Cultural Depictions of the Stepmother
Literature, Stage, and Screen
Description
Hosting an assemblage of highly respected scholars, Jo Parnell analyzes depiction of stepmothers in pop culture narratives from various points across the globe, including the United States of America, France, Maghreb, Algeria, Germany, England, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Nigeria, and South Korea.
From ancient times to the present, the stepmother has been likened to her folktale and fairy tale counterpart. In present times, with the rapid increases of global modernization, and with world political ideologies undergoing sweeping changes, people's perceptions of the stepmother are also changing. Through the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, and class, this book explores the role and experiences pertaining to the stepmother in various cultures. Contributors examine and compare familial and societal duties as well as the personal realities and experiences of the stepmother in real life. By forming a direct comparison between the fictionalized archetype and their real world counterparts, the question of the original intention behind these portrayals is brought to the forefront.
Table of Contents
Catharine Colebourne (University of Newcastle, Australia)
Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
Introduction
Jo Parnell (University of Newcastle, Australia)
1. Why So Wicked? Representations of Stepmothers in Popular German and Algerian Folktales
Christa Jones and Claudia Schwabe (Utah State University, USA)
2. Saviors and Intruders: American Stepmothers of the 1960s Era Hollywood
Andrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA)
3. It's a Hard Knock Life: Truman Capote's Holly Golightly, Cinderella and Evil Stepmother In One Depression-era, Orphaned Child Bride
Kathryn Keeble (Deakin University, Australia)
4. Warring Women: The Biafran War and depictions of stepm(othering).
Shalini Nadaswaran (University of Malaya, Malaysia)
5. Beyond the Villain: The Stepmother Archetype in Soviet and Baltic Literature
Eva Eglaja-Kristone (University of Latvia, Latvia) and Johanna Ross (Independent Researcher)
6. Film Noir and Criminal Stepmothers of the Post-World War II Era
Andrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA)
7. From Folklore to Screen: Depicting the Stepmother in Korean Cinema
Kyoung-suk Sung (Max-Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany)
8. From Euripides To the Present: Reinventing the Ancients' Amorous Stepmother
Kathryn Keeble (Deakin University, Australia)
Afterword
Hugh Craig (University of Newcastle, Australia)
Index
Product details
| Published | 03 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 9798765156452 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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