Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies

by Cristina Bacchilega

Overview

Postmodern Fairy Tales seeks to understand the fairy tale not as children's literature but within the broader context of folklore and literary studies. It focuses on the narrative strategies through which women are portrayed in four classic stories: "Snow White," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Bluebeard." Bacchilega traces the oral sources of each tale, offers a provocative interpretation of contemporary versions by Angela Carter, Robert Coover, Donald Barthelme, Margaret Atwood, and Tanith Lee, and explores the ways in which the tales are transformed in film, television, and musicals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812200638
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	08/03/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	601 KB

About the Author

Cristina Bacchilega is Associate Professor of English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and editor of the Italian-language volume La narrativa postmoderna in America: Testi e contesti.

What People are Saying About This

Jack Zipes

An extraordinary book, and a 'first' on the topic...Bacchilega has a remarkable capacity to reveal the intersections of folklore, literature, and film. Her interpretations of classical folk-tale types and their postmodern revisions...are stunning.

Editorial Reviews

Bacchilega (English, U. of Hawaii-Manoa) places questions about gender in fairy tales into historical perspective by looking at the varying representations of women in past and present versions of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Bluebeard. She traces their transformations from oral tellings through literature and to film. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"Examining the workings of the powerful desire machines built into postmodern versions of 'Snow White,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' and 'Bluebeard,' Cristina Bacchilega's astute rereadings uncover intriguing mirrorings and revisions."

State University of New York at Stony Brook Ruth B. Bottigheimer

"An extraordinary book, and a 'first' on the topic."—Jack Zipes

"Examining the workings of the powerful desire machines built into postmodern versions of 'Snow White,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' and 'Bluebeard,' Cristina Bacchilega's astute rereadings uncover intriguing mirrorings and revisions."—Ruth B. Bottigheimer, State University of New York at Stony Brook

From the Publisher

"Examining the workings of the powerful desire machines built into postmodern versions of 'Snow White,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' and 'Bluebeard,' Cristina Bacchilega's astute rereadings uncover intriguing mirrorings and revisions."

State Universityof New York at Stony Brook Ruth B. Bottigheimer