THE PROBLEM OF DESTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE FOR TEENAGERS: THE SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL OF THE NOVELS “APARTMENT FOR TWO” BY BETH O'LEARY AND “IT ENDS WITH US” BY COLLEEN HOOVER

Abstract

The article examines manifestations of antisocial behavior in contemporary literature using the novels "Apartment for Two" by Beth O'Leary and "Leave It If You Love Me" by Colin Hoover as an example. The topic of antisocial behavior in works of art is extremely relevant in modern society, as it touches on issues of loneliness, interpersonal barriers, traumatic experiences and the search for emotional contact. The analysis of the selected novels demonstrates various types of psychological isolation that arise as a reaction to pain, loss or uncertainty in one's own worth, and also shows how literature reflects ways of overcoming these states through empathy, trust and love. The purpose of the work is to identify the features of the manifestation of asocial behavior in modern fiction and to determine the ways of overcoming it by means of interpersonal interaction, presented in the novels of Beth O'Leary and Colin Hoover. The research methodology is based on a comparative-analytical approach, which allowed to compare artistic images, situations and psychological states of characters in two novels. Elements of psychological analysis, literary interpretation and structural-semantic method were used to reveal the internal motives of the characters' asocial behavior. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the attempt to comprehensively understand asocial behavior as an artistic and psychological phenomenon, which takes on different forms depending on the life circumstances of the characters. For the first time, a comparative analysis of the novels “Apartment for Two” and “Leave It If You Love Me” is made in the context of studying social isolation, showing that modern women's prose uses the theme of asocial behavior not only to reveal internal experiences, but also as a means of moral growth of the characters.