Abstract
My research investigates how fairy tales construct a specific feminine identity that is related to the profane and it seeks to formulate the means by which I might reconstruct an alternative identity that integrates the profane with the sacred. This study is embedded in my family’s dependence on strict Christian religious principles. It is also embedded in the fact that I was raised to deny any part of my character or any motivation that was deemed offensive, so that I could aspire to the stereotype of spirituality manifest in the Virgin Mary. It unpacks the appearance of the Virgin Mary and Eve, within the fairy tale genre and its illustrations, as dichotomous religious stereotypes, with the purpose of deconstructing the didactic message that they have imposed on female children. I utilise critical discourse analysis within a feminist paradigm to interrogate concepts of the sacred, the profane and the feminine identified in these two stereotypes. Both of these are evident in the protagonists of the Grimm Brothers’ Snow White (1857) and The Red Shoes (1845) by Hans Christian Andersen. Analyses of illustrations for these stories support my study and reveal a pattern of religious allusion that underscores the profane female identity, intended to compel obedience and devotion to a ‘pure’ feminine ideal. I compare the social behavioural codes illustrated in fairy tales with selected works by Paula Rego (Snow White Swallows the Poisoned Apple, 1995) and Diane Victor (The Eight Marys, 2004) both of which reveal the use of feminist strategies to undermine the prescriptive promulgation of rigid Mary and Eve stereotypes.
My practical work engages with the deconstruction and reconstruction of my female identity through a series of paintings and constructed altarpieces. The work is formulated to mirror Arnold van Gennep’s (1960) theoretical structure of rites of passage. The resulting three cycles of artworks act as metaphors for my reconstruction through a fairy tale journey. The first cycle draws on the theoretical framework established in Chapter One, and my analyses in Chapter Two. The second cycle initiates the process of reconstruction in a liminal space, drawing on Gilbert and Gubar’s (1979) theories of a composite protagonist, to replace the restrictive binary Mary/Eve stereotypes. Finally, Kristeva’s (1982) recognition that the composite is abject motivates a self-constructed personal space able to accommodate my reconstructed, composite identity that culminates in a three-part mixed media altarpiece.
M.Tech. (Fine Art)