Grupos juvenis e a construção de identidade em A Clockwork Orange

Abstract

The objective of this article is to understand the identity construction of the adolescent character Alex and his friends in A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, who was influenced by the growing number of teenagers on British streets at the beginning of the 1960s. By means of bibliographical research, the identity construction of the teenagers in the narrative is hereby connected to the youth groups of the British post-war period - Teddy Boys (1950s), Mods and Rockers (1960s). It was verified that the fictional group shares similarities with the British youth groups mentioned above with respect to their identity organization - social class, clothing, leisure, and deviant behavior -, which places them in what social theory authors refer to as youth subculture. What most differentiates them is the dystopic and tragic view of youth violence portrayed by Burgess. Although a certain "moral panic" emerged in English society due to the growth of gregarious and deviant behavior of adolescents, the violence of the teenage characters in the narrative takes bigger proportions than in reality. Nonetheless, A Clockwork Orange portrays elements of youth identity construction that can be observed not only in youth from the 20th century but also from the 21st century.