Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies

by Cristina Bacchilega (Author), Cristina Bacchilega (Author)

New
Illustrated
1999
$30.60

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.

Synopsis

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.

$30.60

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 208
Edition: 2nd Revised ed.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Published: 12 Mar 1999
ISBN 10: 0812216830
ISBN 13: 9780812216837

Media Reviews

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

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

Author Bio

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.