Feminist Fables

by Suniti Namjoshi

133 pages. Illustrated by Susan Trangmar.

Genres: Feminism, Short Stories, Fiction, LGBT, India, Retellings, Mythology

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 1981

About the author

Suniti Namjoshi is a poet, children's author, and teacher. She ran a collaborative fiction site in the late nineties called The Reader's Text of Building Babel. She lives in England with her partner Gillian Hanscombe.

Reviews

[Mehwish · Rating 4 out of 5]

133 witty, poignant and candid tales.

The best one:

"There was once a man who thought he could do anything, even be a woman. So he acquired a baby, changed it's diapers and fed the damn thing three times a night. He did all the housework, was deferential to men, and got worn out. But he had a brother, Jack Cleverfellow, who hired a wife, and got it all done." - The Tale of Two Brothers.

[Laura Verret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supremely satisfying.

[Yamini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed this book. It is a classic retelling of fables, age-old fantasy tales, and the folktales we have heard of since birth, everything from a female and LGBT perspective, with a tint of sarcasm and fun, and sometimes a pause. And imagine, a stalwart like Suniti Namjoshi wrote this as early as the 80s. What an achievement! What a book!

[Soren · Rating 4 out of 5]

El estudio preliminar que se hace sobre el contexto en el que Suniti Namjoshi escribe, y escribió, sus fábulas me parece de lo más acertado. De no haber leído tal estudio se me hubieran escapado infinidad de detalles sobre estas fábulas.

La verdad es que me siento incapaz de explicar de manera acertada lo que este libro puede transmitir, tan solo diré que juega muy bien con los elementos de la identidad de género.

[Tuğba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feminizmi, erkek düşmanlığı olarak yansıtan birçok hikâye vardı ki bu gerçekten üzücü ve tarafgirlige iten bir tutum. Kadın erkek ilişkisindeki hakların gözetilmesi yerine erkeklerin saf dışı bırakılması tavsiyeleri de gereksiz yoğun olarak sunulmuş. Gerçek sevgiyi, aşkı yalnızca iki kadının arasında gerçekleşmesi mümkün algısıyla dikte edilen öyküler iticiydi. Yanlış ve yanlı bir bakış açısı bana göre. Feminizm ile ilgili eserler okumak için kesinlikle doğru bir eser değil.

[Alex Sharps · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* I definitely didn't understand all of these, but overall enjoyed them.

[Everett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Namjoshi has a lot of wit and weaves these feminist cover versions in a genuine fashion. But where these original fables, myths, and folktales have had hundreds of years to mature, through countless re-tellings and revisions, the immediacy of Namjoshi´s style doesnßt adequately capture their original potency. Perhaps by taking out the element of the inherent or percieved misogyny of these fables, their essential power is diminished? Perhaps new feminist folklure, perhaps even manifested in the oral tradition, would be more profound? By creating a world on one´s own, instead of mining the patriarchal past to produce cover versions of cover versions, a new understanding might develop, one that´s not based on reaction but progress.

[Gill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea. These are short easy to read in spare minutes 'fables', but I really just didn't get them although there were passages that were amusing. I had mooched it for someone else and read it before posting it on. Not impressed but perhaps it's just me...

[Mirabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read fables and this is the first time I ever read anything similar to Sanskrit fables. I like the parodies but I think some of them should be a bit longer. The hedgehog one was adorable and funny. I read Bitch, Slut, Whore, Sow to one of my friends. My favourite one was Jewel because of how provocative it was in such few sentences. Trigger warnings for this book: rape, death, misogyny, kidnapping

[Maral Çankaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masallar çoğu zaman eğlendirdi, fakat bazı bazı referans verilen masallar, efsaneler ve olaylar hakkında bilgi eksikliğinden olsa gerek anlamadığım noktalar oldu. Verilen dipnotlar belki biraz daha geliştirilebilirdi.

Fakat toplumsal cinsiyet tartışmalarının evrensel imgeleriyle bezenmiş masallar gayet eğlendirici ve zevkli idi.

Bununla beraber çevirinin yer yer okumayı zorlaştırdığını düşündüm. Ancak buna dair yeterli kanıtım yok…

[Charvi]

DNF

I wasn't very fond of the writing style. Another problem I faced was not being aware of all the original fairytales which made it hard for me to get what the new version of them meant.

[hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoying Suniti Namjoshi's 'Feminist Fables' - a combination/collection of inventive, witty, disturbing, sad, satisfying, funny, and even some happily ever after, twists on traditional tales.

[M. Winslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book filled with very short fables and big thoughts.

[Ermina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iako je i ovdje dominantna jedna vrsta ideologije, radije biram ovo štivo za djecu i odrasle nego ono ezopovsko.

[Nesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

good idea,bad writing

[Meher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable, witty and amusing. Still poignant sadly, all these years after they were published

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read: "Nymph," "The Princess," "Local History," and "Jewel" from this collection.

[Aisha (thatothernigeriangirl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ✨
Feminist Fables is a collection of feminist retelling of fairytales/ mythology by Suniti Namjoshi. The collection contains stories from the Greek and Sanskrit mythology, stories from Tales from the Arabian Nights and even some Hans Andersen’s tales. Its peculiar quality is its ability to force the reader to re-examine the female standings in the tales.

A case in point for me, is the take of Sheherazade which formed the bedrock for Tales from the Arabian Nights. I read that book in July and I didn’t see the problematic position Sheherazade had to resort to to prevent the Caliph from executing her. In this example and many more, Namjoshi shorn light on these problems. She employed the use of sarcasm, humor and wit to deliver her views.

Although, I think it would be an added advantage if the reader is familiar with the stories she retold as it would present a clearer contest. Nevertheless, the overall goal of the collection is easily accessible to the average reader. It’s also important to note that trigger topics like rape, assault, harassment were discussed
My final verdict is that this book isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
I wouldn’t recommend it vehemently but I did enjoy reading it and i appreciate its goal!

[Rhiannon Fennell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourite story is on page 99