Genre-Fairytale

Writing a tale in her work, AS Byatt draws frequently on the themes and imagery of fairytales. In an essay from Pretext magazine, Sarah Gooderson explores the role of the fairytale in a selection of Byatt's short stories Thursday September 22, 2005guardian.co.uk

"As a little girl I was angry with Hans Christian Andersen for making me suffer. I thought he was pushing my mind around. In fact he was turning me into a writer." - AS Byatt, Statement as a British Hans Christian Andersen Ambassador

Fairytales hold an attraction partly because of their universality; they have been around in various forms and cultures for centuries. They reach into the core of nostalgia for childhood; they offer comfort. What is thus compelling for some writers is the potentiality of these tales for subversion; the malleability of their structures; the opportunity to play with their conventions. In the late twentieth century, many writers - particularly female - reworked fairy stories. Angela Carter, for instance, eschewed the old rigid gender roles and female masochisms, reinventing these tales as more liberatory for women. I think AS Byatt too found freedom on entering into territories other than conventional realism, such as the past and the wonder tale, often mixed with domestic reality. The instability of the fairytale and the identities within it open the door for self-conscious parody and irony, bringing freshness to an old genre. Previously passive princesses can change their destinies Possession marked a turning point in Byatt's career, helping her to discover her writer's identity, leading much of her future work (whether short story, novel or novella) to include overt or embedded magical elements. There's freedom in wearing the cloak of the fairytale.

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