Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2015, English

This thesis explores the spectrum of female representation and feminine experience in Helen Oyeyemi's Boy, Snow, Bird, a postmodern fairy tale retelling of “Snow White.” Within the novel, Oyeyemi creates several female characters that represent various feminine experiences. The image of the mirror enables me to navigate these characters and their stories. As each character searches for her identity within the constraints of patriarchal oppression, she develops a voice through the act of storytelling. I contend that the novel, as a postmodern fairy tale, engages in social-resistance as it uses the mirror to expose and confront patriarchal constructions of women.

Committee: Tereza Szeghi Dr. (Committee Chair); Kara Getrost Dr. (Committee Member); Bryan Bardine Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender; Literature

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2014, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Fairy-tales and myth have long been held as ways of communicating what is happening in society and within a culture. This dissertation study examined the interview narratives of 10 women regarding the impact of fairy-tales and myth on female identity in the context of intimate relationship patterns. This study utilized definitions of fairy-tale and myth derived from Biechonski's (2005) framework, while augmenting these conceptualizations with depth psychology perspectives. The study's findings were produced using qualitative, phenomenological research methods (Merriam, 2009). Results of the study demonstrated that some of the female participants identified with fairy-tales during their youth; however, all participants indicated that real life is far more challenging when contrasted with typical Western fairy-tale stories that often portray an easeful outcome to engagement in a romantic relationship. Common themes that emerged throughout this study were those of status, external factors such as appealing fashions and coiffed hair, familial upbringing and witnessing the parental relationship. Having experienced a loving attachment from one's parents emerged as a guiding theme, as did exposure to positive qualities displayed within the parental relationship itself. Such themes like respect between one's parents, communication, and commitment were also present in the narratives. In summary, eleven themes emerged from the interviews. The themes were Cinderella/Beauty and the Beast, Prince Charming, External Factors, Status, Familial Upbringing, Parents, Respect, Communication, Commitment, Connection, and Independence. Some possible implications for clinical work were discussed.

Committee: Juliet Rohde-Brown PhD (Committee Chair); Salvador Trevino PhD (Committee Member); Melissa Jones-Cantekin PhD (Other); Courtney Keene-Viscomi (Other) Subjects: Psychology; Psychology, Clinical

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2019, English

My thesis sought to explore the sizable sub-genre of fairy tale adaptations in contemporary literature with the intent to subvert a series of fairy tale tropes, themes, and motifs that appear both in the original tradition of the tale and in the contemporary retellings. The tradition itself establishes a firm matrilineal relationship across three generations within a singular family, maintains a sexist tone throughout Little Red's cautionary tale, and promotes the idea of a "knight in shining armor" via the Huntsman character. The contemporary retellings in young adult literature choose very similar avenues of translating the iconic components of the original fairy tale into a modern text, but continue to promote its sexist ideals in different ways. I set out to write a novel that adopts the quintessential themes of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, but challenges the sexist undertones which perpetuate in all its adaptations. In the end, I have adapted the tale into a young adult text that highlights the importance of strong female bonds without glorifying the "male savior" trope or reducing the other female characters to mere plot devices.

Committee: Eric LeMay (Advisor); Joseph McLaughlin (Other) Subjects: Literature

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Creative Writing/Poetry

Tender Alchemy is an exploration of how things can transform and rearrange themselves into something new. Within a series of poems, there is the re-telling, interrogation, and subversion of folklore that heavily relies on the vilification or submission of female spirits. Male imposition and female agency are seen through a lens of inhuman creatures depicted in human ways. Usually depicted as fickle, seductive, and malevolent, this collection offers a more nuanced look at aspects of these myths in hopes to provide a reprieve and defense of these creatures. Concerns for the natural world, working within Anthropocene philosophy, also makes notes on the inclusion and exclusion of humanity with nature while moving away from inherited language and romanticized scenes. The persona poems are utilized in a way to reclaim or re-imagine stories. The poetic exposition of this manuscript relies on a density of imagery, a clarity of voice, and, at times, an economic use of syntax. Unpunctuated poems allow negative capability to thrive as well as contributes delightful confusion and momentum. The variation of lineated and prose poems guides readers through tonal and thematic shifts along with hinting at a progression of emerging style. This collection takes notes from the alchemical representation of a person in three parts: Salt which represents the body, Mercury which represents the mind, and Sulfur which represents the spirit. The manuscript is organized in a way that poems are cohesive while maintaining relief from each other and providing a variety of effective styles. Salt contains poems that are concerned with the body and all of its joys and failings. Mercury, intentionally, boasts the most heavily concentrated amount of water poems and sees water not only as a shaping force of life but also a destructive power. It can wash away as easily as it can fall gently on a garden. Finally, Sulfur deals with the spirit. Sulfur addresses the themes stated above with additions of p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Frank Daniel Rzicznek MFA (Advisor); Abigail Cloud MFA (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, English

In this dissertation, I draw on folkloristics, feminist and queer scholarship, and narrative theory to propose an interdisciplinary understanding of the Gothic literary aesthetic that hinges on its folkloric debt, particularly its debt to faerie legends and fairy tales. I am interested in how folk narrative intertexts are used in nineteenth-century British literature to produce what we know as “the Gothic.” Notoriously difficult to define precisely, scholars have long settled for linking the Gothic to particular plots and motifs—in contrast, I argue that it is largely the connecting of a text to an unsettling, unexplainable folk past that produces the aesthetic/mode/feel that we now refer to as Gothic. It is no coincidence that the nineteenth-century rise of interest in folklore study and collection corresponds almost exactly to the creation of the first Gothic texts. The thoughtful use of folk narrative—so frequently the voice of the marginalized and forgotten—allows for an engagement with both history and the unknown, a questioning and subversion of constructed societal expectations (particularly with regard to gender and sexuality), and a probing of the deepest, darkest complexities of our selves.

Committee: Clare Simmons (Advisor); Ray Cashman (Advisor); Merrill Kaplan (Committee Member); Jill Galvan (Committee Member) Subjects: British and Irish Literature; Folklore; Gender; Gender Studies; Literature; Womens Studies

Bachelor of Science of Communication Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2018, Media Arts and Studies

An analysis of two virtual reality scenes which depict iconic moments from two popular fairy tales, focusing on the tribulations of coming of age. This thesis dives into the dark underlying themes of Little Red Riding Hood and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in the context of these virtual reality scenes.

Committee: Beth Novak (Advisor); Cary Frith (Other); Tyler Ayres (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

BA, Kent State University, 2017, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

Fairy tales emerged out of oral storytelling. Traditionally, these tales were told out loud to an audience, then learned and retold. The retelling would be altered to either outdo the previous teller or to be adjusted for the new storyteller's specific needs. These tales usually did not include morals, but instead had the fears, norms, and culture of the society they were created in engrained in the stories. Later, these tales were written down by scholars who edited the tales. The second edition of the fairy tale collections, however, brought with it the genre of children's literature. Fairy tales that could not be altered enough to be fit for children without also destroying the story were not included. This tales have since become less well-known, especially in America. This thesis argues that fairy tales that have been stalled can be revitalized and re-started through the act of retelling. This idea builds off the fairy tale tradition that was described by Donald Haase. We, the audience, are not just supposed to read fairy tales. We are supposed to learn them, take them apart, and retell them, keeping the parts of the story that we deem to be important and instilling within the fairy tale meaning that will allow the tale to be relevant for our society. This thesis contains both creative and analytical elements. For the creative portion, I retell five fairy tales that whose lives have been paused. The first two tales, "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault and "The Pig Prince" by Giovanni Straparola, are oral tales. The next three tales, "Sand-Man," "Mines of Falun," and "Automata," are literary tales that were originally told by E. T. A. Hoffman. Each retelling has been retold using books, movies, and TV shows to help anchor the retellings into a modern context. All of the tales are set in the mythical location of Point-G and have a bit of a science-fiction edge to them. The three literary tales are set in the science-fiction genre because their original storyt (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Don-John Dugas (Advisor) Subjects: Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, EDU Teaching and Learning

Temptation is replete in literature, both in fiction and non-fiction. Even though it may jeopardize a long-term goal, temptation is the underlying desire to partake in short term yearning for enjoyment. It is manifested in the forms of money, sex, fame, and even ambition. The cause of temptation can be something as simple as envy or craving. This study examined the select fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and Snow White, and how their impoverished protagonists (abandoned, shunned, or dealt with depressed times) responded to various lures, leading them to temptations which ultimately shape their futures. Using qualitative approaches of close reading and content analysis, the texts were coded based on character descriptions, settings, lures, and ultimately identifying the temptations that the protagonist faced. Each of these elements gave the reader a glimpse into the feelings and rationales of the characters and provided a foundation for the tales to be further scrutinized using the theoretical lenses of Marxism and Psychoanalysis. This research designated some fascinating, deeper meanings and subconscious motivations of these protagonists. Curiosity and longing for a better life for these characters, was a natural impulse. It was the temptation of nourishment (physical and emotional), wealth, sex, marriage, and motherhood. The most important outcomes of this study are the implications for educators, parents, and caregivers. The issue of temptation and its consequences is an important value to be reinforced. If children were exposed to the earlier versions of these fairy tales that have more examples of temptation and lures – and if they were instructed as to how to properly channel those “wants,” they would be better equipped to deal with these attractions.

Committee: Barbara Kiefer Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Elementary Education; Literacy; Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2017, English (Arts and Sciences)

This collection of short stories retells fairy tales and myths to bring out themes of feminism, heroism, and forgotten voices. The critical introduction is an investigation into the history of fairy tale retellings, and how we can best write works that engage in a conversation with other stories. This intro also argues for a return to the oral tradition, which is how these original fairy tales and myths were told, in order to evoke the spontaneity of oral performance. This project is interested in story-telling, from our childhood to adulthood, as I create a new canon of fairy tales for grown-ups.

Committee: Patrick O'Keeffe (Committee Chair) Subjects: Folklore; Literature

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2017, English (Arts and Sciences)

The dissertation is comprised of two sections—a critical essay titled “The Uncanny Way: Old Stories Make New Meanings,” and a book manuscript titled Coral Covered Her Bones. In “The Uncanny Way: Old Stories Make New Meanings,” I argue that the Freudian uncanny in fairy tales and fairy tale retellings enhances their disruptive potential through the twinned sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity. Fairy tales, far from being either intrinsically conservative or progressive, are essentially ideological sponges, able to morph and change based upon the social and historical context, as well as the writer'sexigence for writing. The ability of fairy tales to flex and change while still remaining recognizable enables social commentary. No telling of a fairy tale is ever alone. A fairy tales is always at once homely and unhomely, familiar and strange. I contend that it is the uncanny nature of the fairy tale which makes it such an appealing and suitable tool for story tellers with conscious rhetorical motives, usually that of social critique. Coral Covered Her Bones consists of a series of loosely intertwined short stories. Those short stories re-envision old stories, ranging from classical mythology (such as the rape of Leda or beheading of Medusa), to fairy tales, to speculative fiction. Through my use of familiar stories told differently, I create a space of unease and surprises, one that asks the reader to question familiar narratives. My stories strive to give archetypal figures real bodies and emotional heft, rendering impersonal problems deeply personal.

Committee: Joan Connor (Committee Chair); Joseph McLaughlin (Committee Member); Patrick O'Keeffe (Committee Member); William Owens (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Gender Studies; Literature

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, English

thumbelina sleepwalk is a collection of poems concerning the performance of femininity, “girliness”, and the vulnerable female body, deriving their content and structure from dream and nightmare material. The poems travel the unconscious cinematically, clashing the grotesque with the traditionally female or “girly”.

Committee: Catherine Wagner (Advisor) Subjects: Gender; Language Arts; Literature

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Cleveland State University, 2015, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

The stories contained herein explore a mythologized, fabled, American Heartland. American as in post-9/11 fear and discomfort, guns, television, consumerism, and self-image. Heartland as in place, society, family, and containment. Each story is connected in some way: recurring characters, words, language, themes, and place. Each story works to further a mythology of ordinary. The you and the me of us and of this: ours.

Committee: Imad Rahman MFA (Committee Chair); Christopher Barzak MFA (Committee Member); Caryl Pagel MFA (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Literature

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Creative Writing/Fiction

This collection of stories explores parental and personal failures through themes of chaos, guilt, escape, and violence. The work largely consists of magical realist premises, with one distinct realist story, and a set of three fairy tales. In these stories, women face threats that are self-inflicted or placed upon them by an outside force: a mother kidnaps her children and goes into hiding; a Bigfoot impersonator is hunted by sportsman and the creature; a grown-up Dorothy chases the elusive tornado; a child goes missing on a family vacation; and a mother copes with reconstructing her son after he returns from war.

Committee: Wendell Mayo Ph.D. (Advisor); Lawrence Coates Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Creative Writing/Fiction

Maps for the Getaway is a collection that centers on themes of home, identity, and disconnection. The book is to be read as a journey, with the first story about a departure from home, and the last a return to it. The works within are largely iterations of traditional fairy tales, some contemporized, some not. The characters in these stories are ever at odds with—or in search of—their pasts. In “The Glass Mountain,” a princess flees her kingdom only to be trapped in a mountain until she comes to terms with her mother's mysterious disappearance. “The Swan Brother” explores the relationship between a girl and her brother, whose life she has changed irreparably through a curse. “Raptures of the Deep” follows a young woman whose past literally comes back to haunt her in the form of her dead best friend, and the title story, “Maps for the Getaway,” is about a girl who wakes from a coma without a past. Also woven throughout the collection is a series of flash pieces, Untellings, which delve into singular events of various fairy tales and explore the thoughts and feelings of the characters within those moments.

Committee: Lawrence Coates PhD (Advisor); Wendell Mayo PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Literature

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Lanugo is a collection of poetry that explores the experience of living with an eating disorder through magical and realist means.

Committee: Mary Biddinger PhD (Committee Chair); Catherine Wing MFA (Committee Member); Imad Rahman MFA (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2014, History

In 1697, Charles Perrault published a volume of seven fairy tales, which continue to be widely read in the present day: “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella, or the Glass Slipper” “Puss in Boots,” “Bluebeard,” “Riquet and the Tuft,” “The Fairy,” and “The Little Thumbling.” What did early Americans make of these fairy tales? Beginning in the late eighteenth century, American presses began publishing American editions of these fairy tales, indicating their cross-cultural appeal. In my close reading and analysis of the American versions against the French originals, I pay special attention to the behavioral prescriptions and moral ideals embedded in these stories. I argue that by publishing these tales without changes, Americans accepted and endorsed European cultural norms and assumptions. This suggests that, despite political rhetoric about the United States creating itself anew, many American agreed with the formulas for cultural success as expressed in Charles Perrault's original French fairy tales. Further, the cultural binaries not only were adopted by Americans without change, but these values clearly illuminate characteristics of American exceptionalism that was so important to early Americans during the revolutionary era. Historical scholarship has largely ignored the significance of using fairy tales to analyze culture. Scholars of early modern literature focus primarily on the psychological interpretations of each tale. While a number of scholars have compared French and German fairy tales, none have compared French fairy tales to their American versions, and none have studied these seven tales in their comparative historical contexts. I have identified four binaries which run through the tales and provide a formula for cultural success: beauty and ugliness; obedience and disobedience; knowledge and ignorance; goodness and wickedness. Further, I am examining each tale in the context of another language, culture, and historical era. I have found that (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ruth Herndon (Advisor); Thomas Barden (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Folklore; History

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2013, English

The Most Delicate Parts is a collection of stories in which the fantastic collides with everyday life. Oksana Baiul becomes a swan in the skating rink. An ancient king haunts a bachelor's downstairs bathroom. And a girl automaton enters a beauty pageant. The collection is especially interested in creating images that recall the strangeness of fairy tales and magical realism. This attention to image creation often serves as an alternative method of gaining access into a character's carefully guarded interior, perhaps the strangest space within these stories.

Committee: Margaret Luongo (Committee Chair); Joseph Bates (Committee Member); Erin Edwards (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Animals; Robots

MDes, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning : Design

The entertainment industry may be on the verge of a major change. For more than a century, celluloid film has been the artistic medium for the motion picture industry- the third largest industry in the United States. However, recent advances in video technology may allow this visual media, once thought suitable only for broadcast television, to become the new industry standard. Although, at the time of this writing, only one Hollywood feature (The Anniversary Party) entirely shot on digital video has been released, in the coming years many more are sure to follow. Even more remarkable are the number of amateur filmmakers that have taken advantage of the medium of digital video to produce highly polished short films and displayed them on the Internet. In the following project, digital video and related technologies were used to produce a program that can be viewed as a series of shorts or as a feature length adaptation of some of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, in a manner faithful to the original tales, some of which have never been adapted to the screen before.

Committee: J. Chewning (Advisor) Subjects:

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2011, Art History

This paper was written to accompany an art exhibition by the same title which was up in Trisolini Gallery from May 3rd to May 7th at Ohio University Baker Center. It details my reflections on the show itself, as well as my influences in its creation including a brief summation of the Steampunk movement. It also examines the ideas of collection, reclaiming Wonder as an approach to scientific pursuits, Otherness, nerd culture, and morbidity, as well as fairy tales and the idea of storytelling. It also includes numerous pictures of the exhibition itself and of some of my inspirations.

Committee: Julie Dummermuth (Advisor) Subjects: Fine Arts

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Creative Writing/Fiction

A Girl Without Arms and Other Monsters is a collection focused around the notion of the monstrous, and considering whether or not the monster is a nightmare, a dream deferred, or the realization of one's desires. Most stories explore themes of sexuality, feminism, violence, strange bodies, family and one's place in it and transformation. Many of the stories use fairy tale conventions or fairy tale themes, while others play on traditional ideas of what it means to be a woman, and how when she is labeled a monster she can either bow before the notion, or revel in it.

Committee: Lawrence Coates (Committee Chair); Wendell Mayo (Committee Member) Subjects: