«I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver

Sara González Bernárdez

doi:10.5565/rev/brumal.606

Abstract

Naomi Novik, an American writer of Lithuanian-Polish ascendency, is one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary young-adult fantasy fiction. Her fantasies are heavily influenced by her cultural heritage, as well as by the fairy tale tradition, which becomes most obvious in her two standalone novels, Uprooted and the subject of this essay, Spinning Silver. As the quote chosen for this essay’s title demonstrates, Novik’s second standalone work constitutes one of the most obvious outward statements of an ideological stance as expressed within fantasy literature, as well as an example of what Jack Zipes (2006) called transfiguration: the rewriting and reworking of traditional tales in order to convey a different, more subversive message.This paper considers how Novik’s retelling takes advantage of traditional fairy-tale elements to create an implicit critique of gender-based oppression, while at the same time, and much more overtly, denouncing racial and religious prejudice. The ideological stance thus conveyed is shown to be intended to have consequences for the reader and the world outside of the fiction.

Highlights

Fantasy literature has considerably evolved throughout the years: the twentieth century marked the re-canonisation of fantasy through J
The main objective of this paper was to observe the expression of explicit ideology within the contemporary, young adult fantasy novel Spinning Silver
The two main points in common of fantasy and fairy-tale were considered: (1) the unexplained presence of magical events and creatures, which leads to its perception as a children’s genre; and (2) its escapist function, which implies that fantasy fiction runs away from real-world problems instead of having the fictional world confront them

Summary

Introduction

Fantasy literature has considerably evolved throughout the years: the twentieth century marked the re-canonisation of fantasy through J. From Rowling’s ground-breaking work onward, young adult fantasy has marked a significant shift in the perception and shapes of fantasy, especially in recent years. This shift can perhaps be traced back to efforts towards inclusivity which have surrounded this type of literature. The subversion in terms of gender is complemented by a more explicit ideological message against anti-Semitism, which is analysed throughout the final section of this paper This explicit inclusion of ideology within a fantastic tale expresses the potential of the fantasy genre to become a tool for marginalised groups to speak against the oppression they face, while subverting the expectations related to these marginalised identities and granting the readers a new perspective

Ideology and escapism in Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver as feminist fairy-tale

Judaism in Spinning Silver

Conclusion