Changes in Fantasy Narratives: from 19Th Century Books to 21St Century Television
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CHANGES IN FANTASY NARRATIVES: FROM 19TH CENTURY BOOKS TO 21ST CENTURY TELEVISION By NATALIE GARCEAU-TURNER Integrated Studies Final Project Essay (MAIS 700) submitted to Dr. Nanci Langford in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta December, 2014 Natalie Garceau-Turner 2 ABSTRACT An overview of popular fantasy from its cultural and literary roots in the 19th century to today's television adaptations. A cultural history overview follows the evolution of fantasy from oral tradition to written book to the visual mediums of today, showcasing how each iteration contributed to the evolution of the genre, and was aimed at a different perceived audience whose expectations influenced the narrative away from its original form while still referring to its roots. This evolution gradually led to a contemporary fascination with revisionist adaptations of fantasy tales, now aimed at an adult television audience. An analysis of several television series points out through various theories; folklore (monomyth) literary theories (intertextual, post colonial and feminist) and media studies (theory of persuasion) how those adaptations change the focus of the original narrative. Natalie Garceau-Turner 3 Table of Contents- Introduction - p. 4 1. Folklore – Cultural History p. 4 2. Feminist Theory: Female Voice in Genre Development p. 7 3. Folklore: The monomyth p.10 4. Intertextuality p.10 5. Post-Colonial Theory: Treatment of Race p.16 6. Theory of persuasion: Functions of Attitude p.17 Conclusion p.18 Works Cited p.20 Natalie Garceau-Turner 4 Introduction- There are two angles to the question: how the stories themselves have changed over the years (narratives) and how they were presented (iteration). Covering over two hundred years the integral catalogue of the all the variations in story and presentation is an impressive one. Without cataloguing all those changes (a type of research already better done than is possible here) it is necessary to follow the evolutionary thread in the narratives and their medium that led to their present renaissance. Looking at this thread through the lens of different disciplinary theories using literary, cultural, historical and media analysis, reveals how the narratives evolved and the reasons behind it. More importantly, how those narratives survived through the centuries is in many ways exceptional and may give insights into popular culture. 1. Folklore - Cultural History First Iteration - from oral tales to written word Legends, superstitions and folktales, or fairy tales were the subject of storytelling as far back as records exist. Storytelling was (and is) the easiest and cheapest way to entertain an audience with fiction but it had no permanence. In the late 17th century a popular form of writing among the middle class and aristocracy was the collection of folk and fairy tales. Compiling folktales was an adult endeavour. Contemporary fantasies were penned to express the writers' conviction. In 1697 the French academician Charles Perrault was the first to publish an adaptation of eleven tales as Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye (Tales of Mother Goose) exclusively for children, adding morals at the end of the stories. During the 18th century as the literary and artistic movement of the Enlightenment evolved Natalie Garceau-Turner 5 among intellectual and artistic circles, promoting reason over superstition, the compilation of tales fell out of favour as a cultural activity. Mass printing was enabling other kinds of literary innovations: the novel, the encyclopedia, the lending library. As the century progressed the Enlightenment gave way to the Romantic movement. Artists and writers were looking for inspiration away from classical motifs to something closer to home. Medieval arts and literature were used as inspiration. It was the start of the interest in Neo-gothic in architecture and Gothic and chivalrous Romances in literature. Stories from the Arthurian legend were a favourite subject to adapt such as Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1859-85). Part of the Romantic movement credo was an interest in the promotion of nationalism. This is what prompted the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm to collect folk stories in the early 19th century. Those oral sources contained a wide range of genres, horror tales, monster and ghost legends, tragic tales and humour that ranged from vulgar to witty. In 1812 they published some of those folk tales as 'Children's and Household Tales' (Kinder und Hausmärchen). The brothers Grimm's two volumes compiled 209 tales as opposed to Perrault's eleven. In both cases, the authors interpreted the tales heavily. Expansion of the text and flowering language, removal of sexuality and violence, addition of morals transformed the stories into something different from their oral storytelling origins. Second Iteration: Expansion of Fantasy into new Genres The earliest popular fantasy texts all came from continental Europe, with Germany and France leading the wave. As the Industrial age progressed into the 19th century, English speaking authors made an important contribution with the creation of new works of fantasy literature. Fantasy was popular for adults as the Gothic genre developed. Old folkloric monsters were given their own fictive spaces. Vampire legends inspired several books. The most famous and influential is Dracula (Bram Natalie Garceau-Turner 6 Stoker, 1897). New monsters were also created : Frankenstein or the new Prometheus (Mary Shelley, 1818) also the first of a new kind of fantasy, Science Fiction. The market for children literature was now well established, and several series were created with a young audience in mind. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865) and Alice through the Looking Glass (1871) was created then in England. A few years later the Wizard of Oz series started ( L. Frank Braum, 1900-1920). Third Iteration: Books to Other Mediums The start of the 20th century and the Modernist era is when audio and visual medias start to appear. The continuous, episodic serial format started to be used in the new mediums. Radio and short film serials were the precursors of the television serials. In the sixties there were shows based on fantasy monsters aimed at a general audience. In the daytime there was the soap opera Dark Shadows, where relationship problems included vampires and werewolves. The other three notable series were all situation comedies: The Munsters (1964-66), The Addams Family (1964-66), and Bewitched (1964-72). The Munsters and The Addams Family portrayed close knit families who loved each other and were confident in their own values. In Bewitched, the story also revolves around families but now the conflict is between them. Samantha, a witch, married Darrin, a human. Samantha's witch family disapproves of humans, and Darren disapproves of his wife's powers, in an impressive display of the anti-feminism status quo of the time. Fantasy characters were used as motifs to comment on American middle-class family values as for the first time they were the heroes of their story where the fictive depiction of 'our' world was their own alien fantasy world. A survey of all American shows in the seventies television shows no daytime or prime time Natalie Garceau-Turner 7 fantasy content outside of children series, or more precisely no traditional fantasy content. On the other hand, the newest genre of fantasy, science fiction was popularized. Several science fiction series were created during that decade, especially after the success of the movie Star Wars (1977). This is similar to the wane the genre experienced during the Enlightenment era. In the eighties with the introduction of cable television, the number of stations expanded. Speciality stations were introduced. This meant the audience's choices increased and shows could be created for more specific audiences as opposed to content aimed at a general audience. Beauty and the Beast (1987-90) may be considered the first case of fantasy reimagining. A female prosecutor , Catherine, is helped by her beastly looking lover who lives in a secret world of caves under New York. Although the adventures are original creations, the title, the look of the show and a constant motif of references (the Beast is an avid reader with a chivalrous code of conduct) refer directly to previous literary works. This Beast quotes Shakespeare and Carroll, never transforming into a handsome prince, but gradually becoming more attractive in the eyes of Catherine. In the 90s the first of many 'monster lives among us' series began. In 'Forever Knight' (1992-96) the hero is a vampire who struggles against his nature and works as a police detective. The series was innovative in showing two parallel worlds, one hidden in the other, as vampires lived among humans. It was also the first to be shown in the evening, aimed at an adult audience. Both practises are standard today. 2. Feminist Theory: Female Voice in Genre Development The popularity of the Perrault and Grimm collections eclipses awareness of others done by their contemporaries. During Perrault's time, gathering and writing fairy tales was a favoured activity among genteel women in general and among the literary movement of the Précieuses in particular. It organized Natalie Garceau-Turner 8 female centric gathering of artistic amateurs gathering to exchange poetic texts in their own extremely florid style. A similar wave of new fairy tales creation occurred during the beginning of the Romantic era, also largely done by well educated women. Those tales created by women were usually more girl centric, introspective and with personalized voices. This is the preface of one such author: 'History...is a well behaved matron...legend, on the other hand, is a saucy little thing eager to please, and doesn't care where she borrows her baubles as long as they do the trick. since I confess openly to you, dear reader,that my guide is not the former, but the latter...then you know what to expect in those pages and which hours of the day you should spend reading them.' (Werner, Graf von Bernburg 5)(Eigler 74)) The last sentence is revealing.