The Bride in the Cultural Imagination

Dr. Jo Parnell’s collection of scholarly essays on Bride is a fascinating read. The topic is riveting and the collection is beautifully put together. The poignant figure of the bride parades before us in a series of different global cultures, past and present, each of them blending tradition and (occasionally) innovation, fantasy and reality, and empowerment and subjugation. There are common threads and striking differences. Amazing that no-one has thought of doing this before, but we can rejoice that someone has now carried it off! -- Hugh Craig, Emeritus Professor, FAHA, University of Newcastle
This is absolutely the best kind of essay collection: original, insightful, scholarly and beautifully written. An important work on a largely underexplored topic, this globally focused view of the bride in literature and on the stage and screen is essential and enthralling reading. Ambitious in its scope, which ranges across time and place, this carefully curated volume can be read straight through or dipped into for its deep insights into this ubiquitous but surprisingly overlooked figure. Essential reading! -- Donna Lee Brien, Central Queensland University
This edited collection is the perfect companion to Dr. Parnell's 2018 publication on representations of the mother-in-law, restoring the voices of women often overlooked by academic scholarship. The sweeping scope of the essays takes us across multiple disciplines, chronologies, and continents to examine the bride (both child and adult) in literature, stage, film, and even advertising videos. From Ancient Roman to Franco’s Spain to 2019 Mauritius and Madagascar, the bride emerges as a figure on the border of tradition and modernity, shaped by and at odds with globalization and local patriarchal cultures, negotiating her oppression and personal freedom. -- Julie Anne Taddeo, University of Maryland