Cultural Depictions of the Stepmother

Nyhet

Literature, Stage, and Screen

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

1 819 kr

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Hosting an assemblage of highly respected scholars, Jo Parnell analyzes depiction of stepmothers in pop culture narratives from various points across the globe, including the United States of America, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Korea, and Sápmi.From ancient times to the present, the stepmother has been likened to her folktale and fairy tale counterpart. In present times, with the rapid increases of global modernization, and with world political ideologies undergoing sweeping changes, people’s perceptions of the stepmother are also changing. Through the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, and class, this book explores the role and experiences pertaining to the stepmother in various cultures. Contributors examine and compare familial and societal duties as well as the personal realities and experiences of the stepmother in real life. By forming a direct comparison between the fictionalized archetype and their real world counterparts, the question of the original intention behind these portrayals is brought to the forefront.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-10-01
Mått152 x 229 x 25 mm
Vikt454 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor288
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9798765162538

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Biografier inom Biografier
Litteraturvetenskap inom Skönlitteratur
Kulturvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik
Genusvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik

ForewordCatharine Colebourne (University of Newcastle, Australia)AcknowledgementsList of ContributorsIntroduction Jo Parnell (University of Newcastle, Australia)1. Why So Wicked? Representations of Stepmothers in Popular German and Algerian Folktales Christa Jones and Claudia Schwabe (Utah State University, USA)2. Saviors and Intruders: American Stepmothers of the 1960s Era HollywoodAndrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA)3. It’s a Hard Knock Life: Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly, Cinderella and Evil Stepmother In One Depression-era, Orphaned Child BrideKathryn Keeble (Deakin University, Australia)4. Warring Women: The Biafran War and depictions of stepm(othering).Shalini Nadaswaran (University of Malaya, Malaysia)5. Beyond the Villain: The Stepmother Archetype in Soviet and Baltic LiteratureEva Eglaja-Kristone (University of Latvia, Latvia) and Johanna Ross (University of Tartu, Estonia)6. Film Noir and Criminal Stepmothers of the Post-World War II EraAndrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA)7. From Folklore to Screen: Depicting the Stepmother in Korean CinemaKyoung-suk Sung (Max-Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany)8. From Euripides To the Present: Reinventing the Ancients’ Amorous StepmotherKathryn Keeble (Deakin University, Australia)AfterwordHugh Craig (University of Newcastle, Australia)Index

Dr. Parnell’s superbly curated volume offers a rich, multinational, and interdisciplinary examination of a figure long maligned in narratives spanning from ancient Greek tragedy to twenty-first-century cinema. Each chapter situates the enduring tropes of the cruel, lustful, and at times even nurturing stepmother within their broader cultural, legal, and social contexts, ultimately revealing the common force that sustains these stereotypes: patriarchy.