The Postmodern Fairytale: Folkloric Intertexts in Contemporary Fiction - Hardcover

Smith, Kevin Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 023050048X ISBN 13: 9780230500488

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Synopsis

Why is Shrek one of the greatest selling DVDs of all time? Why do shampoo advertisements base themselves on Sleeping Beauty? Why is it that in this age where there are stories surrounding us in every media imaginable, that the same simple stories keep being told?

This study attempts to explain why fairy tales keep popping up in the most unexpected places. It also examines the way that telling an autobiography as a fairy tale begins to affect the content of the story. Magical meaning is discovered in the strange turns of fate, and actual events take on the flavour of 'magic realism'. From Salman Rushdie, and Angela Carter to Kate Atkinson and Terry Pratchett, this book examines the different ways that fairy tales are used in postmodern fiction and why the most popular stories begin 'once upon a time'.

About this title

Review:

'...Smith's enthusiasm for his subject matter is infectiously evident throughout The Postmodern Fairytale, and his arguments are often both amusing and insightful.' - Lucy Carlyle, Times Literary Supplement

Synopsis:

Why is "Shrek" one of the greatest selling DVDs of all time? Why do shampoo advertisements base themselves on "Sleeping Beauty"? Why is it that in this age where there are stories surrounding us in every media imaginable, that the same simple stories keep being told? This study attempts to explain why fairy tales keep popping up in the most unexpected places and why the best storytellers begin their tales with 'once upon a time'.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 023050048X
• ISBN 13: 9780230500488
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 204