Description
TRADITIONAL TALES
Book Summary
This collection of poems, runner-up for the 2024 Adonáis Prize, offers a heterodox and anti-romantic rewriting of classic fairy tales. The author, María Fernández Abril, interweaves iconic figures such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty with characters from mythology and popular culture, such as Eve, Penelope, or Lady Godiva, in a poetic proposal that combines irony, a bitter gaze, and contemporary freshness. Divided into five sections, the book uses the narrative functions of the classic folktale identified by Vladimir Propp as a foundation to explore love and existential experience from a lyrical and intense perspective.
What is it about?
TRADITIONAL TALES is a poetic journey that subverts the best-known children's stories to offer an adult, ironic, and sometimes flippant look at the world. The author starts with figures like Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, but interweaves them with characters from religion (Eve), mythology (Penelope, Aphrodite), and popular culture (Lady Godiva, cinematic references like Casablanca), as well as elements of medieval imagery such as princesses, towers, and witches. The collection is structured into five sections that base themselves on the narrative functions of the classic folktale identified by Vladimir Propp, without losing lyrical intensity. Love, the central theme of traditional tales, becomes the axis of an existential exploration marked by expressive vividness and the fusion of literary tradition with contemporary sensibility.
Main Themes
- Heterodox and anti-romantic rewriting of classic tales.
- Irony and a bitter look at love and existential experience.
- Fusion of literary tradition (folktales, mythology, religion) with contemporaneity.
- Incorporation of cinematic and cultural references.
- Structure based on Vladimir Propp's narrative functions.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers of contemporary poetry interested in works that reinterpret tradition from a critical and innovative perspective. It will also be attractive to those seeking an ironic and demystifying look at classic tales, as well as to those who value the fusion of literary, mythological, and cultural references in a single poetry collection. It is ideal for lovers of lyrical poetry who do not shy away from complexity and thematic richness.
What this book offers
- An original and heterodox rereading of traditional tales that challenges romantic interpretations.
- A poetic proposal that combines the richness of literary tradition with contemporary freshness and thematic breadth.
- A lyrical exploration of love and existential experience from an ironic and anti-romantic perspective.
- An innovative structure based on Vladimir Propp's narrative functions, which brings depth and coherence to the whole.
Technical Sheet
- Author: FERNANDEZ ABRIL, MARIA
- Publisher: EDICIONES RIALP S.A.
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: POETRY
- Collection: POETRY. ADONAIS
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: March 2025
- Number of pages: 84
- Weight: 93 g
Editorial Review
TRADITIONAL TALES presents itself as a solid and original poetic proposal, recognized with a runner-up award from the prestigious 2024 Adonáis Prize. The work stands out for its ability to subvert classic tales from an ironic and anti-romantic perspective, without losing lyrical intensity. The author skillfully manages to integrate literary, mythological, and cultural references, offering a reading that is both fresh and profound. It is a collection that will interest those looking for contemporary poetry that dialogues with tradition in a critical and creative way.