Fairy Tales: Now and Then

Friday, 9:15-10:45

Room 2/B102 (C22.102)

First meeting: 05.04.2024

Content

Despite of being one of the oldest genres in literary history, the fascination with fairy tales seems to be unbroken still today. The readership of fairy tales also goes far beyond children and young readers only, to which contemporary rewrites and recent film adaptations attest (e.g. Angela Carter’s story collection The Bloody Chamber, films like Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) or Red Riding Hood (2011)). Basically, everyone knows fairy tales since their childhood and yet it is hard to define what their essential characteristics really are: Do they have to include a prince or hero, a typical damsel in distress, an evil godmother, talking animals and some magical fairies? Do they have to take place in some far-away place in the past and are therefore entirely detached from the present problems of globalisation, environmental destruction, social inequalities, or climate change? Do fairy tales even have to be in some way educational (i.e. appeal to morality and benevolence) in order to serve their purpose?

In order to illuminate these questions and discuss many other aspects surrounding the genre, we will look at the origins of fairy tales (e.g. oral tradition, folktales), their dissemination internationally, their characteristics, which (country-specific) variations occur as well as which role they play today (e.g. in form of rewrites, adaptions, etc.). Accordingly, this seminar offers a survey of basic and well-known fairy tales alongside lesser known examples to discuss genre-specific features and the evolution of a European fairy tale culture, in addition to different strands in fairy tale research and modern, digital methods to examine them.

Objectives

Students will explore the manifold forms of appearance of fairy tales via a range of texts. They will also be made familiar with different theoretical/critical approaches, such as structuralism, psychoanalysis, gender studies, etc., to analyse the texts further with regard to various issues. Apart from this, students will also be encouraged to choose a specific fairy tale to work on over the course of the seminar as an individual project to more deeply engage with its respective genesis, transmission, translation and modifications, as well as its reception and relevance in the fairy tale canon.

Prerequisites:

In order to participate, students need to have completed the lecture course “Introduction to the Study of Literatures in English” successfully (does not apply to ERASMUS or international students).

Requirements for Credit (5 ECTS) / Examination number 71305:

The format of this seminar will consist of close readings, discussions and contributions. For the PVL, each student can either do an oral presentation (approx. 20 minutes) or complete a written task (1500-2000 words), and write a substantial seminar paper (10-12 pages) for the PL.

Set Texts:

All texts will be uploaded here.