«I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver

«I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver

<p>Naomi Novik, an American writer of Lithuanian-Polish ascendency, is one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary young-adult fantasy fiction. Her fantasies are heavily influenced by her cultural heritage, as well as by the fairy tale tradition, which becomes most obvious in her two stan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sara González Bernárdez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2019-09-01
Series:Brumal: Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico
Subjects:
ideology, fantasy, the fantastic, fairy-tale, anti-semitism, gender.
Online Access:https://revistes.uab.cat/brumal/article/view/606
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spelling doaj-1137a0e4cdea4c6daeaa1f55facd68772021-02-09T17:29:15ZengUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaBrumal: Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico2014-79102019-09-017211113110.5565/rev/brumal.606237«I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning SilverSara González Bernárdez0Universidade de Santiago de Compostela<p>Naomi Novik, an American writer of Lithuanian-Polish ascendency, is one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary young-adult fantasy fiction. Her fantasies are heavily influenced by her cultural heritage, as well as by the fairy tale tradition, which becomes most obvious in her two standalone novels, <em>Uprooted </em>and the subject of this essay, <em>Spinning Silver</em>. As the quote chosen for this essay’s title demonstrates, Novik’s second standalone work constitutes one of the most obvious outward statements of an ideological stance as expressed within fantasy literature, as well as an example of what Jack Zipes (2006) called transfiguration: the rewriting and reworking of traditional tales in order to convey a different, more subversive message.</p><p>This paper considers how Novik’s retelling takes advantage of traditional fairy-tale elements to create an implicit critique of gender-based oppression, while at the same time, and much more overtly, denouncing racial and religious prejudice. The ideological stance thus conveyed is shown to be intended to have consequences for the reader and the world outside of the fiction.</p><p> </p>https://revistes.uab.cat/brumal/article/view/606ideology, fantasy, the fantastic, fairy-tale, anti-semitism, gender.
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sara González Bernárdez
spellingShingle Sara González Bernárdez
«I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
Brumal: Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico
ideology, fantasy, the fantastic, fairy-tale, anti-semitism, gender.
author_facet Sara González Bernárdez
author_sort Sara González Bernárdez
title «I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
title_short «I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
title_full «I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
title_fullStr «I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
title_full_unstemmed «I didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a Jew»: Escapism and the Ideological Stance in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
title_sort «i didn’t offer to shake hands; no one would shake hands with a jew»: escapism and the ideological stance in naomi novik’s spinning silver
publisher Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
series Brumal: Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico
issn 2014-7910
publishDate 2019-09-01
description <p>Naomi Novik, an American writer of Lithuanian-Polish ascendency, is one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary young-adult fantasy fiction. Her fantasies are heavily influenced by her cultural heritage, as well as by the fairy tale tradition, which becomes most obvious in her two standalone novels, <em>Uprooted </em>and the subject of this essay, <em>Spinning Silver</em>. As the quote chosen for this essay’s title demonstrates, Novik’s second standalone work constitutes one of the most obvious outward statements of an ideological stance as expressed within fantasy literature, as well as an example of what Jack Zipes (2006) called transfiguration: the rewriting and reworking of traditional tales in order to convey a different, more subversive message.</p><p>This paper considers how Novik’s retelling takes advantage of traditional fairy-tale elements to create an implicit critique of gender-based oppression, while at the same time, and much more overtly, denouncing racial and religious prejudice. The ideological stance thus conveyed is shown to be intended to have consequences for the reader and the world outside of the fiction.</p><p> </p>
topic ideology, fantasy, the fantastic, fairy-tale, anti-semitism, gender.
url https://revistes.uab.cat/brumal/article/view/606
work_keys_str_mv AT saragonzalezbernardez ididntoffertoshakehandsnoonewouldshakehandswithajewescapismandtheideologicalstanceinnaominoviksspinningsilver
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