Fairy Tales For Children Research Articles

Richard von Volkmann 1930-1889

Volkmann was born August 17, 1830, at Leipzig, the son of a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Halle. With this family background, it is not surprising that he embarked on a medical career. All his life was associated with the University at which his father taught. In 1856, he was appointed deputy to the surgical clinic of Professor Blasius and, in 1867, he achieved the Chair in Surgery. After a time in military service during the Franco-Prussian War, he returned to his own hospital to confront the ravages of sepsis, having been familiar with Lister's work (Dis Colon Rectum 1982;25:173–178). He was so successful in applying the Listerian method that it was to Volkmann's unit that surgeons came from throughout the world to learn his methods. Lister's concepts were received most enthusiastically in Germany. Volkmann's primary interests were in orthopedics and in general surgery. He emphasized the importance of open drainage and widening of wounds, and made other contributions to the management of hydatid cyst of the liver, intra-abdominal abscess, ulcer disease, tuberculous arthritis, joint dislocation, and compound fractures. His improved operation for excision of the rectum (the subject for this Classics presentation) is less familiar to surgeons than that of his pupil, Kraske (Dis Colon Rectum 1984;27:499–503). His name is recognized primarily because of his description of the esoteric entity of the pathophysiology of ischemic muscle contracture. Volkmann was a striking figure, with long “dundreary” whiskers. He was truly aristocratic in appearance. Besides being a master surgeon with an enormous private practice, he was a superb orator. He could lecture fluently in several languages, including Latin. He was also well-recognized and extremely popular throughout Germany as a published writer of poems and fairy tales for children. A visitor to the clinic that he designed commented in 1879 that the most striking feature was the terrazzo paving, constructed in such a manner as to permit efficient drainage. This was extremely important, since flushing the wounds with carbolic solution from gardening pots was always employed during the procedure. Sepsis was so pervasive a problem that it was routine to perform three or four excisions of the hip joint in children each week. Wolkman died of pneumonia on November 28, 1889, while accompanying a patient for a consultation to Jena, in what is now East Germany.

A Survey of Children's Literature in China

A Survey of Children's Literature in China Huang Qingyun (bio) The development of children's literature in its early stages in China was similar to that of other countries. It began with the oral literature handed down from one generation to another. Since China has a long history, its cultural heritage is very rich and very ancient. Fables were being recorded in China in the "Spring and Autumn Period" of 770-470 B.C. Many fables were quoted by scholars and politicians during that period and they have been widely known ever since. But children's literature did not emerge as a distinct and independent form until the 1920s. During its long feudal period, China regarded its children as adults in miniature or the possessions of adults. Their duty was to obey the teachings of their forefathers, and so-called childhood education was no more than learning the doctrines of Confucius. With the outbreak of the May 4th movement in 1919, an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, and cultural wave swept across the country and brought forth revolutions in all cultural areas. Children's literature was born in that period, in the new light of democracy and science advocated by the leading thinkers of that time. Previous to this time, all books for children had been written in classical Chinese, which was vastly different from the spoken language and too difficult for children to understand. Moreover, China had undergone a long period of chaos and poverty: there was no system of public education, and extracurricular reading became a luxury for children. Few children's books were published. There were, however, a few pioneers. The cradle of Chinese children's literature was guarded by two great writers, Lu Xun and Mao Dun. Lu Xun was the leader and standard bearer of Chinese literature and his famous remark, "Save the children," appealed to many writers. And Lu Xun himself wrote many articles commenting on children's books, criticizing the old and stale instruction and encouraging new and progressive ideas. Mao Dun, in the meantime, silently did a great deal of work in editing, translating, and writing books for children. And there are other great names that should be mentioned. Yeh Shengtao, even today a master of language, wrote many fairy tales for children. His fairy tale collection, The Scarecrow, was published in 1923. Lu Xun called it the foundation stone of Chinese children's literature. The theme of The Scarecrow is that we should see the world [End Page 23] through the eyes of the scarecrow, who had a deep sympathy for all the people suffering around him but could not move a bit to lend them a hand. The scarecrow symbolized the position of the intellectuals of the period. Its companion piece, The Stone Statue of the Ancient Hero, published in 1931, is less prominent. It is a satire, emphasizing that true power comes from the common people, not the dictator. Both books combine realism with romanticism in a wonderful way. His stories distinguish themselves by their keenness of observation, profoundity of thought, rich imagination, and eloquence. They have impressed young and old readers for half a century. Another milestone in children's literature was reached by Bing Xin, the famous woman writer. Her masterpiece, Letters to the Young Readers, brought her great honor in Chinese literature. These letters are heart-to-heart talks in poetic language. Her style is personal and emotional. She inspires young hearts with the love between mother and child, and with friendship at home and abroad. The full display of sentiment in this book certainly defied and conquered the coolness and dullness of the writing in the Chinese classics. In the 1940s, there were two other pioneering writers, Yan Wenjing and Zhang Tian-yi. Both are famous as writers for adults as well as children, but it is to children's literature that they devoted themselves and made remarkable contributions. Like Yeh Shengtao, they combine realism and romanticism in their work, but if Yeh Shengtao's short stories and Bing Xin's letters are sombre and full of sentiment, the works of Yan Wenjing and Zheng Tian-yi are optimistic, full of joy and hope, and...

Towards a Social History of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children

Towards a Social History of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children

The Potential of Liberating Fairy Tales for Children

T BEGIN WITH, I want to argue that the very act of reading a fairy tale is an uncanny experience in that it separates the reader from the restrictions of reality from the outset and makes the repressed unfamiliar familiar once again.1 Bruno Bettelheim has mentioned that the fairy tale estranges the child from the real world and allows him or her to deal with deep-rooted psychological problems and anxiety-provoking incidents to achieve autonomy.2 Whether this is true or not, that is, whether a fairy tale can actually provide the means for coping with ego disturbance, as Bettelheim argues, remains to be seen.3 However, it is true that once we begin listening to or reading a fairy tale, there is estrangement or separation from a familiar world inducing an uncanny feeling which is both frightening and comforting. Actually the complete reversal of the real world has already taken place on the part of the writer before we begin reading a fairy tale, and the writer invites the reader to repeat this uncanny experience. The process of reading involves dislocating the reader from his/her familiar setting and then identifying with the dislocated protagonist so that a quest for the Heimische or real home can begin. The fairy tale ignites a double quest for home: one occurs in the reader's mind and is psychological and difficult to interpret, since the reception of an individual tale varies according to the background and experience of the reader. The second occurs within the tale itself and indicates a

The Dark Side of Beauty and the Beast: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children

The Dark Side of Beauty and the Beast: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children

Balanced Thought and Economic Growth

In no field does orthodoxy seem to last less long than in development economics. Today's general strategy for economic growth becomes tomorrow's barrier. A factor considered crucial in one schema becomes a highly dependent variable in another. Often the whole strategy is premised on a tautology: to develop economically, a nation must develop economically. The attempts to discover basic psychological sources of the process, such as motivational patterns in a society, have pushed the answers back to deviant minority groups and the leit-motif's of children's fairy tales. 1 For the economic strategist in a lowincome country, these latter studies, while important and interesting, are as useful in guiding his investment decisions as the studies by Max Weber.

Jack O'Health and Peg O'Joy. A Fairy Tale for Children

Jack O'Health and Peg O'Joy. A Fairy Tale for Children

The Seven Kids. A Fairy Tale for Children

The Seven Kids. A Fairy Tale for Children