to free themselves from the identity it imposes on them.

The value of this dissertation lies in the fact that to date not much research has been carried out on Le Guin’s Annals of the Western Shore series. Moreover, it is of central concern to this dissertation to question Roberta Seelinger Trites’s (2000) theory on adolescent rebellion, in which she believes that successful protagonists in young adult fiction must always embrace and work with the societal institutions against which they initially rebel, or face a sure demise. This dissertation shows how Le Guin’s series defies the limits of this theory, since none of the rebelling protagonists fit into this formula. In fact, it is through their rebellion that they are able to create a new identity for themselves, and move forwards towards emancipation. This study thus calls into question the nature of ‘acceptable’ adolescent rebellion in young adult novels.

This dissertation also explores ideas relating to the concepts of freedom and enslavement. One of these is Michel Foucault’s (1980) theories on power/knowledge, and the role these play in identity formation. Foucault believes that knowledge is power, and it is through expanding one’s knowledge of the world and the self that one can exert more power in the world. This is something the adolescent protagonists in the Western Shore must discover for themselves. Another idea I explore is the potential of the story as a means to self-emancipation. Here I look at theories based on narrative therapy, bibliotherapy, and poetry therapy. The stories and texts the protagonists are exposed to in the novels help them to re-story their own lives, and recreate their identities. I also look briefly at issues of gender in slavery, examining Le Guin’s anti-essentialist feminist theory in relation to her Taoist beliefs of balance, and show how slavery differs for each of the genders. Gender identity determines the roles the protagonists are expected to fulfil by the authority figures in their lives.

The idea of rebellion and its relevance to evolutionary psychology is examined in relation to observations made by the young adult/fantasy critic Allison Waller. I show that I agree with Waller’s (2009:190) theory that adolescent rebellion is a necessary part of evolution in humankind and that it enabled us to take risks and to become successful hunters and gatherers. Similarly, this dissertation argues that if fictional protagonists do not rebel and rise up against authority figures, they do not develop a more mature view of the world. This dissertation also explores how fantasy differs from other kinds of literature and considers the relevance of fantasy literature as a genre for adolescents. Although the Western Shore is set in a fantasy world, the issues the protagonists have to deal with, such as challenging parental, educative, state, and even colonial authority, are real-world issues. As Le Guin (1979:39-45) suggests, fantasy, although seen as escapist, examines the real world and real issues, making it a vital genre for adolescents to read.