Generic hybridity in Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life

Abstract

This article explores the use of contrasting features from diverse literary genres in Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel A Little Life, published in 2015 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. These contrasting features are at times defined as different generic conventions altogether as in the case of Antibildungsroman by Gerhart Mayer or anti-fairy tale by Andre Jolles. Novel’s thematic concerns such as child sexual abuse, violence, self-injury, suicide on the one hand and male friendship, optimism, resilience on the other provide a challenging content to narrate and to read. This article examines how the novel makes use of conventions and motifs from Bildungsroman, Antibildungsroman, fairy tale, and anti-fairy tale to narrate trauma and the impossibility of recovery. Although the author is clear about her intentions regarding her use of cross-genre or hybrid genre, there is no extensive analysis as to how the application of various motifs from those genres complements the story. As the author moves from one convention to the next, it becomes increasingly clear to the reader that the novel defies expectations as well as any generic categorization. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.