Puellae in Fabula

Puellae in Fabula began as a whatsapp group, where my bookworm friends and I discussed many things: life, the pandemic, cultural barriers. Mostly, we would talk about what to read next and how much we liked (or hated) what we had just finished reading. So yes, we’re kind of a book club. But we don’t just stick to books. We exchange films and podcasts recommendations, sometimes even recipes and life hacks, and, most importantly, we are on the lookout for a different kind of literature. One that is not biased and doesn’t tell a single story.

Perhaps the best way to introduce ourselves is by introducing our name. I honestly can’t remember who chose it. I suspect it was my friend Lucia. At any rate, it wasn’t me. Because, even though I studied Latin as part of my highschool curriculum, at the time I didn’t take the subject seriously. She did. However, Puellae in fabula doesn’t refer to our (poor) experience with Latin. Ever heard of Umberto Eco? If you haven’t, you´re just about to find out who the guy is. If you have, this is the right place for you, because literature-lovers should stick together.

Umberto Eco is known for his novels. He’s also known in the world of literature studies for his essay Lector in fabula (Reader in the tale). Eco stresses the role readers have to play, when doing what they do best: reading. Infact, the reader contributes more to a work’s meaning than you might think. For a start, any product of our culture, whether it be a book, or an essay, or even a film, is meant for a specific reader or viewer. The author knows that his/her ideal target reader will be able to fill in all the gaps, and make sense of what he/she is going to tell. New readers in turn will interpret those works in a different way. Readers are, therefore, makers of meaning. Interpretation is a key word here. In the broadest sense of the verb, in this blog we examine already given interpretations of our society, and we put forward our own views. 

Earlier I (not very subtly) quoted Chimamanda Adichie and her talk about the danger of a single story (If you know what I’m talking about, then we’re already pals. If not, I’m adding a youtube video at the end of this post, so not to worry): that’s where our puellae-sciouness comes into play. We girlfriends are very aware of the struggles women had to face and are still facing in this overcrowded and unsympathetic world. Many female writers were not given the credit they deserved. Many of them never got to be writers in the first place. This doesn’t just apply to women, though, but to all the people who did not and do not identify with the privileged white heterosexual male kind of writer. We set out to make this right by focussing on these non-standard, unconventional voices, because we’ve had enough of this state of denial western society is in. 

So, what more can I say? If you think all this is not at all boring and you’d like to read more about our views, stick around.