Critical and Creative Perspectives on Fairy Tales: An Intertextual Dialogue between Fairy-Tale Scholarship and Postmodern Retellings

374 Pages·2011·6.134 MB·English

by  Vanessa Joosen

critical and creative perspectives on fairy tales
series in fairy- tale studies
General Editor
Donald Haase, Wayne State University
Advisory Editors
Cristina Bacchilega, University of Hawai’i, Maˉnoa
Stephen Benson, University of East Anglia
Nancy L. Canepa, Dartmouth College
Isabel Cardigos, University of Algarve
Anne E. Duggan, Wayne State University
Janet Langlois, Wayne State University
Ulrich Marzolph, University of Göttingen
Carolina Fernández Rodríguez, University of Oviedo
John Stephens, Macquarie University
Maria Tatar, Harvard University
Holly Tucker, Vanderbilt University
Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota
A complete listing of the books in this series
can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu
CRITICAL AND CREATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON
F A I R Y TA L E S
An Intertextual Dialogue between Fairy-Tale
Scholarship and Postmodern Retellings
Vanessa Joosen
wayne state university press detroit
© 2011 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
15 14 13 12 11 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Joosen, Vanessa, 1977–
Critical and creative perspectives on fairy tales : an intertextual dialogue between fairy-tale
scholarship and postmodern retellings / Vanessa Joosen.
p. cm.—(Series in fairy-tale studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8143-3452-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Fairy tales—History and criticism. 2. Fairy
tales in literature. 3. Intertextuality. 4. Fairy tales—Adaptations—History and criticism.
I. Title.
PN3437.J66 2011
809.3'915—dc22
2010034197
Published with the assistance of a fund established by Thelma Gray James of Wayne State University
for the publication of folklore and En glish studies.
Adapted from a design by Chang Jae Lee
Typeset by Westchester Book Composition
Composed in Fournier Regular and Zurich
Written in the fond memory of
a grandmother, a wolf,
and a little girl
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Ac know ledg ments ix
Introduction 1
1. An Intertextual Approach to Fairy- Tale Criticism
and Fairy- Tale Retellings 9
2. Marcia K. Lieberman’s “Some Day My Prince Will Come” 49
3. Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment 123
4. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s The Madwoman in the Attic 215
Conclusion 299
Notes 307
Works Cited 325
Index 349
Illustration Credits 361
This page intentionally left blank
Ac know ledg ments
In the course of completing this work I was fortunate, to use Vladimir Propp’s
terminology, to meet with more helpers than adversaries. My research was
funded with an FWO scholarship, and I am grateful for their belief in my
research project and for their fi nancial support. I am most indebted to Ben-
jamin Biebuyck, Geert Lernout, and Katrien Vloeberghs for their elaborate
comments on my work and for their support over many years. Various
people have off ered pieces of advice in the course of my research, and their
feedback and encouragement have been invaluable. They include, in alpha-
betical order, Sandra Beckett, Ruth Bottigheimer, Majo De Saedeleer, Toin
Duijx, Donald Haase, Ute Heidmann, Gillian Lathey, Vivian Liska, Har-
linda Lox, David Rudd, Lisa Sainsbury, Karen Sands O’Connor, Claudia
Soeff ner, Jan Van Coillie, Dirk Van Hulle, Lies Wesseling, Christine Wilkie-
Stibbs, and Jack Zipes. I wish to thank three scholars in part icu lar: Kim-
berley Reynolds, Maria Nikolajeva, and Helma van Lierop- Debrauwer. I
believe that they help to secure the future of children’s literature studies,
not only through the quality of their work but also through the unrelenting
support that they give to young scholars. I feel grateful to have been, on
several occasions, the benefi ciary of their generous help. Much appreciated
practical assistance and moral support were granted to me by Laura Atkins,
Anke Brouwers, Eva Devos, Lien Fret, and Katrien Jacobs. Finally, I thank
my parents, my in- laws, and my dearest Wouter, Aurelie, and Sebastiaan
for granting me the chance to write this book, and for the joy, love, and
distraction that they gave me when it was completed.