Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world
16-20
July 2001 The University of Melbourne, Australia
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Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world |
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In her popular cultural
treatise The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe, 1949), Simone de
Beauvoir has analysed one of the basic myths of human society that she calls,
with reference to Goethe, the myth of the eternal feminine. According to
Beauvoir, it is through myths that patriarchal society “imposed its laws and
manners upon individuals in a picturesque and sensitive way”. Whereas in an
earlier paper I have discussed Beauvoir's conception of myth in general and the
way she draws upon myths in her argument, it is now my purpose to examine her
approach to one of the carriers of myths she evokes, namely tales - or more
exactly, children’s literature and popular narratives.
It has only recently been acknowledged that feminist literary criticism was
inaugurated by Simone de Beauvoir’s critique of literary myths in five famous
authors (Montherlant, Lawrence, Claudel, Breton, Stendhal). The same may also
be the case with feminist folktale scholarship - but at least it can be said
that her argument anticipates feminist folklore studies by about twenty years.
Considering Beauvoir’s background, it is not surprising that she is only
familiar with a limited stock of popular narratives: mainly several tales made
famous by Perrault (who is not named), Andersen’s tales as well as some
Catholic saints’ legends. Not only are the French fairy tale heroines most
frequently referred to by Simone de Beauvoir - Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty -
omnipresent as prototypes of so-called passive heroines in later studies, it is
also striking that Beauvoir’s recurrent evocations of the figure of Prince
Charming are echoed as a leitmotiv in feminist folktale scholarship. But if
Beauvoir’s thought was inspiring, it may also be asked if her limitations may
have contributed to the creation of a perspective on folk narratives which is,
in certain respects, undifferentiated.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | main abstract index | main congress page |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |