Kate Farrell, Storyteller

Domestic Fabulism

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I’ve written a new manuscript for this series of fabulist stories about modern young women. This tale draws from Greek mythology in its magical motifs that appear throughout the action. With a nod to Woman Wonder Tales, one of its characters arrives on the scene to help with the main character’s rescue.

A STRANGE BEAUTY:  YA Fabulist Novella (ages 15 – 25)  

 Sylvie Dawson has a dangerous secret, an abusive boyfriend who is stalking her. Forced to hide in her godmother’s country home for the summer, she struggles with isolation and creeping terror to discover her own strengths. Set among a coastal redwood forest and drawing from elements of ancient myth, Farrell weaves a fabulist tale that is all too real.

Encouraged with the positive response to the Woman Wonder Tales by a number of readers, and by the coining of a new genre called domestic fabulism, I sallied forth to address a current topic in that genre: male abuse of young women.

domestic.fabulism.workshopThe genre article in Electric Lit was exciting to me as a life long storyteller, since the author, Amber Spark, coined the phrase and then proceeded to define it:

“To explain further requires some exploration of the terms. Fabulism, often interchangeable with magical realism, I’d suggest incorporates fantastical elements within a realistic setting — distinguishing it from fantasy, in which an entirely created world (with constructed rules and systems) is born.

“These fantastical elements are often cribbed from myth, fairy tale or folk tale. Strange things happen and characters react by shrugging: animals talk, people fly, the dead get up and walk around. Time operates sideways, nature behaves mysteriously; fabulism feels like the kind of dream in which you look down and realize reality has forgotten its pants.”

Sparks goes on to say that while fabulism is exotic and faraway, domestic fabulism takes place in the everyday world and reveals the true nature of home, of relationships, the family—like a fun house mirror.

Domestic fabulism contains fantasy elements in contemporary, everyday life. Closer to fantasy than realism, it sits somewhere between magic realism and fantasy. Writers known for their fabulism works are Kelly Link and Jeff VanderMeer.

Perfect! That’s what I’ve attempted in A STRANGE BEAUTY: a new kind of wonder tale that is both here and there.

 

 

 

Hot Wheels for Wonder Woman

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1396502046In honor of Women’s History Month, Hot Wheels is selling a new set of superhero cars for super women: Wonder Woman, The Wasp, Maz, and Black Widow.

The cars’ design and characters’ costumes are based on their most recent or most recognizable appearances. The Wonder Woman car and her costume is from her upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice movie role that hits theaters March 25th. Wonder Woman’s tiara is integrated into the auto design that features a red tinted windshield and golden stripes.

It’s great to see a toy company that usually sells only to boys, offer a line of Hot Wheels for girls. Not only do the cars look powerful, but they are painted in the bold, primary colors of superheroes—no pink or pretty pastels for these crime-busting vehicles. They are fierce and aggressive.

Will girls play with the Hot Wheel cars? I wonder if they will zoom-zoom them around the carpet and hold races with their friends. In a way, it doesn’t matter. Even if the women’s superhero cars become decoration on a young girl’s dresser, they will make a difference in how she thinks of herself. She has permission to be outrageous, courageous, and stand out in a crowd.

Maybe it’s time for girls to wear a new kind of tiara. Wonder Woman’s tiara can be used as a throwing weapon, similar to a boomerang, and as a cutting device. It is worn on the forehead like a headband, golden with a red star to show her status as princess. Formidable.

Let’s get in those March 2016 Hot Wheels and drive!

 

 

What Is a Wonder Tale?

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wondertales__150212Some say that “fairy tale” is the wrong name for magical folktales. It was used in Spanish and in French, but in German and Italian, there is no word “fairy.” There is no allusion to a fairy. And many so-called fairy tales don’t even have any fairies.

A “wonder tale” has a wider, broader meaning, so it could take place in any location, not just in the ancient woods of the Grimm’s stories, like “Snow White,” or in the fantasy realms of the Celtic tales with “little people.”

Some folklorists use the German term Märchen or “wonder tale” to refer to the fairy tale. In his classic reference book, the 1977 [1946] edition of The Folktale, Thompson defines a wonder tale as: “A tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land … the characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal … and include magical helpers, often talking horses, or wild animals, or birds.”

New wonder tales are being told and produced today, even if we don’t recognize them as such. They are wildly popular and often, artistically successful.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, a drama film (2012) is a wonderful example because it is a magical tale that takes place in the United States. Usually what we think of as fairy or wonder tales are set in this lost magical land from centuries ago—the woods, the peasant villages, places where Brothers Grimm recorded folk stories.

imagesBut here the magical place is Louisiana, in a remote bayou town on the eve of a great storm. There are elements of the challenges of the post-Katrina era–that there is a quest of epic proportions for our times that must find its folk heroes.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards at the 85th Academy Awards, in the categories Best Picture, Best Director (Benh Zeitlin), Best Adapted Screenplay (Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin), and Best Actress (Quvenzhané Wallis). At age 9, Wallis became the youngest Best Actress nominee in history.

To me, this is a Wonder Tale that speaks to our 21st century — our time and place.