[Commlist] Call for chapters Gender and the Male character in 21st Century Fairy Tale Narratives

*CALL FOR CHAPTERS *

*/Gender and the Male character in 21/**/st /**/Century Fairy Tale 
Narratives /*

Ms. Natalie Le Clue & Dr Janelle Vermaak-Griessel

*Call for Chapter Authors *

What’s in a name? Not much if you’re Prince Charming. While the 
erstwhile indistinctive princes and heroes of fairy tales have enjoyed a 
bit of the spotlight in modern television and film narrative this 
exposure has not extended, as much, to the academic study of fairy tale men.

Over the last decade the male fairy tale character has received more 
attention in terms of fictional narratives for television and film. The 
inventive ABC television series /Once Upon A Time /treated audiences to 
a bevy of nuanced male characters. From the shady and complicated 
Rumpelstiltskin to the born-again hero Captain Hook to the multi- 
faceted Prince Charming, several fairly unknown characters were 
amplified to a level never experienced. This further extends to a 
plethora of contemporary stories which magnify the male character. These 
include, amongst others, /The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Tangled, Frozen, 
/Tim Burton’s /Alice in Wonderland, /etc.

Ruth Bottigheimer writes: “the elements that make up the fairy tale 
genre were all in place before the 1550s,” (2009: 20). Therefore, it is 
entirely plausible that the concept of some fairy tale characters have 
transcended their ‘original’ genre and bled into several other fictional 
genres. As such, it should be noted that while this collection of 
chapters is premised on the male fairy tale character, and necessitates 
a clear link, it is not confined to this one genre of storytelling. The 
influence of fairy tales reaches far and wide. For example, elements of 
Bluebeard can be identified in the male character of the BBC television 
series /The Fall, /in the 2019 film /Serenity, /and, amongst others, in 
Ryan Murphy’s /American Horror Story: Cult. /Also, the narrative theme 
of the beauty and the beast is distinguishable in films such as 
Guillermo del Toro’s /The Shape of Water. /

This book intends to compile a collection of research on male characters 
in 21st century fairy tale narratives, which may include but is not 
limited to:

• •

• • • • •

Alternative conceptualizations of ‘traditional’ male fairy tale 
characters Intersection between fairy tales and contemporary horror 
and/or science fiction

films
The image of fairy tales in popular culture
The evolution of male fairy tale characters from series and film Gender 
representation and dichotomy of male fairy tale characters

Fan fiction identities, framing, freedom of identity, power structures, 
etc. Representation of life challenges and addressing/illustrating of 
societal issues

The book intends to be the first collection of chapters for which the 
focus falls uniquely on the contemporary male fairy tale character. In 
contemporary storytelling there exist rich representations of re-told 
and re-imagined male fairy tale characters. However, there concurrently 
exists a lack of academic study on this specific topic. Through the 
prism of an interdisciplinary approach, topics focused on race, 
disability, class, religion, sexuality, etc. are encouraged. The 
objective extends towards the inclusion of submissions from differing 
academic perspectives and disciplines which consist of, but are not 
limited to, the fields of gender studies, queer studies, fan studies, 
film and television studies, character analysis, etc.

*Proposal Submissions – Due by 16 June 2022
Chapter proposals must include the following elements: *

  * ▪ Complete contact information and institutional affiliation for the
    author(s);
  * ▪ Author biography
  * ▪ A tentative title for the chapter;
  * ▪ A 300-word abstract;
  * ▪ A list of anticipated key references.
Send proposals to the editors via email: Ms. Natalie Le Clue and Dr 
Janelle Vermaak-Griessel, (malecharactersbook /at/ gmail.com) The editors will 
notify authors regarding acceptance by 30 July 2022.

page2image43736384

*Book Editors *

Ms Natalie Le Clue, Department of Media and Communication, Nelson 
Mandela University, South Africa

Dr Janelle Vermaak-Griessel, Department of Media and Communication, 
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

*References *

Bottigheimer, R.B. (2009). /Fairy Tales: A New History/. New York: State 
University of New York Press. P20.


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