Traditional Folktales Research Articles

The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha: A Critical Rendering of a Musical Fairy Tale

This essay deals with an explanation of how Satyajit Ray handles the traditional folk tale narrative in his first venture into the genre of children's film. What is unique about this film is how he presents the adventure story while managing to convey most of its meanings through the skillful use of music and songs, all of his own composition. Both his narrative and musical abilities enable him to treat his material with a profound and balanced sense of seriousness and fun. The essay also focuses on the patriarchal nature of the narrative and provides some useful background information about Ray's musical achievements in the hope that this will be one area in the Ray canon that will be critically examined more fully in the future.

Review

Reviewed by: Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms ed. by Kay Turner, Pauline Greenhill Helen Miriam Bendix (bio) and Regina F. Bendix (bio) Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms. Edited by Kay Turner and Pauline Greenhill. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2012. 358pp. Leafing through Transgressive Tales, one is first struck by the unpresuming, quite wonderful illustrations by Bettina Hutschek. They guide one aesthetically into yet another, albeit timely, set of analyses of—not only—Grimm [End Page 155] fairy tales. “Queering the Grimms” is such an appealing subtitle that one understands the choice. The tales from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s paradigmatic collection have had a tremendous influence on readers worldwide, other tale collectors, and—as amply attended to in this volume—literary authors, as is evident, for instance, in Jennifer Orme’s analysis of Jeanette Winterson’s reworking of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Readers will be glad to know that the volume also contains comparative essays, such as the chapter “Queering Gender,” in which Pauline Greenhill, Anita Best, and Emilie Anderson-Grégoire explore versions of “Peg Bearskin” and “La Poiluse” for the lead character’s capacity to control and undermine female and male roles in arranging her sisters’ and her own destinies. We also find here Margaret Mills’s translation of an Afghani tale performance of “Boxwoman,” prefaced with a multilayered and suggestive exploration of women’s transgressions as imagined within an all-male story realm. The collection has grown and matured over nearly fifteen years, taking its beginnings in teaching and work with interested students, coalescing with colleagues at conferences, and finally resulting in this volume. In their introduction to the thirteen essays, editors Kay Turner and Pauline Greenhill point out that with all the feminist analysis and recasting of tales, “queer readings seem absent from feminist fairy-tale criticism” (3). She who knows how to look will, however, find transgression in abundance in many tale types, and to prove the point, the editors include an appendix titled “Trans and Drag in Traditional Folktales”; this appendix groups a selection of Aarne-Thompson types under headings such as “animal trans,” “animal drag,” “bio trans,” and “gender drag.” The essays are divided into four sections. In the first section, “Faux Femininities,” the contributors discuss the relations of embodiment and gender in the Grimms’ fairy tales. In the second section, “Revising Rewritings,” the contributors revisit rewritings of classic tales, which proves perhaps an easier ground to find issues of gender and sexuality explicitly examined. In the third part, “Queering the Tales,” the contributors turn “more directly to the ways that Grimms and other tales can redirect presumptions of sexuality and marriage away from the hetero norm” (20). The last section, “Beyond the Grimms,” contains, in addition to the contribution by Mills, Eliot Mercer’s queer adaptation of “The Grave Mound.” Within such a plethora of contributions, there naturally are also quite diverse approaches to what constitutes queerness, where it is located, and how to analytically cast it. We detect a spectrum here that ranges from uncovering more breadth and nuance in the reading of gender roles and sexuality all the way to asserting difference, including and beyond the homoerotic. Jeana Jorgensen begins her chapter, “Queering Kinship in ‘The Maiden Who Seeks Her [End Page 156] Brothers,’” with Judith Butler’s assessment of fantasy from Undoing Gender as “not the opposite of reality, it is what reality forecloses” (69)—a choice that most of the contributors could have followed: as fictional narrations, fairy tales do revel in the impossible but imaginable. If earlier scholars have found reason for tale worlds to fulfill poor narrators’ fantasies of excess food, wealth, and sociopolitical ascent, it should not surprise us that in the twenty-first century, scholars and retellers alike find explorations and transgressions of gendered, even bodily norms—fantasies, one can be quite certain, that were there all along, just as the desire for excess and power has not gone away. There is not space to dwell on all the cases presented—which is not meant to detract from their merit. In the opening chapter Cristina Bacchilega equates the only two Grimm heroines with the attribute of cleverness as women challenging heteronormativity. Kevin Goldstein...

Language-Specific Effects on Story and Procedural Narrative tasks between Korean-speaking and English-speaking Individuals with Aphasia

Language-Specific Effects on Story and Procedural Narrative tasks between Korean-speaking and English-speaking Individuals with Aphasia

Mandela’s Favourite African Folktales

In this essay I would like to examine the selection of African tales that Nelson Mandela took care to leave as heritage to the future generations, not only to children, and not only to African children. The fact that a political leader, ex freedom fighter and political prisoner dedicated his time to the collection and editing of stories from all over the African continent to be addressed to new readers as simple entertainment or as educational tools clearly testifies to the great humanity, culture, and open mindedness of one of the most important men of our times. In his most recent autobiographical writing Conversations With Myself, Mandela claimed his double affiliation to both his own indigenous culture as well as to western culture. Moreover, he recalled with affection a dear pastime of his childhood: After supper we would listen enthralled to my mother and sometimes my aunt telling us stories, legends, myths and fables which have come down from countless generations, and all of which tended to stimulate the imagination and contained some valuable moral lesson. (p. 10) Thus, it is not surprising that such a charismatic public figure, as Mandela has been, was also interested in- and worried about- the future survival of a cluster of traditional folktales with their lively, specific and “valuable moral lesson”. It is my intention to verify if there might be a dialogue between the western tradition of folktales where animals are protagonists and speak as anthropomorphic figures and the facets of the African traditions and cultures from which Mandela draws inspiration. Among the critical tools on this topic, Tess Cosslett’s Talking Animals in British Children’s Fiction (2006) seems to provide a useful starting point, together with the latest studies in the volume Dall’ABC a Harry Potter (2011), among others. Moreover, aspects of “orature” will be discussed with reference to the stories chosen by Nelson Mandela. Finally, an attempt will be made to connect these types of animal tales to works of figurative art, particularly paintings, by African artists, which might share the same moral message and which might trigger similar narratives.

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP KEASLIAN CERITA RAKYAT

Requirement of originality is determined by Article 1 paragraph (3) Act Number 19 of 2002 on Copyright can be easily applied to new creations, but when it comes to creations such as traditional folktale takes more search to determine their originality. Folktale began to transferred into another form that is more interesting, but reduce the element of originality to the story so the younger generation may not know the real form of the folktale. Based on that background, this study discussed problem about originality concept on copyright in a work, Act Number 19 of 2002 on Copyright and the Berne Convention and the legal protection on originality of folktale. This study is a normative legal research, using the statute approach and the conceptual approach. The outcome of this study show that the provisions of the originality of an inventions as set forth in Article 1 paragraph (3) of Act Number 19 of 2002 on Copyright defined creativity as the basis for determining the originality of a work. Protection for the originality of folktale can be done with the passage and implementation of documentation Article 15 and Article 35 of Act Number 19 of 2002 on Copyright.

From Dread to Humor: Encounters with Death in Romanian Folklore

From Dread to Humor:Encounters with Death in Romanian Folklore Gabriela Vlahovici-Jones (bio) A gray face with deep eye sockets but no eyes, no gaze, and no glimmer of light—just a deep abyss of terrifying mystery; a mouth but no tongue—just an unhinged jaw with skeletal teeth; broken shards of glass reflecting the last screams of lives shattered in terror: This is how the movie poster for The Final Destination terrified audiences with its depiction of Death (“The Final Destination”). Dark, unsettling, and frightful, this image and its many avatars are familiar tropes of Western lore and the driving force of the horror genre. Romanian folklore, on the other hand, places personified Death in humorous—not scary—contexts. This does not mean that in this culture death is not frightening, sad, or difficult. Nevertheless, stories featuring personified Death do not belong to the horror genre but to a type of low-key humor that dramatizes the human being’s complex relationship with the horizons of existence. A famous material expression of the humor that accompanies discourse on death is the Merry Cemetery of Săpân¸a in Maramure¸, where the artfully carved crosses include humorous funerary plaques. One reads, for example, “Sub această cruce grea / Zace biata soacră mea / Trei zile de mai traia / Zăceam eu ¸i citea ea” ‘Under this heavy Cross lies my poor mother-in-law; had she lived three more days, I would have been lying here and she would have been reading this’ (“Fotografii”). In spite of the satirical nature of the funerary inscriptions in the Merry Cemetery, this humor does not make light of death or poke fun at the dead. Instead, it generates a type of play that creates space for a reality both simple and ineffable. Traditional folk tales about death are infused with the same type of humor as the plaques in the Merry Cemetery: playful yet serious, resourceful yet reflective. What exactly can be funny, however, about a human being’s encounter with Death or Moartea (personified as an old woman in Romanian folklore)? We might know from personal experience that nothing can ruin a joke like an attempt to explain it. We might even agree with E. B. White, who quipped, “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it” (qtd. in Mankoff 1). Yet, have we not experienced the joy of “getting” humor—that “Aha!” moment, when the pieces of the narrative puzzle realign, revealing a surprising new picture? Have we not often paused to contemplate this picture even after [End Page 293] we stopped laughing? Romanian folk tales on death are worth dissecting, even at the risk of killing their humor, because their “innards” are not offputting to all but the inquisitive academic; quite on the contrary, they offer a warm place of meditation to anyone inclined to gaze at the mysterious horizons of existence. Four traditional theories on humor, anthologized by John Morreall in the Philosophy of Laughter and Humor, can serve as dissection tools: the superiority theory, articulated primarily by Hobbes and Descartes, views laughter as an expression of superiority over its subject; the relief theory, developed by Herbert Spencer and consolidated by Freud, compares laughter to a pressure valve for psychological tension; the incongruity theory, advocated by Kant, Schopenhauer, and Kierkegaard, holds that humor violates our mental patterns; and the play theory, formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas, represents laughter as joyful rest for the soul if practiced in moderation. Applied to encounters with Death in Romanian folklore, these theories capture the various facets of humor generated by humans who invite or trick Death. Humans Who Invite Death Documented by nineteenth-century folklorist Tudor Pamfilie, the story of an old woman with two adult sons captures the dilemmas of humans who invite Death. This woman, ninety-nine years of age, her body bent from many cares, constantly prays to God that Death might come and deliver her from suffering. One day, while the old woman is sitting by the fire, her sons Luca and Ispas decide to test her resolve to die. They hide an ugly owl in a basket and then...

The Last Man Standing by Davide Longo

K. Sello Duiker Thirteen Cents Ohio University Press Written in a combination of Afrikaans, local dialect, and South African English, Thirteen Cents is the disturbing story of Azure, an orphaned child eking out an existence on the brutal backstreets of Cape Town. Azure’s voice resonates with a disarming innocence even as he recites the horrors of surviving in a world of violence, gangsters, pimps, and pedophiles. Dazai Osamu Blue Bamboo Ralph McCarthy, tr. Kurodahan Press The seven stories in Blue Bamboo were originally translated into English in 1993 but have been out of print for several years. This delightful new translation showcases Dazai Osamu’s masterful prose style in stories ranging from traditional folktales to imaginative autobiographical sketches. Each story is prefaced with helpful and engaging background notes by the translator. Nota Bene Island, Lahiri masterfully delineates place and mood. The bulk of the novel takes place in America, and much of it in academia, environments she captures skillfully, contrasting the crush of humanity in Calcutta with the almost barren seascapes of Rhode Island. But more than anything this is a novel about individual human beings trying to forge happiness out of the crucible of obligation and duty. Subhash marries Udayan’s very young widow, Gauri, and raises a child fathered by his brother. Therein may be enough complication, but the novel is made even more wrenching by Gauri’s chilly personality and withdrawal from love and even, in some ways, from life. Lahiri takes us into Indian life and custom just enough to have us viscerally feel the clash of cultures that Subhash encounters when he relocates to America. She also deftly limns the gradual assumption of American values that makes him, in the end, very much an American. Juggling ideas and details, abstracts and concretes, from Hindu philosophy to Descartes, Lahiri’s wideranging reference points enrich this novel and underscore the university ambience in which much of it is set. It is true that the reader never warms to Gauri, a distant, cold, and academic character, but the reader’s heart is warmed by Subhash and his overwhelming love for the character who brings meaning to his life: Bela, the daughter he shares with a ghost. In the end, the reader is rooting wholeheartedly for each of them to define and then find happiness. Rita D. Jacobs Montclair State University Davide Longo. The Last Man Standing. Silvester Mazzarella, tr. New York. MacLehose (Random House, distr.). 2013. isbn 9781623650346 In this dystopian novel, Davide Longo explores the true human nature that comes out during times of desperation . The Last Man Standing is set in a downward-spiraling modernday Italy. The roads and towns are being taken over by young groups of thugs, and nomadic people are banding together to find sustenance by any means necessary. Houses are being broken into, businesses burned down, and people brutally murdered every day for basic necessities like food and clothing. Amid this chaos is the protagonist, Leonardo, who struggles with his own demons. Once a highly respected writer, a scandalous affair has ruined his marriage and career. One day Leonardo’s ex-wife unexpectedly shows up to leave her ten-yearold son, Alberto, and their seventeenyear -old daughter, Lucia, in Leonardo’s care. As the town in which Leonardo lives begins to plummet into a wasteland with local shops burned down, January–February 2014 • 59 60 worldliteraturetoday.org reviews housesrobbed,andresidentsmurdered, Leonardo decides to take the children and journey up to Switzerland for safe haven. However, through a darkening social situation and a series of progressively unfortunate events, Leonardo andthechildrenarelefttowalkthrough the snowy northern Italian lands in the winter months, robbed of transportation and amenities. Along the way, they are attacked by a group of thugs, taken to the group’s base camp, and held in custody by the tyrannical ruler, Richard. Richard makes Lucia his mistress, Alberto joins the band of thug boys, and Leonardo is literally caged with animals. Life goes on like this for months until finally, strengthened by past events, Leonardo builds up the courage to escape the camp with Lucia and a few others. As they head toward the Italian coast, they meet unlikely friends and temporary residents...

Cultural Preservation and Metropolitan Transformation: Folk-Tale Traditions and The Queen of Paradise’s Garden , a Newfoundland Jack Tale

The Queen of Paradise’s Garden , adapted by Andy Jones and illustrated by Darka Erdelji, is a picture-book version of a Newfoundland Jack tale. The movement of the tale through a variety of forms—from oral tale to print transcription to puppet play to picture book—and its role as a cultural artifact echo the complexities of folk-tale transmission and transformation globally and historically. This article examines the ways in which the picture book and its antecedent versions are both of Newfoundland and of a larger and ongoing history of folk tales.

The phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood.

Researchers have long been fascinated by the strong continuities evident in the oral traditions associated with different cultures. According to the ‘historic-geographic’ school, it is possible to classify similar tales into “international types” and trace them back to their original archetypes. However, critics argue that folktale traditions are fundamentally fluid, and that most international types are artificial constructs. Here, these issues are addressed using phylogenetic methods that were originally developed to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among biological species, and which have been recently applied to a range of cultural phenomena. The study focuses on one of the most debated international types in the literature: ATU 333, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. A number of variants of ATU 333 have been recorded in European oral traditions, and it has been suggested that the group may include tales from other regions, including Africa and East Asia. However, in many of these cases, it is difficult to differentiate ATU 333 from another widespread international folktale, ATU 123, ‘The Wolf and the Kids’. To shed more light on these relationships, data on 58 folktales were analysed using cladistic, Bayesian and phylogenetic network-based methods. The results demonstrate that, contrary to the claims made by critics of the historic-geographic approach, it is possible to identify ATU 333 and ATU 123 as distinct international types. They further suggest that most of the African tales can be classified as variants of ATU 123, while the East Asian tales probably evolved by blending together elements of both ATU 333 and ATU 123. These findings demonstrate that phylogenetic methods provide a powerful set of tools for testing hypotheses about cross-cultural relationships among folktales, and point towards exciting new directions for research into the transmission and evolution of oral narratives.

‘The crocodile's wife’ – a tale of transformations

In this study, I trace the complex transformation of a traditional Chewa folktale (nthano) about a magical personal transformation, as this metaphorical story has been subsequently adapted for a dramatised radio representation. The artistic transformer, Julius Chongo, took a recording of the original village tale and used its plot as the kernel to generate a narrative ‘makeover’ for his popular weekly program, Poceza m'Madzulo (‘Evening Story Time’), aired countrywide on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. My close comparative analysis documents the various interrelated changes that this literary transformation manifests in terms of content and style as it is masterfully adapted to suit a very different contextual setting, an oral-aural medium of text transmission and a modified goal of communication. This leads to a consideration of the various problems posed by the need for a linguistic transformation and the challenge of how best to represent both the original folktale and its modern recreation in another language (English) via the greatly diminished visual medium of print for remote reading and/or listening audiences.

Transmitting Local Cultural Knowledge through English as Foreign Language (EFL) Learning as a Means of Fostering “Unity in Diversity”

Lack of appreciation of local culture on the part of the public is a continuing concern for many governments. In the Indonesian context, the national and regional governments have a vision to preserve local cultural knowledge as a means to foster the spirit of Unity in Diversity [Bhinneka Tunggal Ika], Indonesia’s national motto. Education has been seen as an appropriate forum for fulfilling this aim, and local culture has been incorporated into various school subjects in the curriculum. It has been the policy of the Ministry of National Education that primary school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) be responsible for giving students the ability to use English and also an understanding of local culture. Interpretation of policy varies depending on location, however, and may also depend on the individual characteristics and background of teachers. This paper, which is based on a case study conducted in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, will discuss the ways in which primary EFL teachers contribute to the maintenance of local cultural knowledge. While it has been suggested that language learning is enhanced by study of the culture associated with it (see, for example, Risager, 2007), this paper will argue that learning English as the target language is not always corresponding with learning the culture of the target language (C2). As seen from the students’ mastery of English in two different primary schools in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia is supported by using the language to teach about local culture, such as through traditional folktales translated into English. It concludes that the use of local cultural material in the teaching of English as a foreign language serves a dual purpose: supporting mastery of the target language (L2) while also enabling teachers to fulfill their obligation to teach about local culture (C1).The data here presented were obtained through semi-structured interviews with primary EFL teachers and students at one public school and one private school in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Using teachers’ lesson plans related to the use of folktales as medium for teaching EFL as well as fostering the spirit of ‘unity in diversity’ amongst the students was another significant instrument to investigate and to collect data about their teaching practice and pictures were considered the most appropriate ones for obtaining students’ response. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n3p507

Sutherland?s Creativity at Work: The New Family of Mr. Ananse the Spider in <em>The Marriage of Anansewa</em>

This study explores characterization in Efua T. Sutherland’s <em>The Marriage of Anansewa</em> and demonstrates the playwright’s imagination and creativity at work. Unlike the traditional members of Ananse’s family in Akan folktales comprising a wife (Asɔ), four sons (Ntekuma, Afurudohwedohwe, Tikenenkene and Nyankorɔnhweaa) and sometimes unnamed in-laws, Sutherland creates a daughter (Anansewa), a mother (Aya), an aunt (Ekuwa) and a lover (Christie) for Ananse. Thus there are now four new females in Ananse’s new family to balance the four males in the original Ananse family, counting out man and wife. Unfortunately, Sutherland kills off Asɔ. Anansewa and Christie are main characters but Aya and Ekuwa are made minor characters. Besides this introduction of four women into Ananse’s extended family is Sutherland’s creation of a new identity for Ananse. He is a modernized Ghanaian with an English name, George. Sutherland artistically introduces a new dimension to Ananse by redefining his identity as a modern citizen of the globalized world. Whereas in the traditional folktales Ananse often cheats the members of his family forcing them to find ways and means to survive by foiling Ananse’s tricky plans, Sutherland’s new family members play an entirely different role: they are conscious or unconscious collaborators of Ananse’s scheme to cheat others. It is concluded that, by this new dimension of characters and the roles they play which bring freshness and popularization to the Akan folktales, Sutherland has elevated the Akan folktales to become an African Classic.

Dagens Rødhette i en flerkulturell kontekst – mulighet for en ny identitet?

The starting point for this article is the tendency in recent Norwegian children’s and Ya fiction to thematize cultural encounters in an increasingly multicultural and globalized world. The picturebook Little Miss Eye Flap ( Skylappjenta , 2009) written by the Pakistani-Norwegian author and actor Iram Haq and illustrated by Endre Skandfer, presents a modern version of traditional folktales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel . However, the traditional structure of home – away – home gives particular emphasis to the phase of homelessness, not providing any safe return to harmony. This condition of liminal space between cultures is discussed in light of the concepts of reflexive identity (Anthony Giddens), cultural identity (Stuart Hall) and hybridity (Homi K. Bhabha). Written by an author who herself comes from a multicultural background, and who presents the book as partly autobiographical, Little Miss Eye Flap offers a double perspective on questions of cultural identity, including critical views on Norwegian as well as Pakistani tradition. The book ends by showing Miss Eyeflaps in a big open space, where it is more certain what she leaves behind than what the future will bring. The open ending and the focalization of the girl with the multicultural background opens up to a discursive space where new hybrid identities may be explored. Keywords: picturebooks; cultural identity; hybridity; folktale; intertextuality; Little Red Riding Hood. Nokkelord: bildeboker, kulturell identitet, hybriditet, eventyr, intertekstualitet, Rodhette (Published: 6 September 2013) Citation: Barnboken tidskrift for barnlitteraturforskning/Journal of Children’s Literature Research, Vol. 36 , 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/clr.v36i0.21830

Values, animal symbolism, and human-animal relationships associated to two threatened felids in Mapuche and Chilean local narratives

BackgroundThe Chilean temperate rainforest has been subjected to dramatic fragmentation for agriculture and forestry exploitation. Carnivore species are particularly affected by fragmentation and the resulting resource use conflicts with humans. This study aimed at understanding values and human-animal relationships with negatively perceived threatened carnivores through the disclosure of local stories and Mapuche traditional folktales.MethodsOur mixed approach comprised the qualitative analysis of 112 stories on the kodkod cat (Leopardus guigna) and the puma (Puma concolor) collected by students (9-14 years) from 28 schools in the Araucania region within their family contexts, 10 qualitative in-depth interviews with indigenous Mapuche people, 35 traditional Mapuche legends, and the significance of naming found in ethnographic collections.ResultsWe revealed a quasi-extinction of traditional tales in the current knowledge pool about pumas and kodkods, local anecdotes, however, were present in significant numbers. Values associated to both felids were manifold, ranging from negativistic to positive values. While pumas played an important role in people’s spirituality, negative mythological connotations persisted in kodkod stories. Four prominent relationships were derived: (1) Both felids represent threats to livestock, pumas even to life, (2) both felids are symbols for upcoming negative events, (3) pumas are spiritual creatures, and (4) kodkods are threatened by humans. Recommendations are provided for stimulating new ways of perceiving unpopular and threatened carnivores among those who live in vicinity to them.

The image of absence and the politics of naming in Shona war fiction

During Zimbabwe’s liberation war thousands of young people crossed into neighbouring countries to take up arms to fight and end colonialism. There is sufficient evidence that many of these young people were women. Political rhetoric also maintains that women fought alongside their male counterparts. However, in the Shona literature that depicts Zimbabwe’s guerrilla war there is a glaring absence of female characters who play the roles of guerrilla fighters. This article is an attempt to discuss this absence and to explain why there are very few guerrilla girls in Shona war fiction. The article argues that female guerrillas are not given much space in Shona war novels because the writers of these novels continue the oral folktale tradition in which women are rarely made heroines. It is further argued that in the actual guerrilla war of the 1970s female guerrillas were rarely seen fighting at the war front, that the pioneer guerrillas were men and that the masculine discourse about the war excluded women. Moreover, only men have written Shona war novels.

The Transformation of a Naga Prince Tale

This paper analyses a traditional folktale recorded in the Shina language of Indus Kohistan in Pakistan. The tale features as its main protagonist an intelligent, resourceful and courageous woman. Other versions of the tale can be found in Kashmir, the Western Himalayas and the Panjab, but these either do not have a female protagonist, or do not give such a prominent role to the heroine. This strong depiction of female agency contrasts with the subordinate role of women in Kohistani society, who are relegated to domestic and agricultural work – a role which has been reinforced by the Islamic beliefs of the Deobandi sect. Most versions of the story describe a supernatural serpent that turns into a prince or brings fortune to its rescuer. In the Kohistani tale, this magic serpent is interpreted as a mountain fairy, thus linking the tale to pre-Islamic beliefs found in the region of the Hindu Kush, defined as “Peristan” by Alberto and Augusto Cacopardo (Gates of Peristan. History, Religion and Society in the Hindu Kush, 2001). At the same time, many devices are used to give the story a more acceptably Islamic flavor.

A Voice Without a Name: Choruses and Storytellers in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road

This paper proposes to explore the poetics of voice in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road, a novel in which a myriad of individual and collective voices resonate without always being clearly identified. The study examines more specifically the duality of Azaro’s voice, but also the novel’s indebtedness to the indigenous tradition of oral folktales and its paradoxical celebration of orature in a text that is, by definition, silent.

Dagens Rødhette i en flerkulturell kontekst – mulighet for en ny identitet?

The starting point for this article is the tendency in recent Norwegian children’s and Ya fiction to thematize cultural encounters in an increasingly multicultural and globalized world. The picturebook Little Miss Eye Flap (Skylappjenta, 2009) written by the Pakistani-Norwegian author and actor Iram Haq and illustrated by Endre Skandfer, presents a modern version of traditional folktales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. However, the traditional structure of home – away – home gives particular emphasis to the phase of homelessness, not providing any safe return to harmony. This condition of liminal space between cultures is discussed in light of the concepts of reflexive identity (Anthony Giddens), cultural identity (Stuart Hall) and hybridity (Homi K. Bhabha). Written by an author who herself comes from a multicultural background, and who presents the book as partly autobiographical, Little Miss Eye Flap offers a double perspective on questions of cultural identity, including critical views on Norwegian as well as Pakistani tradition. The book ends by showing Miss Eyeflaps in a big open space, where it is more certain what she leaves behind than what the future will bring. The open ending and the focalization of the girl with the multicultural background opens up to a discursive space where new hybrid identities may be explored.Keywords: picturebooks; cultural identity; hybridity; folktale; intertextuality; Little Red Riding Hood.Nøkkelord: bildebøker, kulturell identitet, hybriditet, eventyr, intertekstualitet, Rødhette(Published: 6 September 2013)Citation: Barnboken tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning/Journal of Children’s Literature Research, Vol. 36, 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/clr.v36i0.21830

Worlds in the making: social sciences and the ontopolitics of knowledge

In December 1982, Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of the now classic Cien Anos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude), among many other novels and short stories, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.1 In the award ceremony, Professor Lars Gyllensten, who presented the laureate and his work, emphasized the quality of the work as an exemplary case within the so-called magical-realist tradition: ‘In his novels and short stories’, Professor Gyllensen argued, ‘we are led into this peculiar place where the miraculous and the real converge. The extravagant flight of his own fantasy combines with traditional folk tales and facts, literary allusions and tangible—at times obtrusively graphic—descriptions approaching the matter-of-factness of reportage.’2

Oral History and Revenge in Annie Proulx's "The Half-Skinned Steer"

Stories are the recordings of history and serve as reminders of personal and cultural struggle. In The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition, Gisli Sigurdsson writes that before the development of written language, oral history "became a kind of knowledge bank" (57) in which stories of success, as well as those of tragedy, were retold to subsequent generations. A study conducted by Daniel Bertaux and Isabelle Bertaux-Wiame concludes that "earlier generations may very well determine the shape of the trajectories of future genera­tions through what it passes on to them [. . .] for the purpose of generating foreseeable conduct" (87). While this study provides evidence that positive behaviours may be transmitted to descendents, it also implies that destructive acts may be channelled through history and generate foreseeable negative conduct. The pain of struggle, revenge, and retaliation arises from behaviours which may be perpetuated across many generations; often the original source of the feud is forgotten, yet a desire for vengeance persists.The originating concept for Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx's story "The Half-Skinned Steer" is, as the author notes, "based on an old Icelandic folktale, 'Porgeir's Bull'" (Proulx 10). Proulx's reconfiguration of the themes of revenge within this tale demonstrate how 'old' thinking can slow progress and resurrect long-forgotten grievances. In "The Half-Skinned Steer", the author relocates and remodulates the traditional folk tale to address particular issues and behaviours - work ethic, diet and vengeance - within the setting of the contemporary American West. This article will examine the ways in which Proulx reconfigures the Icelandic folktale "Porgeir's Bull" to explore intersecting themes of persistence, human arrogance, and nature's revenge on man.