angela carter (1 Viewer)

[Benno]

Hi just wondered if anyone has any thoughts on angela carter. i have to write an 8 minute speech on her, and i really need some help !! anything i would appreciate. thanks !

 

[ur_inner_child]

can i just take the time to say how BRILLIANT her "company of wolves" thing is?!?! Best rendition of little red riding hood ever.

So kinky!!!

 

[kami]

hmmm...glitterfairy is the best person to ask since she is an Angela Carter enthusiast but my take is that she is both a feminist and a post modern writer who challenges the conventions of the fairy tale...*her* characters would certainly never act like a Disney cartoon. She also seems to link humanity and the wild togather, perhaps making statements about our own bestial nature.
Hope that helps.
Edit: And read her Puss in Boots...so cool

 

[Benno]

hey, yeh thanks for your help, made me think about some points i hadn't really thought about..... 3 minutes down only 5 to go haha! pity its due tomorrow.

 

[glitterfairy]

hmmm...glitterfairy is the best person to ask since she is an Angela Carter enthusiast but my take is that she is both a feminist and a post modern writer who challenges the conventions of the fairy tale...*her* characters would certainly never act like a Disney cartoon. She also seems to link humanity and the wild togather, perhaps making statements about our own bestial nature.
Hope that helps.
Edit: And read her Puss in Boots...so cool

AH HA! SO IT WAS YOU! *moves on*

I had major pm problems, so I might write a bit here.

For the record I am an Angela Carter enthusiast, but have never really studied her work to any great extent. But here's a fun spiel for you all. Much of what is written below I learnt from a wonderful introduction to an anthology of contemporary fairy tales - called "White Briar Black Rose" or something like that. Awesome stuff. Anyway:

Yes Angela Carter is a feminist - Company of Wolves? (I should know this better considering it was one of the things we covered in english class) is where she uses the wolf image as a metaphor for man - awesome awesome stuff. Puss In Boots is one of her lighter stories - very entertaining and well worth a read.

Something very important to note is that what is commonly known as a "fairy story" is nothing more than the de-gutted, sugar-and-honey-coated Victorian versions Grimm and co presented on a silver platter to Her Royal Prissiness. The REAL stuff is much edgier, and NOT intended for children. Analyse the fairy stories - the wolf "eats" Red Riding Hood (gotta love that red - the colour of passion, power, blood - anyone studying Birthday Letters should also look at meanings associated with colours), the shepherd chases the goose girl for her hair - hair? Umm, I don't think so. If she has half a brain, she'd plait her hair at home *before* she went to work. Oh, and did anyone know that many versions say "plaited her hair into a noose"? Nice connotations there, it completely doesn't work and either the plaiting of the hair or the noose bit has got to go. My bet;s on the former.

But wait, there's more! Kami actually has a *GREAT* link to fairy stories... *hunts*... ah! Found it!

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

PLEASE NOTE: If you are going to give anyone credit for this wonderful link and the electronic tales it contains (there are LOTS!) please give credit to KAMI for finding it, not me!

Back to Angela Carter - she is *sort* of challenging the traditional fairy story, but bear in mind our idea of "traditional" hasn't really been around all that long. What she does do - and brilliantly - is use the fairy story for her own ends, working it beautifully... I could wax lyrical about her work for ages, but will leave it to someone who actually has studied her work extensively.

*looks up* ah, so the assessment has come and gone. Well, hopefully this information will be useful to others - and if you need a place to discuss Carter again, you know where to come.