Thursday, March 7th at 17.00, [A] Infoshop

Exercise in interpretation
»If you're a woman, become a man!«

The discussion will focus on examples of Balkan fairy tales written at the end of the 19th century; fairytales with atypical plots about heroines who go into the world, overcome numerous obstacles dressed into a man, and finally earn a princess. How can we understand fairy tales and their gender roles differently today? Can a socially determined fairy tale heroine be saved from a heteronormative patriarchal order? Is a lesbian fairy tale heroine possible?
Interpreters: Lilijana Burcar, Suzana Tratnik, Maja Panand Zdena Gajser.

In Slovenian.

*

Lilijana BurcarPh. D. of literary sciences, is currently working at Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, her research work is focused on feminist theory, gender studies, post-colonial and neo-colonial studies and contemporary British and American literature. She is a member of MLA, Children's Literature Association in ESSE. Her articles were published in magazines Delta, Otrok in knjiga and other Slovenian and foreign expert publications. She is the author of the study Novi val nedolžnosti v otroški literaturi.

Zdenka Gajser is a storyteller.

Maja Pan graduated in 2002 at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. The topic of her diploma work was philosophical analysis of fairytale Dekle-junak. In 2008, she is going to receive a Master's degree for her work in the field of feminism and subjectivity. Maja is also an activist in the field of human rights and animal rights, and the author of Ljubezen je ljubezen (engl.: Love is love), a guide for learning and understanding human rights on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
Links: www.ljudjeza.org
and: http://www.amnesty.si/izobrazevanje.php?kid=109

Suzana Tratnik, graduated in sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences and was awarded a Master's degree in anthropology of genders at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies ISH. She lives and works in Ljubljana as a writer, translator, publicist and activist. Her stories and books were translated in several languages. In 2007 she was the recipient of the award of Prešernov sklad for literature. For many years she is activist in lesbian movement and runs and co-creates a cultural-socialization program of the ŠKUC-LL Club Monokel in ACC Metelkova mesto.
Link: www.ljudmila.org/~tratniksu

*

Illustration by Lidija Osterc. Taken from Deklica, preoblečena v mladeniča (Vilinski konjic, Macedonian fairytales, collected by Duško Nanevski).

Similar Romanian fairytale in English: http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/053.htm

.