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View Full Version : The Girl Who Pretended to Be a Boy: info or ideas?



Djiril
March 22nd, 2007, 02:40 PM
I have been toying with the idea of doing a graphic novel of The The Girl Who Pretended to Be a Boy (http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/053.htm) from Andrew Lang's "The Violet Fairy Book". Part of the reason I want to do this is because it is such an odd story that doesn't conform to what most people think when they hear the words "fairy tale," but I am not sure how I want to approach it.

I wanted to start by finding out more about its origins, but I haven't had much luck so far. In the book it says, "From Sept Contes Roumains, Jules Brun and Leo Bachelin," but I haven't found a single reference to what that might be or if it can be found anywhere. A google search showed me that some people think the story is from Romania, so I've been following that lead a bit and learning about the country, but have had a hard time narrowing it down to the information I want.

Ideally, I would like to find out the following:

When was the story first told/collected? By who was it told/collected?

Has the the story changed since it was first told? Are there any alternate versions collected?

You may note that I said "ideally." I know that some of this information may be impossible to find, but as a folklore geek I must ask anyway. If anyone knows anything or has any theories, I'd love to hear it. Personal thoughts on the story are welcome as well.

omar
March 23rd, 2007, 07:10 PM
Back in the 1860 -1890 there was a stage coach driver out west that was a woman but no one new it till after she died. The mortician got the sheiriff to come & confurm it. She drank, chewed & cussed. Don't remember her name.

Djiril
March 23rd, 2007, 08:42 PM
Back in the 1860 -1890 there was a stage coach driver out west that was a woman but no one new it till after she died. The mortician got the sheiriff to come & confurm it. She drank, chewed & cussed. Don't remember her name.

I've heard of a lot of documented cases about things like that. Mostly about soldiers or sailors.

I am actually looking for information on either medieval Romania or crossdressing/warrior women in Eastern European folklore. Also people's reactions to the story linked above and ideas about adapting it into a graphic novel for modern readers.

omar
March 26th, 2007, 08:10 PM
I read a book about "Warrior Women" but I don't know who wrote it?

Ben Gruagach
March 27th, 2007, 03:17 PM
Check out this article from the Folklore journal (http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-587X(1990)101%3A2%3C178%3ATHWSSW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D).

morganxpage
March 28th, 2007, 04:31 PM
For more information on real cases of this sort of thing, you might want to check out TransGender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg.

BrightStar
March 29th, 2007, 04:33 PM
The idea makes me think a bit of 'Twelfth Night' by Shakespeare.
Different,of course,but does have the 'woman pretending to be a man' aspect.
He often found his storylines from Italian tales.He sets it along the Adriatic Coast,so maybe he found something similar from there?But,Adriatic does face East.
Some sources say his main source for Twelfth Night was probably Farewell to Militarie Profession (1581), by Barnabie Riche.

Peace and Love
BrightStar