The Genre of Trolls - Doria

of many tales (Propp 1970: 99), and the superiority in beauty and wealth of
the bride of the youngest son. There is a hint of humour in the depiction
of the industry and domestic virtues, verging on the frantic, of the mouse,
initiating a series of slightly maximizing segments (“As he came in, a mouse
ran to and fro on the floor, and was in such a hurry as if it had been the mistress
of the house herself. By the hearth was a hole, and into that it bolted
when it had done what it ought to do in the cottage.”). This is repeated
each time the prince arrives at the cottage of the mouse. The choice of
words, the crucial elements of which are italicized above, creates multiple
interpretative possibilities. On the one hand, the depiction of the behaviour
of the mouse may be taken at face value, resulting in a minimizing
interpretation of the intertextual gap. On the other hand, an ironic dimension
may be discerned, leading to a relative maximization of the intertextual
gap. Like Linda Hutcheon, I regard irony as relational, inclusive
and differential. It is relational in the sense that it brings together both the
said and the unsaid, and different people (ironists, interpreters and targets).
The inclusive aspect entails a simultaneous presence of, or oscillation between,
the said and the unsaid in the ironic utterance; both are required to
produce irony. Finally, the unsaid is different from, not necessarily directly
opposite to, the said (Hutcheon 1994: 12–13, 55–66). In this case, the oscillation
between ironic and non-ironic meanings in Alén’s words corresponds
to a dialogue of minimizing and maximizing strategies in his manipulation
of intertextual gaps.
Yet a more fundamental subversion lurks beneath the surface, striking
rapidly and vanishing with equal expedition. Contained in the subordinate
clause “despite her being a troll”, it forcefully maximizes the intertextual gap.
The distance between text and generic model is here at its peak. Immediately
afterwards, the intertextual gap is again minimized, and the narrative
is once more conforming to the conventions of the wonder tale in emphasizing
the splendour of the driving tackle. Nevertheless, the effect of maximization
lingers and has repercussions on the whole narrative; a new interpretation
of the text is necessary. This is a lucid example of the recursive
structure of meaning as well. It demonstrates the impact of the last sentence
on the whole utterance, and on the preceding parts of the narrative,
while stressing its own dependence on the latter in order to be meaningful
(Vasenkari & Pekkala 2000: 250–251).
Hence Alén deploys two strategies for maximizing intertextual gaps in
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Genre, Parody, Chronotopes and Novelization: the Wonder Tales of Johan Alén