Mermaid stories have existed for millennia, stemming back to the ancient cultures of the world. Influenced by the mythos established in books like The Iliad, sirens and mermaids were a part of European culture for centuries. The mermaid as chimera monster that represented the duality of danger and seduction was subverted in 1837, when Hans Christian Andersen wrote the seminal fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” In our present day, we can find that this short story has created a canon of “mermaid” literature, especially in the fantasy canon, and has majorly impacted our pop culture and digital spheres. By tracing the feminist, Queer, and disability centered story elements of the fairy tale forward, one can come to understand how this story has been transformed, remixed, and subverted through various retellings. By analyzing elements of “The Little Mermaid,” and stories adapted and inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” we can find why mermaid narratives are so prevalent in our literary canon, and how they have persisted and reclaimed our modern day culture.
","abstract_html":"<p>Mermaid stories have existed for millennia, stemming back to the ancient cultures of the world. Influenced by the mythos established in books like The Iliad, sirens and mermaids were a part of European culture for centuries. The mermaid as chimera monster that represented the duality of danger and seduction was subverted in 1837, when Hans Christian Andersen wrote the seminal fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” In our present day, we can find that this short story has created a canon of “mermaid” literature, especially in the fantasy canon, and has majorly impacted our pop culture and digital spheres. By tracing the feminist, Queer, and disability centered story elements of the fairy tale forward, one can come to understand how this story has been transformed, remixed, and subverted through various retellings. By analyzing elements of “The Little Mermaid,” and stories adapted and inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” we can find why mermaid narratives are so prevalent in our literary canon, and how they have persisted and reclaimed our modern day culture.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Metz, Makena"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Justine Van Meter","Joanna Levin","Brian Glaser"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:31Z","subjects":["Mermaid","The Little Mermaid","Hans Christian Andersen","Queer","disability","feminist","Literature in English, North America"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/54","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Justine Van Meter","Joanna Levin","Brian Glaser"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Metz, Makena"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-05-21T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mermaid","The Little Mermaid","Hans Christian Andersen","Queer","disability","feminist","Literature in English, North America"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/54"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Mermaid stories have existed for millennia, stemming back to the ancient cultures of the world. Influenced by the mythos established in books like The Iliad, sirens and mermaids were a part of European culture for centuries. The mermaid as chimera monster that represented the duality of danger and seduction was subverted in 1837, when Hans Christian Andersen wrote the seminal fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” In our present day, we can find that this short story has created a canon of “mermaid” literature, especially in the fantasy canon, and has majorly impacted our pop culture and digital spheres. By tracing the feminist, Queer, and disability centered story elements of the fairy tale forward, one can come to understand how this story has been transformed, remixed, and subverted through various retellings. By analyzing elements of “The Little Mermaid,” and stories adapted and inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” we can find why mermaid narratives are so prevalent in our literary canon, and how they have persisted and reclaimed our modern day culture.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Metz, Makena Rose. Oceans of Literature - The Little Mermaid. 2023. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000437"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Oceans of Literature - The Little Mermaid"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Justine Van Meter","Joanna Levin","Brian Glaser"],"dc:creator":["Metz, Makena"],"dc:date.available":["2025-05-21T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Mermaid stories have existed for millennia, stemming back to the ancient cultures of the world. Influenced by the mythos established in books like The Iliad, sirens and mermaids were a part of European culture for centuries. The mermaid as chimera monster that represented the duality of danger and seduction was subverted in 1837, when Hans Christian Andersen wrote the seminal fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” In our present day, we can find that this short story has created a canon of “mermaid” literature, especially in the fantasy canon, and has majorly impacted our pop culture and digital spheres. By tracing the feminist, Queer, and disability centered story elements of the fairy tale forward, one can come to understand how this story has been transformed, remixed, and subverted through various retellings. By analyzing elements of “The Little Mermaid,” and stories adapted and inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” we can find why mermaid narratives are so prevalent in our literary canon, and how they have persisted and reclaimed our modern day culture.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/54"],"dc:source":["Metz, Makena Rose. Oceans of Literature - The Little Mermaid. 2023. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000437"],"dc:subject":["Mermaid","The Little Mermaid","Hans Christian Andersen","Queer","disability","feminist","Literature in English, North America"],"dc:title":["Oceans of Literature - The Little Mermaid"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:31Z"}