Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)

STUDIES - András Tarnóc: "Who is Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Reflections of Political Correctness in a Distorted Mirror.

ANDRÁS TARNÓC "WHO IS AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?" REFLECTIONS OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IN A DISTORTED MIRROR I The purpose of this essay is to analyze the effects of political correctness (henceforth: PC) by examining the politically correct versions of two old-time favorite bedtime stories; "The Three Little Pigs" (henceforth: TTLP) and "little Red Riding Hood" (henceforth: LRRH). While the subject of this essay may seem facetious at first glance, the new versions of these tales appearing in a volume titled: Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times provide valuable insight into the latest controversy concerning "the battle to define the meaning of America" (Bush 44). James Finn Garner's rewriting of thirteen well-known children's tales to fit the taste of the all too sensitive 90's resulted in a scathing parody of PC's excesses. The book, published in 1994, demonstrated the author's skills in manipulating seemingly innocuous texts to achieve biting satire. The publication of Garner's work was one of the indicators that the PC controversy entered mainstream American consciousness by 1994 (Bush 42). The race, gender and class-oriented mindset of PC promoted several conflict patterns transferring the traditionally homogeneous WASP image of America into a social framework of victims and villains. In this 127