Abstract
Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale’s graphic novel set Rapunzel’s Revenge (2008) and Calamity Jack (2010) features fractured fairy tales that take up the issue of ‘the damsel in distress,’ questioning and complicating traditional gender roles in fairy tales. Throughout both graphic novels Rapunzel’s character challenges traditional representations of being feminine within the heterosexual matrix (Butler, 2006). And, in many instances, Rapunzel does this by blending masculine and feminine traits, rather than trading one for the other. However, she also falls back into traditional fairy tale tropes that maintain boundaries around who women are and what they can do in these narratives. Because of the opposing narratives of femininity in these Rapunzel-influenced graphic novels, there were openings for seventh grade students reading these texts in their English Language Arts class to notice, critique, and question the texts and their messages. By exploring both the texts and students’ responses to them in detail, this article focuses on textual tensions around gender representation that offer opportunities for young people to critique and analyze reading a “wonder tale.” These young readers wondered and re-imagined how gender and femininity could be represented, not only in fairy tales, but also in their worlds beyond the text. Ultimately this article seeks to advocate for books that take up a more complex and fluid portrayal of what it means to be human and reading practices that support that complexity and fluidity.
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Notes
This suggests that Rapunzel’s Revenge is returning to the older, more traditional fairy tales that are, in some ways, more feminist, challenging the concept of traditional fairy tales as simply patriarchal. The history of Rapunzel and fairy tales in general, is complex, though, and beyond the scope of this paper.
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Acknowledgements
Ashley would like to give special thanks to Karly Grice, Sara Kersten, and Ryan Schey for their thoughtful feedback on this manuscript.
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This paper involves research with human participants. Students, aged 12–13, participated in classroom and small group discussion that were documented and referenced for this manuscript. This study was approved by the author’s university IRB. Informed consent of participants’ parents/guardians was obtained, as well as individual assent from each of the students. Digital copies of these forms were archived and can be submitted, if needed.
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After teaching fifth grade for seven years, Ashley earned her doctorate at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses around multimodal and multimedia literacies, specifically in, but not limited to an academic setting. Ashley is particularly interested in literacies as social practices and what those practices afford readers and their learning environments. Much of Ashley’s research has been focused on the medium of graphic novels. She recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to work at The University of New Mexico as an Assistant Professor of Literacy.
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Dallacqua, A.K. Wondering About Rapunzel: Reading and Responding to Feminist Fairy Tales with Seventh Graders. Child Lit Educ 50, 261–277 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-018-9352-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-018-9352-z