Wooing Werewolves: A New Take on Feminine Awakening in Little Red riding Hood

In a groundbreaking article, Carola Maria Wide delves into the transformative journey of female protagonists in the beloved fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” This exploration, titled “Wooing Werewolves: Girls’ Genius, Feminine, and Initiation in Angela Carter’s and Märta Tikkanen’s Versions of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’,” reimagines the narrative of girls’ initiation through the lens of contemporary literature and critical theory.

The article compares the traditional tale “The Story of Grandmother,” popularized by Paul Delarue in 1956, with three contemporary adaptations: Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” and “Wolf-Alice” (1979), and Märta Tikkanen’s Rödluvan (1986). By integrating fairy-tale scholarship on female initiation with Julia Kristeva’s theories of subjectivity, the feminine, and the genius, the research uncovers how these stories assign societal identities and roles to their female characters and how these change.

A key focus of the analysis is the interaction between the young heroines and werewolves, which serves as a metaphor for the heroine's feminine psychosexual development. The findings, presented through both text and visuals, challenge traditional views on feminine psychosexuality and propose the concept of “girl genius,” visible in Figure 1. below. This concept encapsulates the heroines’ journey beyond the boundaries of normative heterosexuality, offering a fresh perspective on their empowerment and self-discovery.

The article’s insights into feminine awakening within these tales not only enrich our understanding of literary archetypes but also invite a reevaluation of gender roles in folklore and beyond. The article has been published in Folklore: An Electronic Journal of Folklore, vol. 92, in 2024.

Figure 1. Girl Geniuses I-III (© Carola Maria Wide)