“A piece of new cloth on an old garment”: the same story, another story in retellings of fairy tales by Margaret Atwood, A. S. Byatt, and Angela Carter

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the impact of the use of revisionist tactics in retellings of fairy tales by the contemporary writers Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, and Angela Carter, in order to show how the new readings make it possible to question, and in some cases, even to contest or change conventional meanings crystallized by the tradition of these children’s stories. To do so I rely on Adrienne Rich’s concept of “revision” and on the notions of revisionist tactics pointed out by Rachel B. DuPlessis and Alicia S. Ostriker.