Principles of Artistic-Psychological Portrayal of the Adolescent in Western Literary Studies
Sevara Shermamatova
Abstract. This article examines the fundamental principles governing the artistic-psychological portrayal of adolescents in Western literary studies. Existing scholarship has addressed individual dimensions of adolescent representation – psychological depth, narrative voice, or cultural context – in relative isolation. The present study addresses this gap by proposing an integrated three-principle analytical framework comprising psychological authenticity, narrative perspectival multiplicity, and socio-cultural determination. Through qualitative literary analysis of canonical and contemporary Western texts, the study demonstrates that these three principles are not independent techniques but are interdependent dimensions of literary representation that collectively construct believable and culturally meaningful adolescent characters. The framework constitutes a theoretical contribution to literary studies of adolescence by providing scholars with a replicable, coherent tool for analyzing how authors depict identity formation, emotional development, and social positioning in adolescent protagonists. The findings confirm that the most successful literary portrayals integrate all three principles simultaneously, producing representations that transcend both clinical observation and sociological description.
Keywords: adolescent literature, psychological portrayal, artistic-psychological analysis, Western literary studies, identity formation, narrative perspective, adolescence, socio-cultural context