Postmodern Fairy Tales
Gender and Narrative Strategies

Cristina Bacchilega

208 pages | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Paper 1999 | ISBN 978-0-8122-1683-7 | $22.50s | £15.00 | Add to shopping cart

"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

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.

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.

| View your shopping cart | Browse Penn Press titles in Literature, Cultural Studies