Kocsis Krisztina | Universitatea Babeș Bolyai (original) (raw)

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Papers by Kocsis Krisztina

Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philologia

"Within the rising ecocriticism in literary studies, a valuable resource for reconfiguring w... more "Within the rising ecocriticism in literary studies, a valuable resource for reconfiguring what it means to be (non)human is found in fairy tales, featuring animal agency, transspecies interactions, hybridities, and shapeshifting. With this in mind, the present paper tackles the nonhuman imaginary in the Romanian version of the ATU 514 tale type, i.e. shift of sex, which clearly deviates from the heroic pattern, since the protagonist is the emperor’s daughter, who is cross-dressed and then metamorphosed into Prince Charming. But does this relaxation of gender norms generate a similar disruption of the position of the animal in magical thinking? In a close reading of the fairy tale corpus, human-nonhuman animal relations are examined bidirectionally, focusing on the one hand, on the master initiator’s transbiology (the emperor disguised in animal form) and on the other hand, on two opposite anthropomorphic animals (the wise guide vs. the villain, the horse vs. the genie). Through a hybrid methodology, these transgressive possibilities are explored by combining ritualistic-anthropological, corporeal, and psycho-social aspects with current posthuman concerns. Overall, the analysis of such ontologically ambiguous narratives reveals one of the ways in which these old tales can still be read today to subvert traditional anthropocentric structures. Keywords: animal studies, fairy tales, posthumanism, ATU 514 tale type, human-animal relations "

Philobiblon. Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in the Humanities, 2021

Seeing that the majority of folk tales feature a male protagonist, the "Ileana Sâmziana" fairy ta... more Seeing that the majority of folk tales feature a male protagonist, the "Ileana Sâmziana" fairy tale, collected by Petre Ispirescu, represents a deviation from this heroic archetype by focusing on the emperor's daughter, who would become Prince Charming. Circumscribed to the ATU 514 folk motif, i.e., change of sex, it depicts gender fluidity reminiscent of cross-dressing in pubertal rites of passage. Based on these premises, the present paper closely analyses the process of transsexual metamorphosis of the main character. Ultimately, it is aimed to expose any resemblance to traditional formative discourses on masculine social values and determine whether the emperor's daughter should be regarded as a true feminine and /or a heroic figure. Keywords Fairy tale, rite of passage, androgyny, cross-dressing, change of sex.

Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philologia

"Within the rising ecocriticism in literary studies, a valuable resource for reconfiguring w... more "Within the rising ecocriticism in literary studies, a valuable resource for reconfiguring what it means to be (non)human is found in fairy tales, featuring animal agency, transspecies interactions, hybridities, and shapeshifting. With this in mind, the present paper tackles the nonhuman imaginary in the Romanian version of the ATU 514 tale type, i.e. shift of sex, which clearly deviates from the heroic pattern, since the protagonist is the emperor’s daughter, who is cross-dressed and then metamorphosed into Prince Charming. But does this relaxation of gender norms generate a similar disruption of the position of the animal in magical thinking? In a close reading of the fairy tale corpus, human-nonhuman animal relations are examined bidirectionally, focusing on the one hand, on the master initiator’s transbiology (the emperor disguised in animal form) and on the other hand, on two opposite anthropomorphic animals (the wise guide vs. the villain, the horse vs. the genie). Through a hybrid methodology, these transgressive possibilities are explored by combining ritualistic-anthropological, corporeal, and psycho-social aspects with current posthuman concerns. Overall, the analysis of such ontologically ambiguous narratives reveals one of the ways in which these old tales can still be read today to subvert traditional anthropocentric structures. Keywords: animal studies, fairy tales, posthumanism, ATU 514 tale type, human-animal relations "

Philobiblon. Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in the Humanities, 2021

Seeing that the majority of folk tales feature a male protagonist, the "Ileana Sâmziana" fairy ta... more Seeing that the majority of folk tales feature a male protagonist, the "Ileana Sâmziana" fairy tale, collected by Petre Ispirescu, represents a deviation from this heroic archetype by focusing on the emperor's daughter, who would become Prince Charming. Circumscribed to the ATU 514 folk motif, i.e., change of sex, it depicts gender fluidity reminiscent of cross-dressing in pubertal rites of passage. Based on these premises, the present paper closely analyses the process of transsexual metamorphosis of the main character. Ultimately, it is aimed to expose any resemblance to traditional formative discourses on masculine social values and determine whether the emperor's daughter should be regarded as a true feminine and /or a heroic figure. Keywords Fairy tale, rite of passage, androgyny, cross-dressing, change of sex.