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, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Korea, and Sápmi.
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 Coleborne (University of Newcastle, Australia)
Acknowledgements
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 Interlopers: American Stepmothers of 1960s Era Hollywood
Andrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA)
3. It's a hard knock life: Truman Capote's Holly Golightly, both Cinderella and evil stepmother in one Depression-era, orphaned child bride
Kathryn Keeble (Deakin University, Australia)
4. Beyond the Villain: The Stepmother Archetype in Soviet Baltic Literature
Eva Eglaja-Kriststone and Johanna Ross (University of Latvia)
5. Warring Women: The Biafran War and Representations of Stepm(othering)
Shalini Nadaswaran (University of Malaya, Malaysia)
6. Stereotypes and Subversions: Reimagining the Stepmother in Nigerian Women's Fiction
Harry Olufunwa (Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria)
7. From Folklore to Screen: Depicting the Stepmother in Korean Cinema
Kyoung-suk Song (Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany)
8. Fostering the Divine: The Role in Sámi Celestial Stories
Mervi Salo (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
Afterword
Hugh Craig (University of Newcastle, Australia)
Index
About the Contributors
Product details
| Published | 11 Jun 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 254 |
| ISBN | 9798765159828 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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