(Please note that the meeting location for this colloquium is not the same as those held last semester. The room for this colloquium talk is listed below:)
Presented by Charlotte Sullivan, Faculty in English
Friday, January 22nd, from noon – 12:50 p.m.
Room C1018
Abstract:
When your mother told you, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs,” you knew what she was talking about. She, like countless storytellers, artists, and filmmakers before and since, was offering her own vision of The Frog Prince fairy tale, and in so doing, revealing her thoughts about the nature of love and mate selection. Disney’s The Princess and the Frog makes just such a run at reimagining this essential fairy tale. But why are we so obsessed with this story about a disgusting amphibian who won’t take no for an answer?
A look into the evolution of this and other transformation fairy tales, like Beauty and the Beast or The Riquet with the Tuft, reveals our continuing need to explore our cultural ideas about partnering. English, French, German, and American literary and film versions of these stories limn just how much our ideas about gender roles and mate selection have and, in some cases, haven’t changed over the past three centuries. Find out who the Princess will kiss next....
Presenter Bio:
Charlotte E. Sullivan writes children’s fiction, essays, and poetry. Her work has been published or honored by Fourth Genre, Rockford Review, Freshwater, Front Range Review, The StarTribune, a Pushcart nomination, and other publications. She interviews children’s and young adult authors for KFAI’s Write On Radio! and participates in the GLBT Intermedia Arts Reading Series. She earned an MFA in fiction from Hamline University and an MS in Curriculum and Instruction from Mankato State University. Having taught English and Creative Writing for 14 years, she currently works at Normandale Community College, Luther Seminary’s Center for Writing and Research, and The Loft Literary Center. In her spare time she serves as a freelance editor of children’s and young adult novels for The Queue at Scarletta Press.
