Scheherazade's Sisters: Trickster Heroines and Their Stories in World Literature

(Hardback)

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"Scheherazade's Sisters" are those female protagonists in folktales who use trickery to save themselves and others, to find new directions for their lives, and to declare their individual autonomies, and especially in societies that diminish and oppress women. Through creative strategies that depend on verbal facility, psychological acuity and diplomatic know-how, these women tricksters - renamed trickstars - uncover the absurdity, hypocrisy and corruption in the larger patriarchal society. Through the trickstar's efforts, "the system" is circumvented or foiled; often enlightened and usually improved. This book is a multicultural, comparative study which reveals universal human traits as well as gender differences in female and male tricksters and realizes the values and attitudes which shape trickstar's character and behaviour. Trickstars also have lives outside of the oral folktale tradition; the author discusses her role in contemporary revisionist tales, as well as in mythology, biblical narrative, Shakesperean comedy, novels, plays and opera. How the female trickster differs from her male counterpart is illustrated through a comparison of their functions in the narrative scheme of the tale. These functions include the diverting or amusing action, the morally ambiguous or reprehensible role and the beneficial or improving trick. The volume delineates and examines specific types of tricksters, suggests how trickster tales variously affect listeners and readers, and shows how a particular type of trickster character contributes to the intent of the tale. Feminist views of the women protagonists are analyzed as are revisionist folktales which seek to reverse the negative female image and to construct independent women characters who make positive contributions to society.

Reviews

"Dr. Jurich has found in numerous tales a heroine who has not hitherto gotten enough attention, namely the trickster in its female form, labelled trickstar. This is a heroine who is self-sufficient, enjoys games and demonstrates cleverness, initiative, and courage. She turns obstacles into triumphs and has a sense of humor. The trickstar exposes hypocrisies and stupidities in the social establishment and introduces new ways of thinking and different ways of looking at gender. Dr. Jurich's presentation of this heroine is well argued, well supported and enthusiastically written. This is a book worthy of attention from folklorists and feminists alike."-Torborg Lundell University of California
"Jurich's research is extensive and detailed....Her summaries of folk tales are both lively and economical; and, in her obvious enjoyment of the tales themselves, she never loses sight of her purpose....Scheherezade's Sister is both readable and provocative. [Her] narrative is also extraordinarily rich in examples and informed by her own infectious enthusiasm for her subject and discoveries."-Paradoxa
Educators and others seeking folktales with strong female heros will find this guide useful.- Choice
Jurich's research is extensive and detailed....Her summaries of folk tales are both lively and economical; and, in her obvious enjoyment of the tales themselves, she never loses sight of her purpose....Scheherezade's Sister is both readable and provocative. [Her] narrative is also extraordinarily rich in examples and informed by her own infectious enthusiasm for her subject and discoveries.- Paradoxa
Marilyn Jurich's Scheherazade's Sisters is a welcome addition to the literature on tricksters. A few years ago, when I was preparing to teach a course on tricksters, I made a fairy extensive search for examples and analyses of female tricksters with very little success. This volume would have been a dream come true.... Scheherazade's Sisters will prove to be a much-used reference work for it's mass of references to female tricksters; in addition, it deserves to be carefully considered for its analytical contributions.- Journal of Folklore
"Educators and others seeking folktales with strong female heros will find this guide useful."-Choice
"Marilyn Jurich's Scheherazade's Sisters is a welcome addition to the literature on tricksters. A few years ago, when I was preparing to teach a course on tricksters, I made a fairy extensive search for examples and analyses of female tricksters with very little success. This volume would have been a dream come true.... Scheherazade's Sisters will prove to be a much-used reference work for it's mass of references to female tricksters; in addition, it deserves to be carefully considered for its analytical contributions."-Journal of Folklore

Author Bio

MARILYN JURICH is Associate Professor of English at Suffolk University.-She teaches courses as diverse as fantasy and folklore, speculative literature, children's literature, the 18th century novel and modern British poetry.