FROM AVARICIOUS OLD WOMAN TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR: EVOLUTION OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN CHILDREN'S REWRITINGS OF THE MILKMAID’S TALE

Abstract

This work analyzes nine retellings of the well-known Milkmaid’s folktale (motif ATU1430) in current children’s and young people’s literature in Spanish language. It begins with a brief historical review that systematizes the main transformations suffered in the process of cultural transmission and shows how the current rewritings subvert the classic versions of La Fontaine and Samaniego. Subsequently, the selected texts are examined considering the relationship they maintain with the reference hypotext and the rewriting technique used. The aim is to point out the changes and innovations introduced in the story, which particularly affect the characterization and functionality of the female character so as to assess their impact on today’s children’s readers. It will be shown how the greedy old woman in medieval apologists (or the frivolous young girl in classic versions) becomes a creative and enterprising character. In addition, the new texts shed the fable’s characteristic moralism or subvert the social values with which the story had traditionally been associated. In short, the motif is reworked and offers an updated concept of women and their social role.