Scribd Logo
Cargar

¡Te damos la bienvenida a Scribd!

  • Bacchilega PDF

    Cargado por

    Raphael
    52 vistas20 páginas

    Título original

    bacchilega.pdf

    Derechos de autor

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Formatos disponibles

    PDF o lea en línea desde Scribd

    ¿Le pareció útil este documento?

    ¿Este contenido es inapropiado?

    Denunciar este documento

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descargue como PDF o lea en línea desde Scribd
    Marcar por contenido inapropiado
    52 vistas20 páginas

    Bacchilega PDF

    Cargado por

    Raphael

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descargue como PDF o lea en línea desde Scribd
    Marcar por contenido inapropiado
    de 20
    POSTMODERN FAIRY TALES GENDER AND ' NARRATIVE 1 STRATEGIES CRISTINA BACCHILEGA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS PHILADELPHIA, CONTENTS Preface ix 1. Performing Wonders Postmodern Reviions of Fairy Tales 1 2. The Framing of “Snow White" Narre and Gender (Re)Prodction | 27 3. NotRe(a)a Once and for All: “Litde Red Riding Hood!" Voices in Performance 49 4 In the Bye of the Beholder “Where I Beast” 71 5. "Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold” Double Agente and Bluebeard’ Plot 108 Epilogue. Peopling the Bloody Chambers: Once upon Many Times" and "Once upon One Time 199 Notes 147 Works Cited 191, Index 205 PREFACE THIS 80K BEGAN a number of years ago (inexplicably to her, ven before Bruna wat conceived) and Tam grtefl for the many {nsttutions, texts, and personal encounters which wansformed both me andthe book ony long way to writng it T want t acknowledge the Naonal Endowment for the Hue manites fori nancial support the Explopadie des Marches for the competence and generosity with which itmakes folktale mate fin acceable; the Uniersyof Inlana fr access to its colle fons, the University of Hawai for its uavel grants and the Unisersiyof Hawai at Manca English Department for is instruc ‘onal suppor. research reducons, and collegial. T greatly benefited fom reading groups, especially women’s ‘owe the deepening of my interest feminist studies to long, pase sionate dieusions within de inerdsciphnary Feminist Theory (Group atthe University of Hawa in the mideighties. And the n- tensity and integnty of the group experience which Ait Nenola {genersted in a wonderfl ‘Ritals and Women's Studies” seminar ‘uring the 1993 FolMore Fellows’ Summer Schoo! in Turk Fin- land, wasinspiatonal, [thank her, pardcipan Su De Cie, Sau ‘Grondahl, MatjrLisa Keindnen, and Mikal Kes and Barbara Babcock, sting fal. Responses, challenges, and questions 1 encountered in my teaching were invaluable. Im particular, I thank Lor Amy, Linda Middleton, Chery Renfoe, and Russell Shisbat, ow scholars in thelr com righ; those who parscpated in my “Postmodern Wos ders Gender and Narra” seminar for the 1991 International Summer Tstinte for Semiotic and Structural Stuies; Honors and iridate students at the Unisersty of Hawai whose growing en- ‘husau over the years Jed me further ino the uncanny tertory ‘of postmedern fury tales and the exceptionally engaged group of x prtace graduate stucents in my 1996 “Folklore and Literature” seminar My profound thanks to dose who nurted in st my in terest nthe fairy tle's relation to modern ineratute: Mario Mat ‘eras, Paola Cabibbo, Susan Stehle, Wiliam V. Spanos, and ‘specially WHLF. Nicohsen, whose interdiseiplinary open ‘ednes,itellecnalsgor and personal warm Inspited me (© Sack wih flblovistis. Later on, organized panels and informal “seusions at dhe mectings of the American Falklore Society and ‘he International Society for Flk Reseach provided me with the much needed opportunity for intellectual exchange in. the Specific area of folklore and literature. Rath § Botgheimer, Lee Haring, Gait Hann Roker, Steven Swann Jones Kathleen Man- ley, Ubich Marzolph, Margaret A. Mls, Cathy Lynn Preston, Danielle Roemer, Mark Workman, and Jack Zipes have been espe- lly challenging ineriocstors over the years through correxpon- dence, collaboration and disusion at conferences, and most of All their onm scholarship, Nall Alger, Micke Bal, Morgan Blair, members ofthe Bamboo Ridge Study Group, the late Joseph K. Chadwick, Laisa Del Give dice, Amold Edeliein, Mriam Fuchs, Candace Fajkane, Do- fatella To, Judith Kellogg, Glenn Man, Kristin MeAndrews, Mars Milan, Kathy Pillps, Job Rieder, Sosan Schult, Rav Pala, Stefano Tanl, Valerie Wayne, Carmen Wickramagamage and Rob Wilion offered references, useful comments, and e+ ‘couragement at various sages of the project. John Rieder, relly, Stevery sage. Lam particularly indebted to Craig Howes for his Careful reading ofa complete drat of the book and to the anony- ‘mots readersof the mantscriptfor their generous assessment and ‘elpfl suggestions. Talso thank Patrica Smith, Alison Ander0n, snd yun Sivay atthe Univesity of Fennsyvania Press for their {uldance and efficiency, so splendidly combined with caring, and the coppeitor, Christina Sharpe for her minute attention tothe ‘ext List but not eas, Corinna Sargood forthe “Lite Red Riding Hood” ietration which visually embodies the wansformative core of my argument inthis book and also performs persoal magic for me. ‘When Twas very young, four or ve, my favorite story was “Lite Jed Riding Hlood” I woud ak for lover and over agin; protest ‘when my mother would skip a dealin her retelling or change 8 ‘word ad wear my bright red coat and hat with anal of Sepos: Session. My mother and T didnot know atthe ume that we were => acting the wellknown scene of storpelling, both of us predic and yet wth unitentional effects remaking the tae, pnt recall the eng of thie fairy tle a told to me then, but the image ofthe girl har stayed with me and has ken diferent forms. wis wo hank ny moder, Shanta, who culivated a pasion for words and stories im me as well asthe conBidence dha ans forms life's points of serial into adventure departes. And my father, Giuseppe a man of few words and fewer stores but strong affection and wid dreams, who must have known that those ‘words, the reading and wring he recognized as my own ambition, ‘wold eae me far aay (Cough Hava came asa surprise toll), lind yet never ried to Rop me Gris co aft, auth edu «em pre pensan af. ‘Asccton of Writing’ and ‘VoiceThe Articulations af Gender in FolKlove and Literature” in Folie, Lire, and Calta The ny alae sys, eited by Cay Lynn Preston (New York: Gar land, L005) is reprinted in Chapter One. Chapter Two Isa substan reson of “Cracking the Mirror: Three Re-Visions of ‘Sow White™ hander 215, 8 (Spring/all 198): 1-25.And part ofthe Epiloge was published as Domestic Uses of the Fairy Tale” fn Ltratre © Hass’ Chien: Sos As Bride to Mary Resins 1092 Prosedng, edited by Judith Kellogg and Jesse Coser (Hon: oll: Literature and Hawai’ Children, 1994), 87-44 1 PERFORMING WONDERS: POSTMODERN REVISIONS OF FAIRY TALES Wet sti can, oder tcp wth he rst and to fase theatre nha ere pst bth ase and ‘space, through norating Story demand sadam, dens on making something hp, forcing a change in enter foe, a baie of wil and enh, yet al cnn oan fie th a being end mend rosa 06 utes (eng Laure Muley) ABUNDANCE, RATHER THAN LACK, motvaey this study Reproduced ina varity of discourses, ay talesin the second half fof the oventieth century have enjoyed an explosive popularity in [North America and Weatern Europe. While many adults may not ‘remember, and many children may not have been expose to ver ‘Som of “Snow White” or "Beauty and the Beast other than Di hey’, me nevertheless respond to stereotyped nd instion- lized fragments of these harraies suicleadly for them eo be {good bait in Jokes, commercials, songs, cartoons and other ele fens of popular and consumer culture Most visible 2s enterain- ‘ent for children, wheter in the form of bedtmmestores or of ames and prope marketed in conjnction with a movie ot TV se- fie ty le ls playa role in education. Not only are children encouraged torte or damatie hem ia schools, butcollege su- ‘Sent encounter them again in acrosethe-curiulum readers 2nd in courses on children’s Kteratare and flblove. This legimizing fof the genre hae estended to several pychotherapetiel ap roaches and contexts. Bruno Beuelheim’s Freudian study The ie of Enchantment is ail 3 landmark, though critically revised profesional storytellers hae Deen instrumental in helping abused Children move beyond a burdened-y-gule tages and Jungian popslarisers, ar Gertd Mueller Nelson in her hopeful He All ‘Dal Fre and Rovere By in his mphifing fon fon: A Book Abeat ‘len, have enlisted fairytales in tel bestseller projects of healing the wounded feminine and matcoline! Creaive writers seem ‘equally nepred bythe fry ale, which prenides them wth well ‘sown materia pllable to pole, erobe, or narrative manipla- ‘hon. Belisled, yet penasive and insationalized, fairy ales are ‘tus produced and consumed to accomplish a variety of socal functions in malliple contexts a in mote or less expe ideo- logical ways. “Thinking ofthe fir tale predominantly ar children’s erature, for even at “terature of childhood,” cannot accommodate this proliferation of uses and meanings. The fay we “cannot be Sefined one-dimensional,” and in any case, “adults have always ‘ead, censored, approved, and distributed the salle fairytales for children” (pes, “Changing Function” 28, 28). While keeping Jn mind the bistory ofthe fry tale st Kteratire fr ehidven, t's within Une adjacent realms of fldlore and leratre that intend {w seek a clearer undersanding of contemporary transformations ‘of fairytales Though aot the ony legitimate mode of inquiry, this “spproach is hioreally and genericaly sound. Why? Because the “las firy ae sa Maren appropriation ofthe older fk tle, «an appropriation which neverdeless continues wo exhibit and re Produce some filone Features. AS a “borderine” or transional [Bence, it bears the traces of ora folJorc wadidon, and socio- ‘Colural performance, even when itis edited as Iiteratare for chi ‘dren of its marketed wth isle respect for is story and ‘materiality. And conversely, exea whe ie clams tobe flbore the {ary tale shaped by trary tadions with diferent socal uses snd users "The context of folklore and literature, and more specicly the sore limited Held of folk and lnerary arrave s also especially productive wo the ana of thowe transformations found in the Privleged, though not isolated, concern of this book—postmod- fra Iierary texte for adults? Thronghowt the rineteenth and ‘wendieth centres, iterary authors hate exploited the fairytale in ‘varery of ways, To cite ony a fee ofthe most prominent ex ples, the fairytale serves as stucturing device for Chalote Bronte Jn Jan ye ana Wiliam Faulkner in Absabm, Abslom, san expic ‘ty deologea theme for Charles Dickens in Hrd Tres and Anne Sexton in Tonsforations or asan expectationseting allusion for Henry James in What Maisie Knew and for lal Calvino in his eat work, staring with ltr de nde magna Literary author Sach caper a Johann, Wolfgang van. Goethe in “The Fairy Tle” or George ‘MacDonald in “The Day Boy andthe Night Gir have alo writen thee own “orginal fat ales or Kensimdrekon, not necessarily for children. in works ike Anatole France’ “The Seven Wises of Bluebeard,” they have rotten specific lassie fly les to ad- sce indivi interpretations of them. And moder feminist trite rom Olga Brovmar to Fay Weldon have engaged the "i- herte raion of fairytales wo “reluse to obey their authority by revising and appropriating them” (Walker $9) Recent studies Te Thing doe Toward New Paspaces onthe Pobics of Cal- ture (Wester Flr 1983 special fate edited by Charles Briggs ‘nd Army Shaman) and Felloe, Littere and Cull Thao: C- Tesad Essays (edited by Cathy Lynn Preston, 1985) have provided theoretical framework for flkionss to rethink not only the mak Sipe roles of tadion within cure today, but o view transor- mations within an interdsdplinary context which does not necenarly require a defense ofthe integrity and autonomy of ‘Scholarly fields An informed knowledge ofboth folklore and lit trate can help so quertion and redefine thei borders, o ar Ueulate how narrative rules ae (fe) produced: such an approach hohas wide aging implicasons for an understanding of ierary Texte within a Broader cultural dynamics—an understanding ‘which would define as semiotic [Literary and nor literary contemporary narratives which remite and rent ‘las faiy tale are the specific abject F ths study, Whether Margaret Anood's “Bluebeard’s Egg” or the TVeseris Beauty andthe Bet When reading these texts want to addeess— ‘within a ercally semiote understanding of follore and liter tore, and culture in general—eeveral problems related 10 bow fairytale material ae elected, appropsiated, and transformed, ‘Thee ques dicect my efforts What binds of images of woman snd. iny do these remstngs/ ressons projec? What narrate ‘mechani support these imager? And finally which ideologies of the subject underbe these images? In shore, this book explores the Drodiacton of gender in relation to naratvy and subject, {Shi fairytales a8 roenviioned ie late tweadethcentory itera ture and media for adults "To pursue this feminist and naratlogial project, wil have to sroggle at anes with stil Irger questions, How can we distinguish Pertorming Wonders 5 song the many ideological and narrasve manipulations these transformations operate? How are the objectives and fonctions of ‘concemporary tansformations differen, fat all, rom caver ‘ones An can we establish ypology of contemporary fairy ale transformations which would move tonards a crital stemaliing ‘of thes proliferation and yet resist closed elasifiation? Since this interdiucpinary perspective draws om the study of the fy tle, {blidore and Iterator, and of feminism and postmodernism, the rest of this chapter ll ouline my perspective on these feds nd their debates, ds uppiving frame for my ensuing discussion of contemporary tales of magic. Inthe proces, Iwill also explain how Tam using sich terms ae tale of magic” or airy tal"; nara ‘ait, performance, and performativiy and subjecity and pose modernism, ‘THE TALE OF MAGIC AND ITS MIRRORS Soit is my sar to tell tories—storles about stories, o€ theories” {swe ell diem. And since nobody, rom psychologist ad iste Snsto parents and arti, feels any qualms about defining and i= ‘tng fairy les, Til follow taion here and tll my ovn ‘esi ofthe “iy tale" tory "The ary tales magic flfls multiple desires. As erature for children, fairytales offer symbolically powerfal scenarios and op- tions, in which seemingly unpromising heroes sacceed in song some problems for moder children. These narratives Sethe s0- ‘Gay Scceprble boundarles for such scenarios and options, this Serving, more often than not, the cain aspirations of adults Duleret wie tion atts most succesful atthe height of its magke ‘As a hybrid or ansitional genre, the fairy tle also magically (grants waters tellers and readers/lsteners acces t the collec tive if fictionalized part of socal communing, an acess hat allows for an apparent limites, highly idionmncrati recreation ofthat “once there was” Though talls up oldume wacom, the fairy tale grants individuals he freedom to play with this gf, dismiss icas children's fantay. And for gl snd women, in parcalar, the fairy ile’s magic has assumed the contradictory form of being both april enclave supported by old wes wisdom and an ex Guise} glttery feminine Kingdom. Regardles of the group, 6 cnapter though, the fairy ale sill proves to be everyone's story, making magi forall? “ek Zpes, Ruth B. Botghelmer, Maria Tatar, and other cies have taught us the value of breaking this mage spell Looking with Dorothy behind the curtain at Ox to uavesate the mechanisms ff enchantient, her esearch hae revealed how the workings of this magi, however Benevolent, ely on privlege and repression, Clever ad indussious boys, dependent and hardworking gil, and welhbchaved “normal” children in general~such products dividual authors already receive, Second, an venteentered per spective om follore rus parallel to the tadle sgo-event fret, ‘onceptalized by Charles Peirce and tater by Umberto Eco and ‘Thomas Sebeok,allof whom emphasize the materiality and the so- cialvsaiable functions ofa sign. Third, staying verbal art in both folklore snd Meratuze raises questions about the text’ rer \onship to other text, the suategies adopted when communica ing vith speciic audiences wiin given generic and socal parameter an the soc functions or eologial effect of these Frategies. And fnally, Bauman’s account suggests thatthe study floor in ieratuce has become an integral part of the std of folklore and lerature, imply because these oro arts forms of communication systematically interact and ansform each then" ‘Semiotics and folborsics, folklore an literature. Lam tempted bere to sy “and the lived happily ever ater," but not so long as nagging questions remain, I cormmanication the primary function fof verbal art and of language in general? And do a performer's ot futhar's arategies necesally represent a unified, immediate ex pression of that indvdual’s ideology or socal practice? Some- {hing slacking: that sustained concern with the subject, 2 socally sand ambolcaly consuuted in ways Unt queson the primacy of Consciousness and experience, which informs much Contempo” ‘ary etic, By stretching i own postsructuraista or "post Stuurianis® to accommodate the problematics of postmo- semi, semiotics has generated polymorphous intellectal The Roland Barthes and Juba Kristeva, and al produced the related ‘bat distinct species of grammatologiss. Optimiscally sasied ‘withthe fullnss of presence projected by actual eves perfortr fersand audience, however, many flborits have resisted reflec ing om she subjet, preferring to go on celebrating the creative {ndvidual" More than 3 decade alte Bauman’ esa) appeared, | {ind myeelé posing 3 qualified version of is question: my inter ‘estin ora and writen narrative extends to te sue of subjectivity, Pertrming Wonders 13 is there tl something o be gained in connecting semiotics with folklore and ieraire? oelieve there sil, but onl if the semiotic emphasis on the comnmuniative functions of language can be modified by reflece ing on its symbolic funedons, and If semiode tools ean be em ployed erica rather than descriptively. The methodologieal framework of ths bok s therefore informed by acompostely de- consttucate approach t language which draws on Jacques Der- fda and Helene Cixous; my famevorkis also informed by Micke Bal’ ertcal naratoogy of semiotic descent. Deconstruction di places the specchncenterednes of folkloric and generally verbat gna sue find theoretically enabting when reaching for prob- lems of ideology and gender. As for naratlogy it establishes it sell aan anayial tool precisely by proriing the study of “narrative subject” whieh Bal defines a3 nework rather than an unquestionable wens.” ‘Appropriating Devrida's nodon of writing or doar allows me to situate the eadiion/performance opposition different. Asal- feady noted, performance oriented fotos have strengthened the des between folklore and Iterstre by treating the speaking subject as an individual artist, dhe center of communicative and Socal neoork. Yet, while peileging an event or performance right even led to reversal of the elitst opposion of writen and oral Iterature szuctarally hierarchy fs left itacc™ Dis placing this hierarchy wil require reconsidering more fully that fhe spoken word, alvays in an intresubjecie form, is not un- rmediated, eventhough the sigaiier’s eanescence in speech and {he speakers physial presence may contribute o an impresion ofthe direct preence of thought. As conceptualized by Derrida, “iting” locates the continuity ofthe written and the orl mad ated meanings and alumcr—features wadionally identified with “entng to brand tata poor sobaiate forthe direc fullness of {peech® Communication i ineviabiy distorted representation, and the symbolic function of speech its supplemental material. Jnmade intelligible ara ympuom of aeady mediated signification and absence. Thus, the speaker of taller cannot be considered the immediate or unied source of meaning, and the subject both sf language and language cannot simply be viewed san acive situational variable, bat as problemas 16 chapter Redefining “writing” along these lines shifts attention fom communication to representation, and deconstruct the indepen ent subject who speaks his own words and gives them meaning ‘ivough his presence. Héleae Clxous exposes this subject as specially patriarchal one which prileges speech not only over vritng, bu over “voice” aswell. Like Derrida, se challenges the primacy of speech over writing, but by affiming 4 feminine ‘oice” Oxou lso confronts patriarchal deconstruction. Aelresd Caco, this"Woiee"ir neither the eaentalining exprenion of what 4145 to be a woman, nor is something a woman can “Rad” and recognize a her ‘own in some purely iberatory explosion of ae thentcity. As Cixous describes I. the feminine “oice” clams a complex afnity wih writing and a material connection withthe bods, without returning us to the unified subject. "Writing," she chants i "he pamagensy, the entrance, dk ext, dhe Anelling of {he other in me’; ths “peopling ves nether rest nor security, a veays stubs the relationship to realty produces an uncertainty {ha gets the way of the subject's socialization” (The Newt Bore oman 85-88). Working analogotly, the marginalized feminine ‘Nolce” twins into privleged access to such writing’ “Listen to woman speakin a gathering (she snot painfully oat of breath) She doesnt ‘speak she throws her trembling body inthe ai She exposes herself... She insribes what she is aying because se does not deny unconscious dies the unmanageable part they ply in speech” (82). Both “writing” and "woe" are thu "whe ex perience of aotime within me" (8), and represent diferent sob- Jeti, which since iis not poe (as bot “own” and “proper”) {oes not rely onthe author of presence. ‘But both “wring” and oie” ar sso material process: her, the emphasis ison the body, de invlvement of is material For “voice, "in particular, this mvaement ranslate nt intening for and producing song, making sounds reverberate ae sich a what ‘we otherwise hear as speech, and playing out metaphors to release the "ving word” which “ean be fel fal of flesh In this 63 (Gxour explicitly bring the question of gender to ear onthe re donship beween writing and oralig furthering a deconsrue tive projec, yet seeking to voice the perspective of women. BY afiming the reciprocal implication of “writing” and "woice” (which are not idenial to these werms in their common usage), Perterming Wenders 15 she exposes speech ata patriarchal ilsion of selepresence and ‘elfsamenest fom which women should free themselves, spe ‘lly since we/ they have experienced this eon only vierouty through men or in fagiments plurality of variously empowered “and disempowered votes now displaces (rather than opposes) the masculine speaker and constitutes the practice of ‘writng.” “This continuity beween writing and voice is nat, however, fee of struggle. Many of the more ideologically powerful vices in “iting” reinforce patriarchal sractaes, just a auch wang, ite cera or otheruse, models self on the “sesame” fiction of Speech, preferring net to “admit there ir another.” Cxous offers a vray int the struggle. By prbsleging voice” she peoples language, {hus making Derrida’s “wring” les overbearing and more ‘ested from the perspective af those who are othered by i the specific anaes of flk or literary naratve, when the objec- tive ino! to explain in-a generally philosophic framework how all marraves partake of "writing" as polyalence and absence, ‘Cixou's peopling of language helps us articulate the ideologies! dnd semaaiiestrggles ae work in the narrative. And aly, the ‘isplacement of spech through "voice" emphasizes the materia, bodily apect of language questioning of the patriarchal tbody” mind split with imporant repercussions forthe study of ‘women's eine verbal narratives in parsclar, since itencoUr gee reading and writing of the body. Wring, then, i holding 8 Imiror to out bodies (and subjective) 30 a8 to cransform into ‘Smbosthete bodily symptoms which want to speak but which on {Rede own are ionic rather than verbal signs™ "To clarify theimerplay beeen paradigms I've been dissing, the tble ia Figure I sepresens “tradition” and performance" relation tothe srcturalise lengue and parle and tothe decon- ‘truce “wtting” and “voce” These paradigms do not simply = place one another in an evolutionary narrate; rather, ab they Interrogate one another, thei function changes without being nullfed: For instance, “wadition and performance” does not ine pove a consernatie ditinction between folllore and Ieratare, ‘bot seks to aieuate variables within both, while “writing” and oie ring to te forefront ofthat arcalation dhe problematics of an ideologicaly-constructed, symbolically produced, and gen- ‘ered subject Lam net, dherefore, eeplcing the longestab- 16 crapner lished paradigm of “waditon and performance” with imported ‘onalilorie concepts.” but am making ible the Meutogcal Implicavons of tis couple, conteting and thereby transforming it by naming what itrepreses—fnt, symbole representation, of “hich the subjects prodact rather than the source; and secon th gene pron eck wt vance ao ig ‘This ideological framing of “adition and performance” ine forms my understanding of fore and lieratine, and explain ve mets a a eee soe aon i om — eee eee es = ee ee cece eae coe = ee eer mar re os = Pertorming Wenders 17 tay broader vse of “performance” to include writen texts It also ‘qualifies ry use oferta narrtology in this book. As presented {Uy Mieke Bal, he objective of “ercal navratology” isto lim “de- ‘logy at workin narrative sbjecinity”(On Stn Tling 47). Fllow- ing an Althaserian definition of “ideology.” Bal emphasizes ts fatoralzing power, ie discursive production of a seemingly coher- at aubject nd it dicriminaing tha, erarchica—shaping St society's representtons and a mbjec’ posuons. When ide- ‘logy succeeds, 4 sbjectoecupes one oF more postions asi they “rere natural jo an egoeeithout saying fashion, “Described {it way, Meclogescontibute to the legitmization and the main- {enanee of socal insuitons and practice, tote unequal dstrib> lon of power, and therefore to the posibiiy of saishing Conscious and uncooscous neds and desires, ad, nally, to the ‘ashing of contradicdons” (48). The primary task ofa rita nas Fatlogy then, i to make visible anarrative's imposition by unfold ing te strategic preposition of meaning is subjectivity. Achieving this tsk voles tacing the nenwork of subject roles, postions, tnd setons within a text and then measuring this specie ideo. fogeally produced subjectity against narrative and socal norms. Shying away from the humanists lnk betveen “subject” and in dlvidaal human being." Bal identifies a “subjectal nework™ Which acetates narration (who speaks), focalization (who tees:), and agency (who doe). Distinguishing among dhese a [ect ofthe texts mabjectnity breaks up the exes apparent coher- nce, and allows its features and mptoms t be interpreted in ‘eatonship with the soca ‘Though Bal's various books contain a wealth of eal imple- ments, have found certain tool expedally useful when analyzing postmodern wansformatons ofthe tale of magic. Firs, the seem ely obvious statement tht the nareatr exists only inthe fist person allen us to atgn narrative and ideological responsibilty (o the soled "thirdperon” aarator who, thanks eo the nat ‘axing “once upon a Ue” Diy te fame, is usually considered to be objective. Secand, Gérard Genete's important distinction between narration and focalnation becomes even more valuable ther Bal wes i to pore quesions about the aration of wie nd vsion ina text Does in shor the perspective through which ‘we sce match or confit with dhe words ofthe narrator? Thi, by 18 cnepter “demonstrating that foalzation includes selection and gaze along ‘wih the purely visual and eatends to what seen (Oe focaized) sell as who sees (the fealzer), Bal supplies a fuller apparatus {or maling explicc the Sago” or weology tanamited bya texts ‘words Fourth, her emphasis on “ereflecton” ae 3 "socially in “ispensale eral funtion ints on the inevitable narrative he ‘between the ideological and the ental, entiication and alien aon (On Sen-Teling 31). ow does Ba's preject connect with semiotics, deconstrucive pracdces, and feminine/feministsmteresis a Ihave represented ‘them in relation tthe study of folldore and literature? Explicly ‘wth Peire’s semiotes and implicitly math folklore applications ‘of semioties,Bal's project shares an atentvenes to sighs in tele tion to dei users and in socialy-varable situations. Her arlyial approach co narrative's multayered production doesnot hierar {hicalyditinguish between wntten and oral texts, since in both “aes “inlerpretation” requires listening for lack (what i omited ‘oF denied) and repeiion (which can emphasize or displace) Finally, Bal's philosophical aligning of her maratlogy with “eriucal sciences" signals her recognition of the history af sem: ‘tes. This scientific" yearning for comprehensiveness and claey Alisunguishes Bal's approach to narratne from deconstruction, hile her critical focus on the text's subjecvgy marks eheit ifn. By atempang oil in gaps, co interpret symptoms and v- ‘lations of norms Bal’ narraiology seeks to bring about an aware- fess ofthe text’ unconscious—an anal tanlation of fe—but bo brings into elif the untied threads and tacit ineress that “anmake the coherence of oth lextal production nd iterpres "Perhaps the most powerful point of condensation between these dine ines of inquiry—s mints, deconstruction, feninist studies, apd erteal narratology—is their beer atienton #0 the “performative” ar constuting the link beeen verbal signe and their users (senders and receives) that i 10 the social ses of a ttterance or a narrative performance. As studied by epecch-act "hears, however, te perfonnalve force ofan uteranee—that it ‘does what it states—ultmately depends on the subject’ constious Intention (is she of he serious tm promising, ordering, parody ing?), whieh, somewhat like the ethnography of performance, evtorming Wonders 19 again makes the self present and exercontcious mubjecthe center of a contextuall-bound performance. Within deconstruction, ‘any feminism, a cial naraology, wile the meaning of (Gagiejevent sll depends om ite performative force, i context ‘bound performance, that context can be framed and retramed, ‘eouling in diferent meanings which ao one subject can master. ‘And without discounting the signiicance of agency, he effect of this shit st restate responsibly not within individual intene {on but inthe network of ideologies artieulated in a performance se interpetedwathin maliple ames “There ies then, + happyending tomy metanarrative. 1 do be liege after al tthe compatibliyof erteal narratology and de- ‘onstruction, ja aI wish to enls both to wnmask naturalizing Jenderconstructons. And yet, more dan a point of arial, this theoreti frame ia wally constuted starting poin. The cre fal practices I bring into pay serve disiat intrest and 1 must thetelore recognize thei diferences and their struggles: For struggle there i, within and bemeen the frameworks 1 have dann, and within and between my own postions so these frame- vers POSTMODERN FAIRY TALES AND THE PERFORMATIVE ‘Why and how do want to refer to "postmodernism"? Whether we like itor net, postmodernism hat afected many of today's ‘coatigurations of Wester culate ands hierarchical dsinctions mong disciplines and genres, especially Inerature, popular cul ttre, and folslore, Though conficting inerpreaions of post: Imodemisn have almost succeeded in theorizing. it out of ‘xitence, several of its versions s6ll atest to is vitality. Most Signiicany, poumodern studies have advocated an-humaisic “conceptualzatons ofthe subject, played with multiplicity and per- ormance in narradve, and strggled wid dhe sexual and gender ‘antleatons of problemataing indies and differences ‘The working, denon of posmeder narratives 1 have audopted here rejeets a purely sic undersanding of the pose Imovdera, dacs noteelebrate or conden its subject ad wishes encourage diatncions among. performative uses of posted: 20° chapters cexnism, Though [agree with Mangacet Ferguson that “postmod- ‘rnism” is “the best umbrella vem for dhe cultura, soca, and the ‘retical dimensions of our period" (‘Feinism and Postnodern- ist"), Iwould aso like wna some ditincdons among the po- ‘tes and politics of such a diversified cultural landscape. Linda Hicheon's proach to posoderaia his its appeal: She ead postmodern hetion asa primarily European and American “cul tural enterprise” which distinguishes isel fom odher contempo- rary practices through its selEconstious contradicdons, parodic inertexualiy, and conflictual with hisioricty "Begin. ‘ng o Theorie Portmodernism™ 10), Since they rhetrieally and Iierally “incorporate that which they aim to contest™—mod- ‘eri, history, dhe humanisic subject, other narrate texts and {genre-“Hutcheon sees possmadem fcons as “borderline {uires" practicing “writingasexperiencelimits" (16-17), cross dng borders beuseen genes, and challenging "a deBnion of subjective and erating that has ignored the role of history in art fd thought (21-22). From the perspectve of these proliferating and contradictory narratives, History. tke the other “master narre tives” toute Lyotard’ tern is denatutaiaed and reevaluated in the present as another made-up story3¥ Complicity and challenge, “rng” and "oice’—posmodernian seleconscously activates ‘his informing paradox of narrative "Aira related example might be helpful at dis point Italo CCakino's framework fr the collection lation Falk (1956; Eng lish tans. 1080), 1 would argue, is not postmodern. Angela Carers project in he collection The nag Book of Fly Tals (1990 is Ta hisyourny into follore,Cakine discovered not only ‘that olktals are rel” in their abstract logic ara “general expa- nation of lf" but aso that he could identify and value certain Italian characterticr—as opposed to the French or the Ge sman~charactevisics of the tale (i). Like the Grizums', Cali o's approach thus support 3 humanistic and nation building project Carter, on the other hand, assumes that ary ales wane ‘nic unofcal, croseeulturally varied, and entertaining knowledge Similarly though for bodh writers the folk ale leary ed to the sugges and labor ofthe ordinary people, for Calvino the genre embodies human destiny in narrative, wle for Carter i documents the resourcefulness and diversity of people’s—

    También podría gustarte