Representations of Social Media and Unreliable Narration in Relation to Identity Construction in Young Adult Fiction

Abstract

This dissertation examines how social media can be used, manipulated and ‘reframed’ by an unreliable narrator in order to support their own narrative. Using both sociological and psychological research, this project explores the impact of social media technology on young people, with a particular focus on digital identity construction and cyberbullying, and how this should or could be reflected within young-adult-fiction. The project also examines two young-adult fiction novels, Chris Lynch’s Inexcusable and Nikki Albertalli’s Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda investigating how unreliable narration and identity construction has been used within the texts. The project is divided into two parts: research and a sample of creative writing from the novel, Snap. The creative writing has evolved over the course of the project, in conjunction with the research undertaken.