Of Bees, Fairies, and Women: Lisa Carey's Feminist and Parodical Rewriting of Tradition in The Stolen Child (2017)

Authors

  • Audrey Robitaillié Queen’s University Belfast and Université de Caen Basse-Normandie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v20i2.3199

Keywords:

Irish folklore; contemporary literature; parody; feminism; motherhood; fairies; changeling; Brigid

Abstract

This article examines Lisa Carey’s recent novel, which offers a rewriting of both folkloric and Yeatsian traditions. The author reuses fairy beliefs, bee folklore, and religious traditions around Saint Brigid and Saint  Gobnait, in contrast with the demands of modern life, to illustrate the antagonistic pulls on the protagonists. Through this rewriting of Irish folklore, she offers a feminist parody of tradition, in Linda Hutcheon’s sense of the word. The North American writer reuses Irish fairy beliefs to question the representation of motherhood through her character of Emer, and rewrites the legend of Saint Brigid, to turn her into a feminist model for the female protagonists.

 

Keywords: Irish folklore; contemporary literature; parody; feminism; motherhood; fairies; changeling; Brigid.

Author Biography

  • Audrey Robitaillié, Queen’s University Belfast and Université de Caen Basse-Normandie
    Audrey Robitaillié studied for her PhD under joint supervision at Queen’s University Belfast and Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, researching the folk figure of the changeling in contemporary Irish literature. Her general areas of research are the reuse of Irish folklore in literature, contemporary Irish literature, and issues of belonging and identity in literature. She was guest editor for a special issue of Estudios Irlandeses in 2017, and has published in journals such as Nordic Irish Studies and Folklore.

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Published

2019-02-26

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 2 (2018): ABEI Journal 20.2 Special Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Robitaillié, A. (2019). Of Bees, Fairies, and Women: Lisa Carey’s Feminist and Parodical Rewriting of Tradition in The Stolen Child (2017). ABEI Journal, 20(2), 29-40. https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v20i2.3199