Information about the midterm exam – 11th

April at 11.00

The midterm exam will have the following

sections:
Multiple choice questions
T/F
Writing

«The Company of Wolves» is also included.

Please go through all the material I have
uploaded on e-campus.
 REALISM MODERNISM POSTMODERNISM

Logocentric-logos (reason) Killed the logos – institutions are Aware of the non-existence of the
questioned logos

Humanist – human-centred The state of being is empirically Posthumanist- rejects anthropocentric

grounded assumptions
The workings of the mind, fragments of
thought (Ulysses)
Unconscious material
Referential language – language refers Self-reflexivity – language refers to Self-reflexive – language refers to itself
to the external reality itself and discusses itself or its own creation
Problematisation of the working
mechanisms of language

Meaning is presented as fixed and Meaning is plural, but no conscious Meaning is plural, conscious
stable problematisation of meaning-making problematisation of meaning making
Totalisation of truth, grand narratives mechanisms mechanisms

Seeing the work as a closed entity Seeing a text as an endless play of Seeing a text as an endless play of
signifiers which can never be reduced signifiers
to a single essence or meaning

Advocate of modernity and dominant Critique of modernity and dominant Critique of modernity and dominant
ideology ideology ideology

Linear flow No linearity – unconscious destruction No linearity – conscious destruction of

of the working mechanisms of realist the working mechanisms of realist
texts texts
Some key concepts in postmodern fiction:

• Scepticism towards «metanarrative» or

«grand narrative»
• Pastiche
• Intertextuality
• Metafiction – historiographic metafiction
• Temporal distortion
Angela Carter (1942-1992) wrote novels, short
stories, and essays.

Her fiction included elements of science fiction,

magic realism, fantasy, and the gothic.

Carter offers a feminist critique of Western

hierarchical and patriarchal ideologies.
• Carter rewrote myths, fairy tales to disrupt
power structures.
 ANGELA CARTER
«THE COMPANY OF WOLVES»
1979
THE BLOODY CHAMBER
The werewolf – liminal figure
ambiguity
• Liminality
The word derives from the Latin «limen»,
meaning threshold, boundary, passage between
two different places and states.
- in-between state
(human and animal) – trickster archetype
• In the ceremonies of Pagan communities,
shamans or the spiritual leaders would wear
wolf’s skin and believe that they have
supernatural powers.

• This image changed in the Medieval period

with people associating the werewolf with
evil, violence, and savagery.
The Bloody Chamber (1979) is a collection of
subversively rewritten fairy tales. The stories are
a feminist revision of the traditional stories.

Fairy tales began as oral folk stories. They were,

as the scholar Jack Zipes states, «tales of
initiation, worship, warning and indoctrination.»
In most fairy tales, women are represented as
passive, docile beings who comply with the
norms and codes of their society.

In a traditional Gothic tale, the girl is often

chased by a male figure. Here, Carter reverses
the pattern – it is the girl who, in her
conventional prey status, becomes the predator.
predator/prey dichotomy is blurred
As Jack Zipes states in his Introduction to
Carter’s translation of Perrault’s fairy
tales, Carter was not an «obedient
goddaughter» of Perrault, but rather «an unruly,
mischievous ‘child’» remaking Perrault’s tales
«into something different from what they
were».
 Images from Carter’s translation of «Red Riding Hood»
https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/angela-carters-wolf-tales
Carter’s reading of fairy tales is precisely an
attack on the version of women as having no
part in the construction of their world.

The young girl in the story, by contrast, is bold

and rebellious. The destruction of her
submission suggests her empowerment.
Carter was often described as an author in the
«demythologising business». (deconstructing
myths)

As she stated: «I am all for putting new wine in

old bottles, especially if the pressure of the new
wine makes the bottles explode.»
«The Company of Wolves» imitates the style of the
fairy tale. It offers a different and provocative rewrite
of the traditional story «Little Red Riding Hood».
There are two versions of the story:
• by Charles Perrault-17th century
• by the Brothers Grimm-19th century
But the story’s earliest version in the oral tradition is
in fact not called «Little Red Riding Hood», but «The
Story of Grandmother».
The Story of Grandmother
There was a woman who had made some bread. She said to her daughter:
"Go carry this hot loaf and bottle of milk to your granny."
So the little girl departed. At the crossway she met bzou, the werewolf, who said to her:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm taking this hot loaf and bottle of milk to my granny."
"What path are you taking." said the werewolf, "the path of needles or the path of pins?"
"The path of needles," the little girl said.
"All right, then I'll take the path of pins."
The little girl entertained herself by gathering needles.
Meanwhile the werewolf arrived at the grandmother's house, killed her, and put some of her
meat in the cupboard and a bottle of her blood on the shelf. The little girl arrived and knocked
at the door.
"Push the door," said the werewolf, "It's barred by a piece of wet straw."
"Good day, granny. I've brought you a hot loaf of bread and a bottle of milk."
"Put it in the cupboard, my child. Take some of the meat which is inside and the bottle of wine
on the shelf."
After she had eaten, there was a little cat which said:
"Phooey!... A slut is she who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of her granny."
"Undress yourself, my child," the werewolf said, "And come lie down beside me."
"Where should I put my apron?"
"Throw it into the fire, my child, you won't be needing it any more."
And each time she asked where she should put all her other clothes, the bodice, the
dress, the petticoat, the long stockings, the wolf responded:
"Throw them into the fire, my child, you won't be needing them anymore."
When she laid herself down in the bed, the little girl said:
"Oh granny, how hairy you are!"
"The better to keep myself warm, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big nails you have!"
"The better to scratch me with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big shoulders you have!"
"The better to carry the firewood, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big ears you have!"
"The better to hear you with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big nostrils you have!"
"The better to snuff my tobacco with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what a big mouth you have!"
"The better to eat you with, my child!"
"Oh granny, I have to go badly. Let me go outside."
"Do it in the bed, my child!"
"Oh no, granny, I want to go outside."
"All right, but make it quick."
The werewolf attached a woolen rope to her foot and let her go
outside.
When the little girl was outside, she tied the end of the rope to a
plum tree in the courtyard. The werewolf became impatient and
said: "Are you making a load out there? Are you making a load?"
When he realized that nobody was answering him, he jumped
out of bed and saw that the little girl had escaped. He followed
her but arrived at her house just at the moment she entered.
In the old version of the story, the girl is not
rescued by a male figure. Using her mental skills,
she finds a way to get out of the house where
she is trapped.
17th century Charles Perrault’s version of the
story ends with the wolf’s words which highlight
the moral instruction of the story:
Moral: Children, especially attractive, well-bred
young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if
they should do so, they may well provide dinner
for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds
of wolves. There are also those who are charming,
quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet,
who pursue young women at home and in the
streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves
who are the most dangerous ones of all.
19th century the Brothers Grimm’s version of the
story ends with the little girl saying she has
learned her lesson well and that she will always
stay on the path.
The ending of Grimm Brothers’ version of the story is as
follows:
It is also related that once when Little Red Riding Hood was
again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke
to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Little Red Riding
Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward
on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the
wolf, and that he had said good-morning to her, but with such
a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the
public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.
"Well," said the grandmother, "we will shut the door, that he
may not come in."
Carter’s story offers a rather provocative ending
in that the little Red Riding Hood is capable of
acting on her own free will.

The story focuses on gender politics.

It is a story that celebrates female agency.

The girl does not submit to any impositions. She is

neither docile nor passive. She is not fearful
either.

She defies patriarchal power through her

embodiment and celebrates her sexual liberation.
• Please note how she responds to the werewolf.
• Please also note the references to religion (the «pious» p. 135
grandmother; the ending of the story – i.e. it is «Christmas Day» p. 139)

The girl symbolically defies the old tradition represented by the

grandmother. She also defies patriarchal power (note the references to her
«knife» p. 132, p. 133) and its imposition of a restrictive notion of femininity.

She celebrates bodily desires set against the limitations of her environment.

• She uses her own sexuality as a means to assert her agency.

• The time at the end of the story is midnight – it
implies transformation, marking the beginning of a
new order built on non-conformity.

• The predator and prey dichotomy is blurred.

«The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was
nobody’s meat.» (p. 138)

• Carter subverts the prey status of the girl and

constructs her as a predator who preys on rigid
norms.
• How does the story celebrate human desires
set against gender norms?

• Discuss the narrator’s tone in the story.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (1982)
Roald Dahl

As soon as Wolf began to feel

That he would like a decent meal,
He went and knocked on Grandma’s door.
When Grandma opened it, she saw
The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,
And Wolfie said, “May I come in?”
Poor Grandmamma was terrified,
“He’s going to eat me up!” she cried.
And she was absolutely right.
He ate her up in one big bite.
But Grandmamma was small and tough,
And Wolfie wailed, “That’s not enough!
I haven’t yet begun to feel
That I have had a decent meal!”
He ran around the kitchen yelping,
“I’ve got to have a second helping!”
Then added with a frightful leer,
“I’m therefore going to wait right here
Till Little Miss Red Riding Hood
Comes home from walking in the wood.”
He quickly put on Grandma’s clothes,
(Of course he hadn’t eaten those).
He dressed himself in coat and hat.
He put on shoes, and after that
He even brushed and curled his hair,
Then sat himself in Grandma’s chair.
In came the little girl in red.
She stopped. She stared. And then she said,
“What great big ears you have, Grandma.”
“All the better to hear you with,” the Wolf replied.
“What great big eyes you have, Grandma.”
said Little Red Riding Hood.
“All the better to see you with,” the Wolf replied.
He sat there watching her and smiled.
He thought, I’m going to eat this child.
Compared with her old Grandmamma
She’s going to taste like caviar.
Then Little Red Riding Hood said, “But Grandma,
what a lovely great big furry coat you have on.”
“That’s wrong!” cried Wolf. “Have you forgot
To tell me what BIG TEETH I’ve got?
Ah well, no matter what you say,
I’m going to eat you anyway.”
The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature’s head
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.
A few weeks later, in the wood,
I came across Miss Riding Hood.
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, “Hello, and do please note
My lovely furry wolfskin coat.”
• Ursula K. Le Guin – «The Wife’s Story» -
another subversive take on the traditional
story