Folklore Forum

Stephen Benson, ed. Contemporary Fiction and the Fairy Tale. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2008. Pp. 209, index.

Jeana Jorgensen
Indiana University

Contemporary Fiction and the Fairy Tale is a timely contribution to the growing body of scholarship on contemporary fairy tales. The seven essays in the book focus on contemporary fiction authors who utilize the tropes, structures, and intertexts of fairy tales in their writing. Time itself is also one of the topics of discussion, from the artistic “lateness” in Robert Coover’s writing to the non-linear narratives found in A. S. Byatt’s tales. The theoretical and cultural contexts of this book range from postmodernism to postcolonialism, second-wave feminism to post-feminism—all of which are situated in time and space, occurring after or continuing beyond their originary impulses. The aims of this book, described by Benson in his introduction, are to explore the works of the “fairy-tale generation” of writers (including Robert Coover, Margaret Atwood, A. S. Byatt, Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, and others), to probe the contemporaneity of fairy tales despite their archaic origins, and ultimately to “account for the considerable time spent by contemporary fiction in the company of the fairy tale” (15). Time is thus a major structuring element of this book, and each chapter contributes to a nuanced understanding of the creative intermingling of fairy tales, fiction, and values. (more…)

Ulrich Marzolph, ed. The Arabian Nights in Transnational Perspective. Wayne State University Press, 2007. 348 pages, $31.95 paper.

Fredericka Schmadel
Indiana University

Ulrich Marzolph, editor of Wayne State University Press’s 2007 book, The Arabian Nights in Transnational Perspective, called the Nights a “shape shifter (ix)” and as such, slippery and elusive, especially in view of the torrent of translations, imitations, inclusions, and scholarly and – in the Middle East, ethicist – commentary or even condemnation over the centuries. A transnational perspective is an absolute necessity when one considers that the work in question predates the advent of the modern nation-state. Like the pyramids of Egypt, this collection has lasted untold centuries, but unlike the pyramids, it has moved from its original location to settle into many cultures, many traditions. In this book we glimpse the Nights in a Hawaiian translation, see its reflection in France – the France of long ago and of not so long ago – as well as Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Baluchistan, India, Japan, Turkey, Persian-influenced countries, Afghanistan, and the international realms of feminist theory, oral performance, psychology, and, of course, politics. We see, in Aboubakr Chraibi’s words, the homage reality pays to this fictional universe, this compilation that has grown and changed over many centuries. It’s clear from the scope and the variety of the contributions that this collection will inspire further research. (more…)