Recs: Women Creating Their Story

[rachelmanija]

This is for a possible Sirens presentation. The theme this year is "retold tales."

Can you recommend to me fantasy media or myth in which female characters, in some sense, alter reality by telling stories about it?

This "altering reality" doesn't have to be magic in itself; the ultimate example is Scheherazade, who changes the world by telling stories. There's also Martha's world-changing storytelling in Doctor Who.

The other examples I thought of were magical: Paperhouse (girl creates spooky new reality by drawing it), Fudoki (a dying princess of the Heian court writes a story about a cat who becomes a woman; she may or may not create a reality in which the story is true), The Secret Country (kids create a fantasy world, then travel to it and find that it is and isn't as they imagined), The Tricksters (characters from a girl's lush fantasy narrative show up, again not exactly as she pictured them), Voices (Annals of the Western Shore) (spoilery but sort of fits), Witch Week (the entire climax depends on a girl telling a story which alters reality.)

Can you think of others? Especially, examples from myth and folklore, and examples which aren't about white girls?

ETA: If you rec something, please explain how it fits.

Comments

[skygiants]

I also refuse to believe that Patricia McKillip has not done this trope at least once, but I can't keep her books distinct enough in my head to remember which or when! So someone else will have to help me out there.

[sovay]

I also refuse to believe that Patricia McKillip has not done this trope at least once, but I can't keep her books distinct enough in my head to remember which or when!

The Sorceress and the Cygnet (1991) involves reshaping myth, although not solely by female characters. Alphabet of Thorn (2004) involves the decoding of a narrative written by a woman, although it is more of a warning, a record, and an invitation than it is a magical alteration. Would you count Lydea and Mag's collaboration in the climax of Ombria in Shadow (2002)?

[erikagillian.livejournal.com]

The Bell at Sealey Head? I'm not positive the story teller actually changes the reality, I read it pretty fast and haven't reread yet, but I'm pretty sure that's how they manage to change it, there is a very wonderful story teller in it with wonderful stories.