QUEERING THE FAIRY-TALE IN ANNE SEXTON’S TRANSFORMATIONS
QUEERING THE FAIRY-TALE IN ANNE SEXTON’S TRANSFORMATIONS
Author(s): Florina NăstaseSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Foreign languages learning, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Philology, Translation Studies, Theory of Literature
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: fairy-tale; queer; queer theory; retelling; feminism; abject;
Summary/Abstract: Queering the Fairy-Tale in Anne Sexton’s Transformations. The current paper explores Anne Sexton’s volume of poetry, Transformations (1971), from a queer, feminist perspective. Each of the seventeen poems offers a distorted retelling of a Brothers Grimm fairy-tale, often replete with pop culture references and black humor. The paper examines the strategies of queering that the poet employs in her deconstruction of myths, storytelling, family relations (such as motherhood and fatherhood), gender roles, deformity and disability, and many other difficult subjects. The author makes use of feminist and queer theory, while also casting light upon the construct of the fairy-tale and why it offers a space for queer exploration. The fairy-tale allows the poet to examine aspects of trauma and intimacy at a remove, but with a view towards catharsis.
Journal: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Philologia
- Issue Year: 64/2019
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 143-158
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English