The Keyword Mystery: Diverse Connotations In Young Adult Literature

The keyword mystery takes on diverse connotations within young adult literature and has the ability to crosses multiple genre and themes. Starting with its definition, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word mystery comes from the Latin word mystērium, with influences from the ancient Greek word mustérion and ancient Middle French word mistere. These earliest origins have theological definitions related to mystical and/or symbolic secret rite(s), revelations of religious truths, and/or forces of good versus evil- all are beyond human grasp and logic. Beginning mainly in the 14th and 15th centuries, non-theological definitions began to emerge related to anything of the unknown that formed thoughts and feelings of wonder, curiosity
While, early mystery offered more realistic settings and all followed similar writing styles, according to Alan Goldman, “it is in the reader’s experience of the reconstructive process that the value of the mystery largely lies”, and has the “capacity to engage fully and simultaneously all of our mental capacities- cognitive, emotional, imaginative, and perceptual” (264). In essence, it heightens all senses to collectively work together, actively and critically participating in the investigation as the story unfolds. This allows readers to easily evaluate the basic structure of a narrative plot, while focusing on deeper analysis and interpretation of underlying moral and social
Themes of mystery transcend basic detective stories, and often mix realistic, fantasy and/or supernatural elements together. In Mystery in Children’s Literature: From Rational to the Supernatural, Gavin and Routledge see two main categories of mystery writing: the ‘rational’ in which mysteries are solved to the satisfaction of a character’s and/or reader’s intellect, causing the mystery to disappear, and the ‘supernatural’ in which mysteries are generally resolved to the satisfaction of a character’s or reader’s instincts and in which the mystery remains. Rational mysteries involve explanation of the mystery; supernatural mysteries involve acceptance of mystery as an inexplicable element of human life. (2)
This is important and has become very popular adolescents who This is very important and popular within adolescent novels, as the mystery of include additional themes relative to identity, coming of age and good versus