From avaricious old woman to young entrepreneur: evolution of female characters in childrens rewritings of "The milkmaids tale"

This work analyzes nine retellings of the well-known Milkmaid’s folktale (motif ATU1430) in current children’s and young people’s literature in Spanish language. It begins with a brief historical review that systematizes the main transformations suffered in the process of cultural transmission and s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez Rubio, Gema, Ortiz Ballesteros, Antonia María
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/44286
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.35869/ailij.v0i19.3572
https://revistas.webs.uvigo.es/index.php/AILIJ/article/view/3712/3212
https://hdl.handle.net/10578/44286
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cuentística popular
Cuento de la lechera
Hipertextualidad
Literatura infantil y juvenil
Técnicas de reescritura
Descripción
Sumario:This work analyzes nine retellings of the well-known Milkmaid’s folktale (motif ATU1430) in current children’s and young people’s literature in Spanish language. It begins with a brief historical review that systematizes the main transformations suffered in the process of cultural transmission and shows how the current rewritings subvert the classic versions of La Fontaine and Samaniego. Subsequently, the selected texts are examined considering the relationship they maintain with the reference hypotext and the rewriting technique used. The aim is to point out the changes and innovations introduced in the story, which particularly affect the characterization and functionality of the female character so as to assess their impact on today’s children’s readers. It will be shown how the greedy old woman in medieval apologists (or the frivolous young girl in classic versions) becomes a creative and enterprising character. In addition, the new texts shed the fable’s characteristic moralism or subvert the social values with which the story had traditionally been associated. In short, the motif is reworked and offers an updated concept of women and their social role.