The subordinate characterisation of female characters in the contemporary legend and related genres

Abstract

This paper analyses the characterisation of female characters in ten texts from the Folklore Archive of the University of the Balearic Islands that can be ascribed to different narrative genres that fall within the orbit of the legend: the contemporary legend, the antilegend, the hoax, the joke and the traditional letter. The characterisation of the female characters in these texts is resolved in two ways: on the one hand, they appear as victims of a male aggressor and, on the other, they play the role of aggressors, promiscuous or liberated women who govern their own destiny. In both cases, however, the resolution of the conflict in the story reveals the subordination of the female main characters to the patriarchal framework and the hegemonic male pornographic imaginary.