The Influence of the Grimm Tales on the Tale Textology of László Arany

Mariann Domokos

doi:10.1556/022.2021.00003

Abstract

Abstract László Arany's Eredeti népmesék (Authentic Folktales, 1862) is an iconic collection of folktales. The tales in this publication have been entrenched in the national identity as classic Hungarian folktales, and the narrative style of the tales has been established in the public consciousness as the narrative style of Hungarian folktales. The Arany family's collection of folktales ultimately had a similar function in Hungarian culture as the Kinder- und Hausmärchen of the Brothers Grimm had in Germany, but while the text formation of the Grimm tales had been thoroughly explored by philology, the Arany tales had not been accompanied by folkloristic interpretations or in-depth philological analyses. To László Arany, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm were the ideal, which he indicated in his many theoretical writings as well as his role as a collector and editor of tales. To form the individual texts found in Eredeti népmesék, László Arany used the tale manuscripts transcribed by his mother and sister in the 1850s, modifying them considerably, primarily by employing stylistic devices, many of which can also be observed in the work of the Grimms. This essay examines the extent to which László Arany's editorial and text formation practices were determined by the textological practice developed by the Brothers Grimm, and ultimately the extent to which the stylistic ideals of fairy tales developed by the Grimms contributed to the development of the written, literary version of Hungarian folktales.

Highlights

Acta Ethnographica Hungarica followed by sixteen subsequent editions with varying content during the lifetime of the brothers
The Arany family’s collection of folktales had a similar function in Hungarian culture as the Kinder- und Hausm€archen of the Brothers Grimm had in Germany, but while the text formation of the Grimm tales had been thoroughly explored by philology, the Arany tales had not been accompanied by folkloristic interpretations or in-depth philological analyses
The tales published in this collection, which came from oral tradition but have undergone textual modifications in the editing process, have been canonized in the last nearly 160 years as classic Hungarian folktales, both in terms of their plot and their narrative style (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

Acta Ethnographica Hungarica followed by sixteen subsequent editions with varying content during the lifetime of the brothers. I argue that in compiling and editing Eredeti nepmesek, the collection of fairy tales published in 1862, Laszlo Arany considered the collection of the Brothers Grimm a benchmark in terms of collecting the documents of the oral narrative tradition and in selecting and transmitting the tales, becoming a model in terms of both genre and style.

Results

Conclusion