Angela Carter and speculative fiction

Angela Carter died in 1992, but her modern fables continue to intrigue, disturb and delight. She was a journalist, novelist, short story writer who also wrote radio and screen plays. Her best known works are her last novel Wise Children and her collection of dark fairy tales The Bloody Chamber. Her short story The Company of Wolves was adapted into a film by Neil Jordan in 1984 and is, in part, a re-telling, reinterpretation of Little Red Ridinghood.

The Bloody Chamber is a modern retelling of the fairy tale that challenges stereotypical gender roles. They reveal female characters who ultimately rely on their own agency, rather than subjugating themselves to patriarchal order. The stories also are based on themes of initiation and passages--from adolescence to womanhood; from nubile innocence to worldliness; and from pliant dependency to self empowerment.

Speculative fiction has a long history of addressing fundamental, moral questions about society and culture, providing a means to examine issues of gender, power differentials and identity. To paraphrase Carter from an interview by Anna Kastovas that was published posthumously in 1994: speculative fiction can ask deeper questions about the structure and meanings of the world around us. (Just click on the hyperlink to access the full interview.)

Now, more than ever, the world needs alternative myths to live by.