Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories

Going beyond the extensive literature dealing with Annie Proulx’s deconstruction of myths tied to the West, this paper delves into her palimpsestuous Wyoming short stories that transgress dominant norms and conventions of genres and genders. Focusing on Proulx’s grotesque, feminist revisions of old...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bénédicte Meillon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut Pluridisciplinaire pour les Etudes sur l'Amérique Latine 2019-07-01
Series:L'Ordinaire des Amériques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/orda/4868
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850026790964166656
author Bénédicte Meillon
author_facet Bénédicte Meillon
author_sort Bénédicte Meillon
collection DOAJ
description Going beyond the extensive literature dealing with Annie Proulx’s deconstruction of myths tied to the West, this paper delves into her palimpsestuous Wyoming short stories that transgress dominant norms and conventions of genres and genders. Focusing on Proulx’s grotesque, feminist revisions of old folktales and fairy tales, this article contends that her art of the short story provides an efficient tool to tinker with the rigid, ideological discourses reinforced by such tales when it comes to gender stereotypes. Recuperating the magic from older forms of short narratives, Proulx’s omnivorous, postmodernist tales thrive on potent fragments and mythèmes that both foreground and rekindle the ignition power of imaginative discourse. Her subversive mythopoeia and playful, self-reflexive writing thus pave the way for liberating flights of fancy that cross the boundaries between established genres and gender.
format Article
id doaj-art-52e5fa21e2df4137adee74808080aa65
institution DOAJ
issn 2273-0095
language English
publishDate 2019-07-01
publisher Institut Pluridisciplinaire pour les Etudes sur l'Amérique Latine
record_format Article
series L'Ordinaire des Amériques
spelling doaj-art-52e5fa21e2df4137adee74808080aa652025-08-20T03:00:25ZengInstitut Pluridisciplinaire pour les Etudes sur l'Amérique LatineL'Ordinaire des Amériques2273-00952019-07-0122410.4000/orda.4868Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming StoriesBénédicte MeillonGoing beyond the extensive literature dealing with Annie Proulx’s deconstruction of myths tied to the West, this paper delves into her palimpsestuous Wyoming short stories that transgress dominant norms and conventions of genres and genders. Focusing on Proulx’s grotesque, feminist revisions of old folktales and fairy tales, this article contends that her art of the short story provides an efficient tool to tinker with the rigid, ideological discourses reinforced by such tales when it comes to gender stereotypes. Recuperating the magic from older forms of short narratives, Proulx’s omnivorous, postmodernist tales thrive on potent fragments and mythèmes that both foreground and rekindle the ignition power of imaginative discourse. Her subversive mythopoeia and playful, self-reflexive writing thus pave the way for liberating flights of fancy that cross the boundaries between established genres and gender.https://journals.openedition.org/orda/4868talesgenre/genderfeminist revisionmagical realismpostmodernism
spellingShingle Bénédicte Meillon
Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
L'Ordinaire des Amériques
tales
genre/gender
feminist revision
magical realism
postmodernism
title Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
title_full Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
title_fullStr Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
title_full_unstemmed Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
title_short Deconstructing Gender Roles and Digesting the Magic of Folktales and Fairy Tales in Annie Proulx’s Omnivorous Wyoming Stories
title_sort deconstructing gender roles and digesting the magic of folktales and fairy tales in annie proulx s omnivorous wyoming stories
topic tales
genre/gender
feminist revision
magical realism
postmodernism
url https://journals.openedition.org/orda/4868
work_keys_str_mv AT benedictemeillon deconstructinggenderrolesanddigestingthemagicoffolktalesandfairytalesinannieproulxsomnivorouswyomingstories