Fairy Tale Elements Research Articles

Borrowing and Historical Evolution of Tales and Fables about the Wonderful Hero in the Folklore Traditions of Vietnamese Peoples

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the fairy-tale plot about a wonderful child in the form of a theriomorphic or phytomorphic creature in the folklore of the Viet, Hmong, Cham, Sedang, Stieng, Thai ethnic groups inhabiting the territory of modern Vietnam, as well as in folklore of other peoples of the Far East. Through the study, the methods of structural, typological and comparative analysis of plots, motives and heroes of folklore narratives are used. Hopefully, this approach will help to make assumptions about the ways of borrowing and transforming significant elements of fairy tales in the region. The article examines three Vietnamese fairy-tale texts – “Man Round as a Coconut”, “Magic Turtle” and “Little Turtle”, each of which is compared with both geographically close and distant versions of the narratives.

The Power of Light and Electric Shock: How Soviet Children Unravelled the Electric Plot Line

Abstract: The article traces the tropes of electricity — hydroelectric plants, powerlines, transmission towers, electricians and lightbulbs — in early Soviet illustrated childrens’ books. It shows how the books counterintuitively synthesize fairy-tale elements and productivist themes while teaching Soviet children about the science, technology and ideology of electricity. The article thus argues that these early Soviet picturebooks use electricity in profoundly subversive ways. By drawing on the fairy-tale model, these books perpetuated Russian modernist associations of pre-revolutionary electricity with irrationality and magic, foregrounded the subversive ambiguity of electricity as an enlightening and dangerous energy and transmitted essentially modernist modes of synaesthetic reading to define Soviet modernity.

Farben und Tiere in Igorlied und Zadonščina in literarhistorischer Sicht

Summary The study follows the semantics of colour adjectives and the role of animals in Slovo o polku Igoreve (The Tale of Igor’s Campaign), published in 1800 but allegedly originating from about 1200. Special attention is furthermore paid to the Zadonshchina (The Tale of the Battle beyond the River Don) known in versions from the 15.–17. centuries. The frequency, diversity and semantic combination with phenomena from the immediate environment of man as well as the outer animate and inanimate nature do in no way correspond to their use in Old Eastslavic Literature except for 17th century copies of the Zadonshchina, nor do they fit into European literature before 1700. Instead, they reflect 18th century sentimentalism, as do also the anthropomorphic functions of animals, some significant poetic images, auctorial poetical reflections, the inclusion of pre-Christian culture and elements of fairy-tales. Independently of the question of its authenticity the text moreover appears from the point of view of 1800 as a political manifesto calling for social reforms on the basis of Christian conservatism and inspired even by the ideas of freemasonry.

PREDMET SUKOBA U DRAMAMA ZA DJECU BRANKA STEVANOVIĆA

In his three plays for children: The Alarm in Savazo- nia (Uzbuna u Savazoniji), The STory of The Single-Child Prince (Priča o princu jedincu) and The TaTTleTale Sparrow (Vrabac Tužibabac), Branko Stevanović treats conflicts differently for each one. The main methods of this research are analytic (in terms of each play) and comparative (in terms of all three Stevanović’ plays). Regardless of the analytical approach, conflict represents an important focus for children’s attention in the theater. In the case of The Alarm in Savazonia, Stevanović constantly transfers conflict from one subject to another. The result of this method is a play most akin to vaudeville, where the viewers’ attention is riveted by various elements that look similar to our reality, but differ from it slightly. In The STory of The Single-Child Prince Stevanović uses the clas- sical Aristotelian method of a story well told, with many fairy-tale elements. The main character, the Prince, is well-motivated, and the whole adventure is initiated with his wish to deserve his parents’ respect. Along with his maturation, the object of his desire relocates from one subject to another, but the conflict which will escalate in the final scene is focalised during the play. The TaTTleTale Sparrow is a short monodrama, where the conflict is set behind the stage. In order to hold the audience’s attention, the playwright indicates possible interactive elements of the performance.

The Tales of Bluebeard’s Wives: Carmen Maria Machado’s Intertextual Storytelling in In the Dream House and “The Husband Stitch”

This paper examines the gothic fairy tale in Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir In the Dream House and short story “The Husband Stitch” with a focus on Bluebeard’s insistent presence and the interweaving of reality, gothic horror, and fairy tale. In the memoir, Machado restages her experience of queer intimate partner violence in the form of a gothic fairy tale as “The Queen and the Squid”, reminiscent of the tale of Bluebeard’s latest wife. By including gothic fairy-tale elements in the autobiographical text, Machado blurs the boundaries between the fictional and non-fictional realm, between her story and that of Bluebeard’s latest wife, thereby rewriting the tale for a queer context. The annotation of the memoir using Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature further superimposes the fairy tale onto Dream House. Machado’s short story “The Husband Stitch” is a gender-aware inversion of “Bluebeard”. The reappearance of the tale throughout Machado’s work reveals the persistence of abusive behavioral patterns in relationships to the present day. Machado’s intertextual storytelling blurs the lines between autobiographical events and the tale of Bluebeard’s latest wife, creating a shared narrative universe of experiences of women who have dealt with their own iteration of Bluebeard.

Social and Educational Values ​​in a Collection of Fairy Tales by the Mbojo Tribe

As a cultural product from an area, fairy tales have many values ​​in it. This study aims to analyze social values and education values ​​of contained in the folklore of the Mbojo tribe. The research method used in this research is the descriptive qualitative method. The research data was taken from the book "A collection of tales of the Mbojo tribe: as teaching material for Indonesian in Elementary Schools," published by the publisher Nathan Indonesia 2020. The data needed in the study were collected through careful reading of the elements of fairy tales contained in the book. The technique used in research is note-taking techniques. The data analysis technique used in this study is to use content analysis techniques. The results of this study indicate that there are five social values ​​and values of character education contained in the book a collection of tales of the Mbojo tribe, including (1) social care; (2) justice; (3) responsibility; (4) cooperation; (5) respect the opinions of others.

Fairy-Tale Design and the Heroine’s Transition to the Ordinary World

Like many of her contemporaries, the fictional works of the Canadian writer Alice Munro can be read as a realistic portrayal of the people from her native Ontario, Canada, describing their set of beliefs, values, dreams, aspirations, fears, and apprehensions. A second way to evaluate this fiction is to approach it from a feminist perspective, shedding light on the question of women’s need to be free from the patriarchal rule. The aim of this article, however, is to consider the function of the fairy-tale framework by which Munro’s short story “Red Dress – 1946” is constructed. This fairy-tale design is considered a point of departure from which the story’s heroine grows mentally and spiritually so that she can get her way into the normal world. In addition to taking a brief look at some of the views offered by Munro’s critics of her writings, it also tries to answer such questions as, what function(s) does this form perform to the story to bring about the heroine’s development? Aside from where the Bildungsroman and fairy tale genres meet and where they deviate, how far are certain traditional fairy-tale elements, such as structure, themes, characterization, etc. significant in bringing about the heroine’s mental as well as emotional growth?

Unfairy Tales and Other Refugee Stories: Creating Relations through the Humanitarian Imagination in Mohsin Hamid's Exit West and Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread

Contrary to many analyses of refugee narratives that focus on how their subject matter becomes compromised by issues of authority, believability, and expectation, this article explores how refugee novels such as Mohsin Hamid's Exit West and Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread lean into such problems in a way that appeals to the humanitarian imagination. These novels recognize the incomprehensibility of the refugee experience and play upon this reality by intermixing their stories with fairy tale elements. In doing so, the tropes of fairy tales provide these stories with greater narrative flexibility while making the unfamiliar realities of refugees comprehensible through familiar narrative structures. In this article, I interrogate the function and effect of this fusion of genres in Exit West and Gingerbread, examining how this practice both overcomes the narrative obstacles refugees face and reveals the allowances and limitations of the humanitarian imagination amid the current global refugee crisis.

Unsur Intrinsik Roman “Das Doppelte Lottchen” Karya Erich Kästner

Abstract. This research aims to describe the intrinsic elements in the form of theme, plot, setting, character, point of view, messagge and the value of character education in the novel “das Doppelte lootcchen” by Erich Kästner. Teh data of this research are primary data and secondary data. Primary data is direct data from the novel text “das Doppelte Lottchen”. Secondary data is supporting data that contains additional information in the form of books, journals, and articles. Data were analyzed based on qualitative approach with content analysis. The results of the research are as follows, a description of the theme element: family, plot elements: combined plot, background elements, place settings: at hte children’s House, holiday time setting, and social beliefs background, character elements: main and additional characters, corner elements point of view: using a third person point of view, mandate: true happines. The interrelationships between the intrinsic elements of fairy tales include the theme, plot, setting, character, point of view, and message. Character education values include religious values, integrity values, mutual cooperation values, and independent values.Keywords: Intrinsic Element, Content Analysis, Das Doppelte Lottchen, Erich Kästner

Tekstovi Stevana Pešića za lutkarsko i dramsko pozorište za decu u oku kritike 70-ih i 80-ih godina 20. veka - prilog istraživanju kritičke recepcije Pešićeve dramaturgije

This study explores the critical reception of Stevan Pešić's numerous texts written for puppet and drama theater for children, such as Legenda o Bošku Buhi, Vesela kuća, Guska na Mesecu, Jedne noći u Novome Sadu, Grad sa zečjim ušima, Krilata krava, Ptice, Lovačka priča, Ništa bez konja, Pet mesečevih cvetova, Braća Grim, Pinokio, Mocart i kompanija, Priča o repi, Čudno čudo, Velimir i Bosiljka, Čudesni vinograd, Bor visok do neba, Petao sa repom duginih boja, Plava ptica, and more. Many of these works were performed on stages across Yugoslavia, some were published, awarded, and even translated, emphasizing Pešić's significant influence in the literary and artistic expression of the second half of the 20th century. Through an analysis of critical comments published in periodicals and other sources during the 1970s and 1980s, this study highlights various opinions on Pešić's texts, including their communicativeness with children, his dramaturgical skill, and his poetic style, which encompassed elements of surrealism, the miraculous, fairytales, grotesque, absurdity, and dreamlike qualities. Examining how critics perceived Pešić's work becomes a crucial aspect of identifying and evaluating the key features of his dramaturgy, determining his place in literary and theatrical trends, and understanding his writer's originality. Moreover, the reception horizon provided by these critical assessments serves as an incentive for further research into Pešić's contributions, the broader tendencies in puppet and drama art for children, and the approaches adopted by the critics who engaged with it.

The Mouseiad and Other Mock Epics [Myszeis

<i>The Mouseiad and Other Mock Epics</i> [Myszeis

Magical Realism and Paranoia in Syed Manzoorul Islam’s “The Ground Beneath Paritosh’s Feet” and “The Merman’s Prayer”

As far as literary genres are concerned, the relation between magical realism and paranoid fiction is diametrical. Magical realism demonstrates the supernatural elements in a mundane, secularistic fashion, without highlighting its apparent displacement. Conversely, paranoid fiction constantly forces the readers to question the reliability of the plot of a story, its characters and the storyteller as well. In short, magic realism renders the most intangible events earthly, while paranoid fiction makes a temporal situation elusive. Using two short stories — “The Ground Beneath Paritosh’s Feet” and “The Merman’s Prayer” — from Syed Manzoorul Islam’s The Merman’s Prayer and Other Stories (2013), this paper shows how employing paranoia as an agent arouses feelings of magical realism in the readers. In these stories, the writer aptly exhibits a perfect mélange of fairy tale elements as well as moments of abrupt shocks and inexplicable experiences. These stories constitute momentousness in a voluble language that produces a magical terrain where everything fantastical appears real. This paper proposes to present a detailed critique on how the elements of magical realism and paranoia are intertwined with each other in the mentioned stories. The authors draw references from dream interpretation, wish-fulfilment, psychosis and escapism to support their argument. Spectrum, Volume 16, June 2021: 82-92

David Lindsay Abair and Jeanine Tesori’s Shrek the Musical

Postmodernism is an intellectual movement that characterizes by scepticism and fragmentation. Postmodernist writers return to traditional fairytales to question and challenge their norms and meanings. Shrek the Musical is a play based on classic fairytales of Rapunzel and Beauty and the Beast. Shrek the Musical will be studied according to postmodern techniques and strategies. They are many such as deconstruction and intertextuality. This play will be analyzed according to Kevin Paul Smith's method of intertextuality. This method traces the elements of fairytales in postmodernist literature and their unique alterations by using deconstruction theory that shows the false hierarchies and the false values upon which these classic tales are built.

Mapping Fairy-Tale Space: Pastiche and Metafiction in Borderless Tales

Mapping Fairy-Tale Space: Pastiche and Metafiction in Borderless Tales contains just two sections: “Mapping Fairy Tales” and “Fairy-Tale Maps.” The first section analyzes and critiques the ABC television series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018), Marissa Meyer's series of The Lunar Chronicles (2012–2015), and Seanan McGuire's Indexing (2014), each of which uses a combination of classic fairy tales (such as Cinderella and Snow White) to create physical and sometimes geographical boundaries that guide audiences through the story lines. Christy Williams deems these stories “borderless” because they transcend political and geographical boundaries and exist without confinement of storytelling techniques, determined geographical boundaries, or general understandings of science.The book's second section, “Fairy-Tale Maps,” analyzes the Korean television drama Secret Garden (2010) and three short pieces of fiction by Kelly Link. Williams demonstrates how the characters in those works learn that fairy tales may contain outdated lessons and thus are not always reliable guides for modern-day behavior. For example, the characters in Secret Garden recognize that they must reject the misogynistic and gender-normative tropes of “Cinderella” and “The Little Mermaid” in order for their relationships to succeed. For those characters, fairy tales are not so much a Global Positioning System (GPS) or digital map as they are antiquated maps, which allow these characters to navigate their own stories. Williams argues that fairy tales, despite their outdated lessons, maintain their value. Through pastiche and metafiction, fairy-tale retellings may provide the same useful tools—specifically, maps and guidance—for which they were created.Mapping Fairy-Tale Space eloquently and substantively creates a basic understanding of both pastiche and metafiction as narrative styles, and also explains how these tools lend themselves to mapping fairy-tale retellings in a metaphorical way. Williams carefully explains the premise of each text before engaging with her argument. As both an example and introduction to the study of fairy tales, Mapping Fairy-Tale Space should serve as an excellent teaching tool and a guide (literally a map) for engaging with the popular fairy-tale retellings she has selected.Williams’ treatment of Secret Garden best exemplifies how she deconstructs fairy-tale retellings to demonstrate how metafiction acts as a map for the characters and how each tale's cultural context may impact the story. By the end of chapter 3, I found myself enthusiastically nodding along, and even more so with the book's conclusion: “Fairy tales are a fantastic space, open for exploring issues of one's own culture and life, and fairy-tale maps need not lead in the same directions as they have in the past” (p. 173).Nevertheless, the book left me craving more cultural context and more social commentary from its other case studies. With Secret Garden from Korea, Williams readily engages with the drama's social commentary, but unfortunately does not do the same with Once Upon a Time from the United States. The latter, for example, provides social commentary by incorporating the character of Mulan as a potential for lesbian/queer love stories. Here, Williams might have considered how popular shows like Once Upon a Time may sometimes commodify LGBTQ+ communities by queerbaiting (when creators of shows tease at but do not canonically include same-sex relationships or LGBTQ+ representation), which situationally affects the retelling of the fairy tale. Similarly, Williams fails to address the wider implications of Once Upon a Time's inclusion of a story line from Disney's Frozen (2013) shortly after the latter's release in order for Disney (which owns the television network ABC) to maximize its profits from the film. Here, too, Williams might have better connected threads and probed more deeply into the cultural contexts of these texts.Scholars in folklore studies should appreciate the way that Williams effectively demonstrates how fairy-tale elements are used in retellings. Some non-academics may need more frequent reminders that Williams uses maps and geography metaphorically. However, even though written in an academic voice, the book may appeal to a wider audience because (as Williams points out) retellings of fairy tales have become more popular, especially for the Disney generation (meaning the generation that grew up watching Disney's animated versions of fairy tales). Thus, shows like Once Upon a Time and book series like The Lunar Chronicles are fairy-tale texts that have already captivated wide audiences, who consequently may find this book alluring. For those readers, Mapping Fairy-Tale Space may be a safe, enthralling way to enter the academic realm of folklore studies.

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

Reviewed by: Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen Natalie Berglind Chen, Gina Violet Made of Thorns. Delacorte, 2022 [368p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593427538 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593427552 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 Plucked from poverty after she foresaw and prevented the death of Prince Cyrus, Violet is the Seer of the kingdom of Auveny. Now, however, the Fates want the life owed to them back, as Violet prophecies that Cyrus will die by the end of summer or else she'll be the one to "burn." With her raging hate toward Cyrus inconveniently turning to attraction, Violet has to decide if she'll save herself (like she always does) or the irritating prince. The people's hopes hang on the last Seer's prophecy that Cyrus and his future bride can save or condemn them, so the logical thing for Violet to do would be to step back—if she didn't crave power so much. The driving force behind this story is Violet herself, a cynical, practical narrator who doesn't believe in love and is quite certain everyone is as self-serving as she is. Equally prickly Cyrus suits her well both narratively and romantically; the two share kisses that read like fight scenes, and their chemistry leaps off the page with its intensity. Chen's world is imbued with classic fairy tale elements that add to the atmosphere, from a rotting Fairywood to midnight magic to a masquerade ball, but she brings a fresh modernity to the story, with commentary on celebrity and imperialism that is both thoughtful and entertaining. An epic showdown at the end of the novel and a number of plot twists point toward an promising sequel in this planned duology. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Innovative Artistic Strategies in Epistolary Fragments of Daniil Kharms (Linguistic Semiotic Aspect)

The question of the evolution of epistolary prose is considered on the example of fragments of D.I. Kharms. Attention is paid to communication aspects using a linguo-semiotic approach. The results of the analysis of the epistolary passage of 1933 in comparison with other samples of imitative literary letters are presented. The question is raised about the similarity of the perception of the absurdity of D.I. Kharms and the absurdity in the Gogol tradition. The author, in particular, dwells on the theme of marriage and fairy tale elements in D.I. Kharms and N.V. Gogol. The emphasis is on the fact that D.I. Kharms demonstrated the failure of communication, including epistolary communication, while perceiving the surrounding world as absurd. To study an untitled epistolary fragment, among other things, a technique is used that fixes violations of the postulates of normal communication, which was proposed by O.G. Revzina and I. I. Revzin. As a result, it turns out that the artistic means of repetition used by D.I. Kharms violates both the postulate of the information content of normal communication and the postulate of the incompleteness of the description, which makes an effective epistolary dialogue impossible. The method of multiple repetition casts doubts on the effectiveness of the postulate of semantic coherence.

Концепт «Шиповник» в русской народной традиции (на материале народных загадок)

The paper discusses the peculiarities of word usage in the folk riddles about the bushes of briar and the results of their linguocultural analysis. The collections of riddles by V. V. Mitrofanova (the main one), M. A. Rybnikova and D. Sadovnikov (additional) served as the source material. The study describes linguistic and mythological mechanisms in the riddles about briar and its ambivalence (negative and positive evaluation). The author pays great attention to the “costume code” of a tree with its costume metaphor and costume elements, highlighting the similarity of briar with a person. Deciphering of many attributes of the bush present difficulties for analysis, that is why the author often makes her own suppositions about different versions. The paper also includes the separate elements of fairytales and legends about briar.

But There Is Magic, Too: Confronting Adolescents’ Realities in Francesca Lia Block’s Fairy-Tale Rewritings

Many rewritings of fairy tales use this genre to address the darkest, most violent, most unjust, and most painful aspects of human experiences, as well as to provide hope that it is possible to overcome or at least come to terms with such experiences. Francesca Lia Block’s The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold (pub. 2000) is an example of such a use of fairy-tale material. Block’s stories transform traditional fairy tales to narrate the painful realities adolescents can be faced with in modern-day American society. In doing so, Block’s stories draw attention to the violence, both literal and ideological, inherent in well-known versions of fairy tales, as well as to the difficulty of confronting painful realities. Yet, as they depict young heroines (not) facing all kinds of ordeals, the stories also use the figure of the helper to restore hope to the protagonists and lead them to a new, often re-enchanted, life. Employing fairy-tale elements to both address suffering and provide hope, The Rose and the Beast thus offers complex and liminal narratives, or ‘anti-tales’, which deeply resonate with their intended adolescent audience’s in-between stage of life.

Современная литературная сказка: история и политика в детском чтении

This article researches the role of contemporary children’s historical fiction as well as fiction with social and political topics that use the elements of fairytales or fantasy to form historical and political (or civil) views of children. The use of artistic devices typical for fairytales is discussed in the article in a frame of the possibility of making historical information attractive and understandable for a young reader, even in such difficult cases as wars, political repressions, or authoritarian governments. This way the authors of books discussed in the article are able to tell much more about the essence of historical events and/or to create the conditions for understanding of the political organization of the society than if they would stay strictly with the realistic genres. For learning purposes, historical fairytales and fairytales discussing politics allow to meet very complicated educational challenges that satisfy a particular interest in history and/or politics natural for small children and to create the motivation to master the historical material.

Into the Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough

Reviewed by: Into the Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Brockenbrough, Martha Into the Bloodred Woods. Scholastic, 2021 [368p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781338673876 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781338673890 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 It begins with two sisters, one who spins gold and one who betrays her; then there is a girl, raised in the woods and protected by her mother’s lies; then an orphaned werewolf and his human sister, desperate enough to enter the nearby town and risk revealing his true nature; and finally, there is a dying king who splits his kingdom in two, bestowing half to each of his two children, which enrages his already sadistic son to horrific violence. The multiple threads come together when Albrecht, the prince turned king, leads his men to attack and burn down his sister Ursula’s land, forcing her and her people into the mysterious woods. Brockenbrough draws on the very darkest elements of fairy tales to offer up a truly irredeemable villain in Albrecht, who, in the book’s gruesome nod to Cinderella and The Dancing Princesses, gleefully peels back the skin of his fiancé’s feet—a bloody act that is only one of many. His villainy may lack subtlety, but character development isn’t really the point here; the cast is made up of familiar archetypes, reconfigured in a way that makes them all complicit with evil, underscoring the point that best intentions are more often than not fueled by selfish desires. Especially engaging is the book’s interrogation of Ursula, who finds her brother’s methods of control disgusting but who still adamantly believes in the inherent right of the royal family to rule. Even with an ending that sees most of the characters to safety, there’s a vaguely unsettling air in the book’s final pages; readers who prefer fairy tales more for their darker origins than their happy endings will want to wander in these woods. [End Page 88] Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois