Can you believe these fairy tales? They're more like B-rated horror movies! Maybe that's where the twisted authors of those movies got their ideas. However, it's the German, Indonesian, and Filipino versions that are perverse, while the American version makes Cinderella bend over like a wet noodle. If children nowadays read these tales, they'd threaten harry-karry at the thought of their fathers remarrying. For all the versions are driven by the jealousy displayed either by the biological mother or the stepmother. From
Yeh-hsien's magical fish, to the unorthodox attire in Donkeyskin and Catskin, the underlying message remains the same: goodness prevails over evil.
Literary Theory: Chapter 8
I found the most profound writing in Chapter 8, especially under the subtitle "Theory". This summation has clarified the purpose of theory, stating:
Theory, then, offers not a set of solutions but the prospect of further thought. It calls for
commitment to the work of reading, of challenging presuppositions, of questioning the
assumptions on which you proceed.
This goes back to Rule #1 - EVERYTHING IS SUSPECT.
Theory Toolbox: Chapter 7
Entitled "History," this chapter emphasized the fact that history is an inpretation of past facts. History is not an unbiased account of an event, as many would like to believe. It can be said that "history narrates the lives of the victorious and powerful from their prospective, whereas literature tends to side with the vanquished and powerless" (p. 105).
This has been an interesting week for readings, and look forward to watching the "G" rated version of Cinderella.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
J.L. Austin and Judith Butler
Performative Utterances vs. Constative Utterances
J.L. Austin describes performative utterances as utterances that actually perform the action to which they refer. Constative utterances make a statement, describe a state of affairs, and are true or false. Constative utterances also perform actions – actions of stating, affirming, and describing. An example of a performative utterance is “I promise to pay you.” An example of constative utterance is “George promised to come.”
The literary utterance does not refer to a prior state of affairs and is not true or false. The literary utterance:
1. Brings into being characters and their actions, and
2. Bring into being ideas and concepts which they deploy.
Judith Butler’s Performatives
American philosopher Judith Butler spearheaded the emergence of a ‘performative theory of gender and sexuality’ in feminist theory and in gay and lesbian studies.
I found it interesting that the avant-garde have adopted the name ‘Queer Theory’ to represent works in cultural theory that are linked with political movements for gay liberation. This is ironic, since the word ‘queer’ was deemed as such a derogative term that it was almost considered taboo.
Butler proposes that we consider gender as performative, meaning that it is not was one is, but what one does (your gender is created by your acts).
This chapter in Literary Theory presented many new ideas. I’m still trying to comprehend why feminism, lesbianism, and any other –ism relating to gender and sexual preference can’t be consolidated into one category. It seems that everyone wants to have their little “niche” and none of the experts wants to be associated with the other experts claiming some sort of sexual expertise.
J.L. Austin describes performative utterances as utterances that actually perform the action to which they refer. Constative utterances make a statement, describe a state of affairs, and are true or false. Constative utterances also perform actions – actions of stating, affirming, and describing. An example of a performative utterance is “I promise to pay you.” An example of constative utterance is “George promised to come.”
The literary utterance does not refer to a prior state of affairs and is not true or false. The literary utterance:
1. Brings into being characters and their actions, and
2. Bring into being ideas and concepts which they deploy.
Judith Butler’s Performatives
American philosopher Judith Butler spearheaded the emergence of a ‘performative theory of gender and sexuality’ in feminist theory and in gay and lesbian studies.
I found it interesting that the avant-garde have adopted the name ‘Queer Theory’ to represent works in cultural theory that are linked with political movements for gay liberation. This is ironic, since the word ‘queer’ was deemed as such a derogative term that it was almost considered taboo.
Butler proposes that we consider gender as performative, meaning that it is not was one is, but what one does (your gender is created by your acts).
This chapter in Literary Theory presented many new ideas. I’m still trying to comprehend why feminism, lesbianism, and any other –ism relating to gender and sexual preference can’t be consolidated into one category. It seems that everyone wants to have their little “niche” and none of the experts wants to be associated with the other experts claiming some sort of sexual expertise.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Snow White, Lisa, and Lasair Gheug
“Snow White” has variations ranging from family-oriented (Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) to macabre, Giambattista Basile’s “The Young Slave”. Yet every version shares the same core: origin, jealousy, expulsion, adoption, renewed jealousy, death, exhibition, resuscitation, and resolution.
The overtly common theme is the conflict between (step)mother/daughter. Some have described it as a feminine Oedipus complex. The evil stepmother cannot bear the thought that Snow White is more beautiful than she. Most versions banned Snow White to the forest, yet in “The Young Slave” the Baroness dressed her niece in rags, cut off her hair, and beat her daily. This version also varied in that the niece was not the product of a loving mother and father, but a fatherless child borne from a rose leaf that the mother ingested. The niece’s morbid threats of suicide made her unpleasing to me, and it wasn’t some handsome prince that releases her from slavery. Her uncle overhears her telling the story of life to a doll, and insists that she repeat it. The prince is nonexistent, and a handsome husband is mentioned only once at the end of the story.
The Brothers Grimm version, entitled “Snow White” is where the famous phrase is first used:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest one of all?”
The evil Queen, who was Snow White’s stepmother, envied Snow White’s beauty so much that one day she ordered a huntsman to take Snow White out into the woods, kill her, and bring back her lungs and liver. The huntsman had pity, let Snow White live, and brought back the lungs and liver from a boar. This rendition is the first to mention the seven dwarfs and their affection for Snow White. In the end, the Queen dies at Snow White’s wedding by being forced to wear red hot iron shoes and dancing. Anne Sexton’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” mirrors the Brothers Grimm story in content, yet Sexton chose to retell the story in poetic form.
“Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter” is the Scottish Gaelic version, placing manipulation and murder in the hands of the stepmother. Eventually, she feigns illness and tells the King (her husband) that the only way she will recover is if he brings her the heart and liver of his daughter. The King acts as if he is going to follow through, yet hides his daughter and gave his wife the heart and liver of a pig. The King sends his daughter off into the forest, where she meets and marries a Prince. Her stepmother discovers that Snow White is still alive and places a curse on her, thinking that she is dead. Snow white is enshrined in an iron casket, and her widower remarried. The new wife breaks the curse and Snow White comes back to life. Snow White’s father discovers the truth and the evil stepmother is burned to death. Snow White’s father takes the Prince’s second wife as his own. This is by far the most complicated version, and the idea that this was told in 1891 is incredulous.
The overtly common theme is the conflict between (step)mother/daughter. Some have described it as a feminine Oedipus complex. The evil stepmother cannot bear the thought that Snow White is more beautiful than she. Most versions banned Snow White to the forest, yet in “The Young Slave” the Baroness dressed her niece in rags, cut off her hair, and beat her daily. This version also varied in that the niece was not the product of a loving mother and father, but a fatherless child borne from a rose leaf that the mother ingested. The niece’s morbid threats of suicide made her unpleasing to me, and it wasn’t some handsome prince that releases her from slavery. Her uncle overhears her telling the story of life to a doll, and insists that she repeat it. The prince is nonexistent, and a handsome husband is mentioned only once at the end of the story.
The Brothers Grimm version, entitled “Snow White” is where the famous phrase is first used:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest one of all?”
The evil Queen, who was Snow White’s stepmother, envied Snow White’s beauty so much that one day she ordered a huntsman to take Snow White out into the woods, kill her, and bring back her lungs and liver. The huntsman had pity, let Snow White live, and brought back the lungs and liver from a boar. This rendition is the first to mention the seven dwarfs and their affection for Snow White. In the end, the Queen dies at Snow White’s wedding by being forced to wear red hot iron shoes and dancing. Anne Sexton’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” mirrors the Brothers Grimm story in content, yet Sexton chose to retell the story in poetic form.
“Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter” is the Scottish Gaelic version, placing manipulation and murder in the hands of the stepmother. Eventually, she feigns illness and tells the King (her husband) that the only way she will recover is if he brings her the heart and liver of his daughter. The King acts as if he is going to follow through, yet hides his daughter and gave his wife the heart and liver of a pig. The King sends his daughter off into the forest, where she meets and marries a Prince. Her stepmother discovers that Snow White is still alive and places a curse on her, thinking that she is dead. Snow white is enshrined in an iron casket, and her widower remarried. The new wife breaks the curse and Snow White comes back to life. Snow White’s father discovers the truth and the evil stepmother is burned to death. Snow White’s father takes the Prince’s second wife as his own. This is by far the most complicated version, and the idea that this was told in 1891 is incredulous.
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