Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Re-Opening The Story Bag: An Examination Of Korean Folktales And The Role Of Women, Susan Ranae Hallquist

Antonian Scholars Honors Program

Although Korean women are often seen as submissive, colonized, and philosophically speaking have been made invisible, their active roles in their families, communities, and world can be seen by unpacking the rich tradition of Korean folktales. The voices and perspectives of the women within the folktales are often buried under patriarchal retellings. Thus, there is a deep need for a re-envisagement of these stories in order for the women’s narration to become clear.

This project is an exploration of some Korean folktales with a specific focus on the role of women within those folktales. Four folktales are retold from the …

Talking Tools, Suffering Servants, And Defecating Men: The Power Of Storytelling In Maithil Women’S Tales, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

What can we learn about the way that folk storytelling operates for tellers and audience members by examining the telling of stories by characters within such narratives? I examine Maithil women’s folktales in which stories of women’s suffering at the hands of other women are first suppressed and later overheard by men who have the power to alleviate such suffering. Maithil women are pitted against one another in their pursuit of security and resources in the context of patrilineal formations. The solidarities such women nonetheless form—in part through sharing stories and keeping each other’s secrets—serve to mitigate their suffering and …