Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: fairy tales
- Creators: Barca, Lisa
- Creators: White, Julianne
- Creators: Chotena, Chelsea
Description
Adaptation theorists suggest that effective film adaptations combine familiar material from the source with new material from the screenwriter. This study assessed the success of The Hunger Games film adaptations through analysis of the latent fairytale structure within each movie and parallel novel, and recommended film adaptation improvements. Russian scholar Vladimir Propp's structural analysis approach was used to identify 32 distinct functions and classify the series as a fairytale.
ContributorsMcGlynn, Rita Kathryn (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / White, Julianne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The interaction between England and Scotland is complicated and continually changing. Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott examines this long-standing relationship through his various writings. Scott conveys a presence that is both acutely aware of the damages enacted upon Scotland by various English political efforts, and sensitive to the delicate relationship that the two regions had begun to form during his lifetime. Through a critical analysis of Scott's novel, Rob Roy, one can see the various strategies Scott used to balance the need to address prior controversies within the relationship, and the petition to move beyond the prior conflict and develop a mutual understanding of each culture. Through this, Scott is able to regenerate a sense of Scottish nationalism for his people, and encourage improved relations within the British Isles.
ContributorsChotena, Chelsea (Author) / Facinelli, Diane (Thesis director) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / White, Julianne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Fairy tale retellings have permeated literature, film, and media ever since the original stories emerged. New adaptations are constantly being released, and therefore new research must constantly be published. In this study, I analyze "Aschenputtel" by the Brothers Grimm, as well as various retellings of "Cinderella," including Andy Tennant's Ever After (1998), Mark Rosman's A Cinderella Story (2004), and Marissa Meyer's Cinder (2012). This selection includes a live-action historical film, a live-action contemporary film, and a science fiction novel, all with an intended audience of young adults. While the Brothers Grimm story and Ever After have already been analyzed in the context of gender representation (Zipes, Bottigheimer, Williams), prior academic research fails to adequately address the gender issues in A Cinderella Story and Cinder. Because Ever After, A Cinderella Story, and Cinder are more contemporary than the Grimms' "Aschenputtel," they are often thought to be more progressive (Gruner, Vera, Travers). However, I propose that they still have problematic implications, despite their publication in contemporary society. Jack Zipes, an acclaimed fairy tale scholar, argues that, "For the most part, the transformations [of contemporary Cinderella retellings] tend to be modern remakes with a faux feminist touch" ("The Triumph" 361). Similar to Zipes, I argue that, although the texts initially appear progressive and "feminist," they ultimately support problematic ideals related to gender. All three contemporary texts seem to ally themselves with an ethos of female empowerment through their protagonists' rejection of traditional femininity, but the inclusion of gender policing and the characters' eventual acceptance of hyperfemininity undermine this characterization, as does the ultimate heteronormative "happily ever after." Additionally, the use of competition (between Cinderella and her stepfamily, as well as new female characters) pits women against each other, often because of a man, which generally prevents the development of female camaraderie, other than with the fairy godmother. Further, rather than allying herself with female power (i.e. the mother), the protagonists in both Ever After and A Cinderella Story are defined by their relationship with the father, which minimizes their agency as it suggests a transfer of ownership from the father to the husband/prince. This framing of the protagonist by the father and prince (specifically as she works to "perfect" the prince) seems to relegate the female characters to a supplementary role, simply acting as a tool for the male characters' development.
ContributorsBrown, Nichol R. (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Alcantara, Christiane Fontinha de (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This thesis/creative project explores revisionist mythmaking expressed in the ancient texts of Gnosticism. It also references modern works which are revisions of Greek mythology and the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. Two creative writing works are inserted into a larger essay: a synopsis of three gnostic creation myths entitled “The Upside Down: A Gnostic Genesis” and a revisionist myth entitled “Sophia’s Story.” Gnostic revisionist myths are wrought with the duality between matter and spirit. “Sophia’s Story” is an example of how an ancient myth can be revised to reflect 21st-century problems. The myth inverts the duality between matter and spirit into an origin story that unites matter (nature) and spirit. The essay as a whole addresses how mythmaking reflects the society and culture of the time to make sense out of the writers’ lived reality. In the case of the Gnostics, they were oppressed and colonized by the Roman Empire. For example, a gnostic story about the rape of Eve by an evil demiurge and his rulers reflects the abuses colonized women suffered. The essay is also a research project that delves into two personalities that appear in the author’s unpublished novel, Norea: Origins, to further develop their characters. The antagonist, Yaldabaoth, and the protagonist Norea, are main characters in Gnostic mythology. Yaldabaoth is an evil demiurge that created humans as slaves and rapes Norea’s mother Eve. Norea is a female savior in Gnostic mythology. Norea confronts Yaldabaoth and his rulers, names them, damns them, and discovers her true self through gnosis, or knowledge. The author shows how revising myths and retelling old stories can speak to the societal problems we face by navigating the climate crisis in an ecofeminist way.
ContributorsQualtieri, Colette (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Ostling, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2024-05