The Western
“fairy tale” is a genre we may think we know from childhood memories, but this
course is an introduction to its complex history, multiple social uses, and
transformations into literary fiction and film for children and adults. Fairy
tales today permeate contemporary culture in various media, and one of our
ongoing projects as a class will be to explore why they have such long-term
power over us as well as how they’ve changed (or have been changed) over time.
When oral tales of magic and wonder were first adapted into printed literature
in 16th-century Europe, they were not literature for children or strictly of
European provenance. Moreover, the process by which, from the 18th
through the 20th centuries, fairy tales became a popular genre
crossing national boundaries in the modern world is hardly linear or
ideologically monolithic. Rather, while maintaining a strong grip on ordinary
social life, fairy tales have, over the centuries and in different social
contexts, offered imaginative outlets for desire and change. Approaching fairy
tales as socializing narratives that are continuously adapted, we will focus on
how they encourage and discourage specific gendered and other cultural
behaviors as well as how they enable new possibilities.
Organized
around popular (i.e. well-known) fairytales, plots and themes, this course has
both historical and cross-cultural breadth: we will read English-language
translations of non-western cultures that are fairy-tale like (although not
necessarily considered fairy tales) such as The
Arabian Nights, Pacific-based tales such as Maui and Pele and Hiʻiaka;
we will also read western European stories such as the popular 19th
century German tales of the Brothers Grimm, and the Danish creations of Hans
Christian Andersen. We will also discuss how and why contemporary film
productions, graphic novels, and literary adaptations for children and adults
both reproduce and interrogate the genre.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: a midterm exam, a final exam, regular quizzes on Laulima, Laulima
discussion board posts and class participation (including group discussions), 2
short formal papers, 2 blogs posted on Laulima, an oral group presentation,
regular class attendance and participation, including informal presentations
and discussion groups. Your final grade
will be based on these requirements and your overall participation, which
should be significant.
PROBABLE TEXTS:
Andersen, Hans Christian. Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Puffin Classics, 2010.
Dokey, Cameron. The
Wild Orchid. Simon Pulse, 2009.
Hale, Shannon. Book of
a Thousand Days. Bloomsbury, 2007.
Maguire, Gregory. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.William Morrow, 2010.
Tarnowska, Wafa. The
Arabian Nights. Barefoot Books, 2009.
Tatar, Maria, ed. The
Classic Fairy Tales. Norton, 1999.
Wilmington, Bill. Fables:
1,001 Nights of Snowfall. Vertigo, 2008.
miscellaneous readings and handouts