Snow White in the Spanish cultural tradition: Analysis of the contemporary audiovisual adaptations of the tale

Bravo, Irene Raya, and María del Mar Rubio-Hernández. "Snow White in the Spanish cultural tradition: Analysis of the contemporary audiovisual adaptations of the tale." Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: New Perspectives on Production, Reception, Legacy. Ed. Chris Pallant and Christopher Holliday. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. 249–262. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 17 Apr. 2023. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781501351198.ch-014>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 17 April 2023, 06:28 UTC. Access provided by: Universidad de Sevilla Copyright © Chris Pallant and Christopher Holliday 2021. Released under a CC BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). You may share this work for noncommercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 249 14 Snow White in the Spanish cultural tradition: Analysis of the contemporary audiovisual adaptations of the tale Irene Raya Bravo and Mar í a del Mar Rubio-Hern á ndez Introduction – Snow White, an eternal and frontier-free tale As one of the most popular fairy tales, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has international transcendence. Not only has it been translated into numerous languages around the world, but it has also appeared in several formats since the nineteenth century. However, since 2000, an increase in both fi lm and television adaptations of fairy tales has served to retell this classic tales from a variety of different perspectives. In the numerous Snow White adaptations, formal and thematic modifi cations are often introduced, taking the story created by Disney in 1937 as an infl uential reference but altering its narrative in diverse ways. In the case of Spain, there are two contemporary versions of Snow White that participate in this trend:a fi lm adaptation called Blancanieves (Pablo Berger, 2012)and a television adaptation, included as an episode of the fantasy series Cu é ntame un cuento (Marcos Osorio Vidal, 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2499781501351228_pi-316.indd 249 16-Nov-20 20:17:5016-Nov-20 20:17:50 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS250 250 2014). Both exhibit characteristics of the Postmodern Fairy Tale , since they are contemporary narratives that rewrite and revise ‘classic’ fairy tales. 1 This chapter studies the connections between these two Spanish adaptations of Snow White and the Disney production, as well as the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale. 2 To contextualize the connections between these versions, the folk-tale tradition in Spain is explained to emphasize the many literary versions of the tale that appeared throughout the nineteenth century. The focus of this discussion will include the variant production contexts; the historical moment where the action takes place; the adding or elimination of passages or characters; the staging, production design and visual style; the similarities and differences between character personalities, their narrative arcs and roles within the story; and the structural variations that determine the end of the tale. Furthermore, the appearance of cultural topics within the Spanish adaptations will also be taken into account with the aim of studying possible aspects related to national identity. Snow White and the folk-tale tradition in Spain Spain has an extensive tradition of short-storytelling that goes back centuries. Such traditions refer not only to poietics (the creation of new stories) but also to the work on compilation and its derivative process of translating, adapting and versioning already existing tales, fables and legends that belong to different cultural contexts and historical moments. In fact, the country has performed a signifi cant role in this sense. Arich fl ow of Eastern tales and legends was spread to the rest of Europe through Spain, since many of them date back to the millenary Indian literature and Buddhist tradition. 3 The compilation of tales began around the high Middle Ages, when fables that originated in the Eastern civilizations started to be translated into Latin or old Castilian. The fi rst example known is Disciplina clericalis , written in the twelfth century by Petrus Alphonsi. The book is composed by a collection of fables and tales with moralizing goals– known at the time as exempla – coming from the Christian, Arabic and Jewish oral folkloric traditions, which had a relevant impact within the European context of the time due to their multicultural perspective. The case of Fern á n Caballero, one of the representatives of the literary movement called costumbrismo , is especially outstanding, since the name stands for the pseudonym adopted by the writer Cecilia B ö hl de Faber. She focused on the recovery of the folkloric tale, moved by a folklorist spirit that was inspired by the conscientious labour of the Brothers Grimm. 4 She therefore included some traditional tales in novels like La Gaviota (1849) 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2509781501351228_pi-316.indd 250 16-Nov-20 20:17:5016-Nov-20 20:17:50 SNOW WHITE IN THE SPANISH CULTURAL TRADITION 251 251 and combined them with popular poems in compilation works such as Cuentos y poesi  as populares andaluzas (1859). Working in a different mode, Vicente Barrantes was an author who wrote his own versions, creating, in 1853, a unique version of Snow White called ‘El espejo de la verdad’ (‘The Mirror of Truth’). Despite the fact that the tale was substantially transformed (the main character is the queen, called Teodolinda, who gives away her daughter when she is told by the mirror that the girl would be prettier than her), this version still presents several motives and elements in common with the Brothers Grimm version, such as the magic mirror. 5 One of the most interesting features about this tale is that Barrantes includes ferocious criticism against some social aspects of the period, such as the popular press (the queen gets married to a gossip columnist) and the traditional institution of marriage, considered as a fatal mistake for men, since it would bring madness. As Montserrat Amores highlights, the tale can be understood as ‘mocking entertainment in which social criticism prevails’, which somehow anticipates those contemporary versions that also present critiques against conservative aspects of the original tale. 6 There are numerous versions of Snow White that can be traced across and throughout the Hispanic tradition, which might explain why they are known under a great variety of titles. Amores argues that the main character is sometimes called Blanca Flor (‘White Flower’), and that there are several differences with the European version. 7 For example, in some of the adaptations, such as ‘Cuento de los ladrones’, compiled by J.Camarena, the dwarfs have been substituted with thieves. The work of Espinosa is especially signifi cant in this sense, since not only does he identify thirty-eight Hispanic versions of Snow White, but he also establishes fi ve variations of the tale. 8 In his analysis, he determines the main elements that constitute this type ofstory: A. The story is about a heroine, who is pale as the snow and red as the blood. B. Her beauty provokes the envy from her mother or stepmother. (B1. who might have a magic mirror which reveals who’s the prettiest). C. The mother orders some hunters or servants to bring the girl into the forest and kill her, but they take pity of her and let her live. She fi nally fi nds protection with dwarfs or thieves and stays in theirhouse. C2, C3, C4. The persecutor tries to kill the heroine by getting the help of a witch or someone else with a magic object such as an apple, a comb, a corset, a ring … D. The dwarfs or thieves put the heroine inside a crystal box. (D1. The dwarfs or thieves throw the crystal box into the sea). 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2519781501351228_pi-316.indd 251 16-Nov-20 20:17:5016-Nov-20 20:17:50 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS252 252 E. She is found by a prince who extracts the magic object that makes her faint, and she comes back to life (sometimes, the object is extracted by a servant or someoneelse). E1. The prince marries the heroine … F. The prosecutor is punished. 9 In the same way, Amores presents a detailed study of nineteenth-century versions of folkloric tales in order to highlight their infl uence on the literary context of the period and the interest that they generated among writers. The author catalogues the versions of popular tales in the Spanish context, establishing a chronology and following a systematic analysis for their classifi cation. This way, she identifi es numerous versions of the tale, such as ‘La buena hija’, ‘La madrastra envidiosa’ or ‘Nevadita’, including several Catalonian and Basque versions. 10 Her contribution is, therefore, enriching since it continues the work by authors like Espinosa or Maxime Chavalier. 11 The existence of certain folktales – such as Snow White – and their evolution into different versions should be understood as a proof of their ties within the Hispanic tradition and their extensive diffusion in the Peninsula. 12 In fact, the relevance of this tale is not restricted to nineteenth-century literature but remains alive through different media expressions. The two versions analysed in the following pages show its continuous adaptation in the current popular culture context since the turn of the millennium, a phenomenon that ultimately alludes to the idea of hypertextuality and the plurality of readings and reinterpretations that can derive from the same text. 13 Blancanieves (Pablo Berger, 2012) After several decades without any presence in the big screen, 2012 was a prolifi c year for the adaptation of the tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . The Spanish version by Pablo Berger, which was recognized with ten Goya awards, was released simultaneously with the two American productions about the princess. 14 Despite the fact that Snow White and the Huntsman (Rupert Sanders, 2012)maintains a medieval fantasy atmosphere with a gothic aesthetic style, the princess is given an epic and decisive role, whereas Mirror Mirror (Tarsem Singh, 2012)also represents Snow White as a fi ghter, but in a colourful, festive ambiance, much closer to the children’s stories setting. Luc í a Ugarte del Campo considers all three fi lms as perfect cases to exemplify the multiplicity of stories that can emerge from the same tale, since they are created within different genres (the epic genre, comedy and drama-thriller) even though they originate from the same fairy-tale source. 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2529781501351228_pi-316.indd 252 16-Nov-20 20:17:5116-Nov-20 20:17:51 SNOW WHITE IN THE SPANISH CULTURAL TRADITION 253 253 Since 2010, numerous translations of iconic fairy tales, which are not usually aimed at young audiences, have expanded the original stories by the introduction of variations in the traditional roles, especially in the case of female representation. 15 The Spanish version is perhaps the most daring in its style, since it is fi lmed in black and white and is completely silent (with the exception of musical accompaniment). Furthermore, several resources from early cinema, such as intertitles, transitions with fading effects, iris shots at the start or end of scenes, as well as a certain tendency to exaggerate the actors’ characterization and interpretation, are also used. These creative choices also demonstrate a stylistic fusion among German expressionism, Soviet avant-garde cinema and Hollywood styles. 16 Blancanieves tells the story of the young Carmen, the daughter of the famous bullfi ghter Antonio Villalta and the famous singer Carmen de Triana, who died in childbirth. Villalta, who is unable to get over his wife’s death and is physically incapable due to a fateful bullfi ght, seeks refuge in the care provided by a manipulative nurse called Encarna– who will take advantage of his weaknesses to keep him away from his daughter after their marriage. The stepmother’s efforts do not impede the father–daughter relationship, until it is cut short when the stepmother assassinates her husband to take all his money and remove his daughter, Carmen. Even though the young lady manages to escape from the attacker sent by the stepmother, she loses her memory during the attack and is rescued by six ‘bullfi ghter dwarfs’, who belong to a travelling artists company and embrace her as one of the family’s member. With them, Carmen discovers her vocation as a bullfi ghter, hailed by the public, under the name of Blancanieves. Her debut takes place in the same arena where her father met his fateful destiny and, although she recovers her memory, she is deceived by her stepmother, who makes her bite a poisoned apple that puts her to sleep eternally. The use of symbolic objects such as the poisoned apple, the crystal coffi n or the mirror that reinforces the stepmother’s vain behaviour, works as iconic connections between the fi lm and the classic Snow White tale. Nevertheless, the iconography is profoundly linked to the cultural tradition of la españolada. La españolada is a specifi c genre of the Spanish cinematography (considerably present in specifi c historical moments) that comprehends those fi lms that exploit certain elements of national folklore. 17 Numerous aspects belonging to this movement are visualized in the fi lm. The bullfi ghting iconography is visible and shown through the images of bullfi ghting arenas, brave bulls, bullfi ghter’s outfi ts, the death liturgy and the celebration of two bullfi ghts that mark the beginning and the end of the story. These images have a signifi cant infl uence on both Carmencita’s past and future as a bullfi ghter. In much the same way, the folkloric tradition is also present in the story, embodied in her mother – a copla (traditional folk music) singer – the popular dancing and the apparel ( mantilla ). The story likewise portrays the traditional sentimental relationship between the 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2539781501351228_pi-316.indd 253 16-Nov-20 20:17:5116-Nov-20 20:17:51 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS254 254 bullfi ghter and the folkloric singer, reproducing a typical motive in popular productions such as El ú ltimo cupl é (Juan de Ordu ñ a, 1957), Solo los dos (Luis Lucia Mingarro, 1968)and El relicario (Rafael Gil, 1970). Another aspect that strengthens the fi lm’s ties with la españolada is the story’s setting. From the fi rst scenes, the action takes places in the Seville of the 1920s, although there are no historical, social or political references that connect the movie representations to the real reference. Rather, the representation of the Andalusian capital is confi rmed, which is based on a long process of identifi cation between la españolada and Seville that dates back to eighteenth-century popular legends and that continues during Romanticism. The consequence of said association is a metonymic process that unites the image of Seville to the image of Andalusia and, by extension, to the rest of Spain. 18 In particular, Blancanieves can be located within the post - espa ñ olada, since it takes the clich é s inherited from la españolada , combined with extra Hispanic references, in order to be freed from the universalizing timelessness of the Brothers Grimm tale. 19 The movie is historically contextualized within a creative postmodern climate in which Spanish cinema is remodelling its own topics, and it is characterized by the recycling of references, the interactivity of languages and the culture mix. 20 This postmodern approximation to the story allows the characters to perform outside the parameters of la españolada through alternative gender roles. For instance, a fundamental difference is introduced regarding Carmencita, since her ability as a bullfi ghter, a profession which has been traditionally linked to the male context, makes her role transgressive within the story. Nevertheless, Carmencita is also a traditional Snow White in the sense that she is depicted with all the features given to the classical character, being beautiful, kind and profoundly innocent, which ultimately means her downfall. The characterization within the fi lm more broadly is also subject to modifi cation. Anew character is included in the story:her grandmother, a strong attachment fi gure for Carmen during her childhood in the absence of her parents, whose death provokes the girl’s movement to the family home. Another essential difference concerns the incarnation of the prince fi gure in the dwarf Rafi ta, completely in love with Carmen, who performs as her protector and support during the whole time. Jesus í n is likewise identifi ed as the grumpy dwarf, who breaks the family harmony by betraying Blancanieves’s confi dence trying to make her face a brave bull. However, in the same way as in Disney’s animated version, he joins the rest of dwarfs to revenge the villain stepmother, who is symbolically killed by a bull. Regarding the stepmother, her relevance as a main character in the story is also justifi ed by production motives. 21 She performs the role of an absolute villain without any nuance or humanizing features, a ‘cruel and beautiful dominatrix’. 22 Not only did she try to get rid of Carmencita, but she also subjected her to a terrible childhood, more similar to Cinderella’s infancy 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2549781501351228_pi-316.indd 254 16-Nov-20 20:17:5116-Nov-20 20:17:51 SNOW WHITE IN THE SPANISH CULTURAL TRADITION 255 255 than to Snow White’s. From a narrative perspective, a ‘structural inversion variation’ is also established. 23 The end reproduces the contrary of what is expected at the beginning of the fi lm, since Carmen never gets to wake up from the poisoning and she is exhibited as an attraction in travelling fairs, despite Rafi ta’s cares, who remains by her side and looks after her during her eternal sleep. Even though he tries to wake her up by kissing her, as in the Disney version, Carmen does not come back to life, and she is just able to express her pain through a furtive tear that makes this version distant from the fairy-tale happy ending. Cu é ntame un cuento : ‘Blancanieves’ (I ñ aki Pe ñ afiel, 2014) Two years after Pablo Berger’s fi lm was released, a new version of the Blancanieves tale for TV was produced, this time a self-contained chapter of the miniseries Cu é ntame un cuento and broadcast on Antena 3 Televisi ó n, a generalist channel of the Spanish television market. Cu é ntame un cuento is composed of fi ve chapters that reinterpret several folk tales from a modern point of view:The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, The Beauty and the Beast, and Hansel and Gretel. Directed by I ñ aki Pe ñ afi el, Blancanieves stands as the second-most watched episode (after the release of The Three Little Pigs), achieving an audience share of 13.4 per cent, with 2,468,000 spectators. 24 The fact that a production like this appeared on Spanish television is not unremarkable, since Cu é ntame un cuento is a response to the adaptation of tales produced for American television, such as Once Upon a Time (ABC:2011–18) or Grimm (NBC:2011–17). All these programmes of tales share a common feature in their translation to the small screen, mixing present-day elements from the urban context with traditional aspects linked to folk tales. In this regard, and even though the analysed miniseries do not introduce supernatural elements, as it takes place in an urban fantasy, its atmosphere connects with the fundamental aspects of this subgenre, since it ‘carefully transfi gure apparatus traditionally associated with rural settings in order to adapt it to modern cities, often redesigning it to fi t specifi c locations’. 25 In this TV version, Blancanieves is called Blanca (meaning ‘white’ in Spanish), and she lives happily in a big mansion with her father, her stepmother and her stepmother’s son, until Eve, the stepmother, discovers that her husband wants to divorce. In order not to lose her economic patrimony, based on a great cosmetic empire, the stepmother decides to hire a murderer to kill her husband and Blanca. Although the father is fi nally killed by the murderer, he takes pity on Blanca in the last moment and lets 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2559781501351228_pi-316.indd 255 16-Nov-20 20:17:5116-Nov-20 20:17:51 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS256 256 her live. Blanca loses her memory in the escape and is rescued by a group of seven thieves named with pseudonyms, who rename her as Nieves (meaning ‘snow’). There are clear connections that can be established between this contemporary adaptation and some earlier Spanish versions of the tale from the nineteenth century, by recovering a unique narrative element such as the replacement of dwarfs by thieves. The girl grows up in an orphanage and, when she becomes an adult, works in a casino at the same time that she collaborates with the thieves in several frauds, until destiny reunites her with her stepbrother Diego. From that moment on, her present meets her past while she tries to rebuild her life. Once more, she becomes her stepmother’s victim when she discovers Blanca’s real identity. Some iconic elements are maintained in the story, such as the apple (Blanca has a beautiful apple tree in her garden, and she is poisoned with an apple pie), as well as the mirror as an identifying object linked to the villain. However, both items are devoid of magical features since the story is developed as a plausible fi ction with little trace of fantasy. Both stories do use very similar metaphors, as the Evil Queen and Eve share an obsession with maintaining power and with beauty as an inherent feature of youth, displaying narcissistic and vain personalities that are reinforced through their personal fascination with mirrors. Egoism is usually a feature given to villains in folk and fairy tales, since it is understood as a synonym of evil incarnated in the main character’s opponent. Thus, the exemplary nature of tales warns against the egoism hidden under beauty, while mirrors become a recurring element to symbolize this moral. 26 However, in opposition to other adaptations, the stepmother in this version is humanized, since she is able to love, and presents a weak point in regard to her son, whose death means her real destruction. Much of the action takes place in a specifi c urban place akin to Madrid, but there are not enough geographical anchors for the spectator to easily identify the nationality of the city. 27 In this sense, the television show does not include any identifying element of Spanish culture, which allows the audience to connect it with any other foreign space. The theory of cultural domination or destruction of a local cultural perspective is an appropriate frame to explain the creation of such a disconnected audiovisual product. Its neutral appearance makes the programme more accessible to the public, becoming a ‘travelling narrative’ that can be easily exported internationally without generating any rejection based on a cultural shock. 28 Moreover, the fact that it depicts worldwide known stories also favours its exportable dimension. Consequently, the product has turned into a very exportable format, which has resulted in its adaptation within other countries– such as the Mexican production Érase una vez, lo que no te contaron del cuento (Blim/Canal 5, 2017)and the American Tell Me a Story (CBS All Access, 2018–). However, even though the series does not settle down in any specifi c spatial context, it does cling to contemporaneity, since it functions as an 9781501351228_pi-316.indd 2569781501351228_pi-316.indd 256 16-Nov-20 20:17:5116-Nov-20 20:17:51