Retelling w literaturze

Abstract

The text presents a definition of retelling as a contemporary creative strategy based on re-narrating culturally established stories — myths, fairy tales, legends and canonical literary works. It discusses the existing definitional inconsistencies within literary studies and highlights that retelling now functions as an umbrella term encompassing diverse forms of reinterpretation, regardless of the status of their source material or the degree of transformation involved. The authors point to the difficulties in establishing clear typologies. The text emphasizes the transformative nature of retelling, in which a hypotext is reshaped into a hypertext through its adaptation to contemporary values, needs and perspectives. It further identifies feminist, queer and intersectional approaches to this practice, underscoring their role in critically rewriting history, challenging patriarchal structures and restoring agency to previously marginalized characters. The growing popularity of this strategy within popular literature — addressed both to adult readers and to young and new adult audiences — is also highlighted.