Cinderella and other fairy tales as secular scripture in contemporary America and Russia
Abstract
The fairy tales of the Grimm-Disney canon are prevalent in every medium of creative expression in contemporary American popular culture. They can be found as while plots adapted for a contemporary audience, as brief allusions that new versions of canonical tales make to older ones, or as motifs used to build wholly new tales. This dissertation examines the ways that contemporary adaptations in literature and film both perpetuate and innovate on those canonical fairy tale stories, resulting in a secular scripture that provides a common lanugage of allusion and metaphor for an increasingly diverse audience. Recent adaptations of Russian heroic epics (bylini) are also considered.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Ross, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Germanic literature|Slavic literature|Folklore|Film studies
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