| This dissertation explores the intertextual relationships between the critical dialogue on the fairy tale from 1970 to 2006 and Dutch, English and German fairy-tale retellings published in the same period. The increased scholarly interest in traditional fairy tales since the 1970s has been matched with a wave of fairy-tale retellings---innovative recastings of fairy tales by contemporary authors. Writing in different genres, for both children and adults, the authors and illustrators of contemporary fairy tales sometimes draw on scholarly discoveries and opinions with regard to the fairy tale, but often regard these with irony and scepticism, and at times inspire critical discourse in turn. Not only have the structure and style of traditional tales been adapted in countless processes (novelization, versification, picture-book adaptation), the content of the best-known tales has equally been transformed in the form of updates, role reversals, sequels, and prequels. The traditional versions now co-exist with an ever growing corpus of fairy-tale retellings, which, like criticism, help to keep the interest in the old tales vibrant. The underlying hypothesis of this dissertation is that retellings and criticism participate in a continuous and dynamic dialogue about the traditional fairy tale, yet that they do so on different terms. The status and impact of fictional (performative) and critical (discursive) interpretations substantially differ. The case studies are structured around four key texts and momentous debates in fairy-tale criticism, which are each time linked to fairy-tale retellings that address similar themes. The key texts are Marcia K. Lieberman's "Some Day My Prince Will Come," Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubars The Madwoman in the Attic (1979), Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment (1976) and a selection of text from the socio-historical paradigm (Otto F. Gmelin, Heinz Rolleke, John Ellis, Ruth Bottigheimer, Karen E. Rowe, Jack Zipes and Marina Warner). The extended and intense interaction between fairy-tale retellings and fairy-tale criticism over a period of more than thirty years provides a unique opportunity to increase the insight into the workings of fiction and criticism, and their potential to respond to each other in different modes. |
