The Topic of national and international adoption in the 21st century literature for teenagers: Lithuanian original and translated prose
ENRecently the topic of adoption has increased in importance both in Lithuanian and translated foreign literature for adults, likewise children and teenagers. Lots of books of this category, which vary in their aesthetic value and genres, are published every year. Professors Haley Horstman Kranstuber and Jody Koenig Kellas maintain that books dealing with the topic of adoption and family formation are especially important to adopted children. The article highlights the complexity of the topic of national and international adoption, and examines the methods of presenting the topic in an artistic way in different works of literature. The aim of the article is to bring to light the dominating topics referring to adoption which recur in the works of the 21stcentury Lithuanian and foreign writers and to draw attention to the possible problematic connections. More attention is paid to the works dealing with the topic of international adoption seeking to disclose how the authors portray the characters of the novels representing different cultures and countries, what strategies they use, also, striving to trace the dynamics of the characters' attitude to two countries they belong to.The works dealing with adoption usually present the topic in a simplified way simultaneously consolidating the myths and stereotypes related to the phenomenon: 1) foster-parents are unable to love the adopted child the way he / she desires; 2) the adopted child is ugly and has an unbearable character; 3) the biological parents are socially dysfunctional persons who do not deserve to be looked for; 4) adoption is an illegal act carried out ignoring laws and may be qualified as a crime. Here we analyse three novels for teenagers on the topic of international adoption: 'Foster-daughter' by Sophie McKenzie, 'Far Away from Tibet' by Federica de Cesco and 'White Flowers in the Yellow River' by Caroline Phillips. In the process we refer to the fragments of imagology theory and the insights of theoreticians of intercultural communication, such as Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter. However, generally speaking, we can maintain that in all the works considered the initial absolutely negative (or groundlessly positive) attitude towards a different culture (mania / phobia) gradually changes to a reasonably positive attitude towards the native land as well as the culture one is grown into. As we can see in the works analysed, usually they are constructed in a way that when dealing with complicated problems the characters could find a positive clue, and the logic of the story / plot would provide a clear reference to the happy ending, although utopian.
