In this course, we will be engaging in discussions of wonder in relation to different fairy tales and their adaptations across time, cultures, communities, and in different mediums (i.e. song, film, art).We will examine what is wonder in relation to various myths, legends, folk/fairy tales, and adaptations. How are fairy tales and adaptations used and recreated and what are the stakes in doing so? How do these narratives and their adaptations strengthen communal and/or national ties? What are the varied purposes and functions of fairy tales in these communities? In what ways do they educate, entertain, and reinforce specific ideologies? How, why, by, and for whom are fairy tales being adapted today?
We will explore and examine concepts in folklore and fairy tale studies and to the translation of traditional narratives across languages, cultures, places, and media. Fairy tales can be understood to include creation myths, jokes, ghost stories, folktales, charms, children’s games, and proverbs— and I have only listed a few of its diverse narratives, forms of knowledge, and traditions. Together we will consider fairy tales as living culture that is pervasive, valuable, and expressive, and can be contestatory. Across a continuum of cultural experiences and their power relations, fairy tales and oral traditions have specific historical trajectories and serve varied purposes: they educate and entertain; they reinforce stereotypes and imagine alternative ways of being in the world; they help groups to bond just as they contribute to exclude others; they re-member; they employ our lives; and they inspire.
More specifically, this course will examine an array of texts to explore “early” or more “familiar” fairy tales as well as providing an emphasis on stories and narratives based in Indigenous communities.
The knowledge that you bring to the class will be an essential component to our exploration of various traditions, their similarities and differences.
Some Questions to Consider:
- What is a fairy tale? How is this, perhaps, articulated/defined differently in other communities?
- What is the function of fairy tales? Of adaptations? Why do we need them?
- Why and how are fairy tales formed?
- How do fairy tales and their adaptations surface/resurface in film, political rhetoric, song, etc?
- What constitutes an adaptation?
- What questions do fairy tales prompt us to ask? How do they then become vehicles to inspire, generate, and transform?
Possible texts:
*Selections from The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
*Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
*A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
*The Gift is in the Making by Leanne Simpson
*The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
All other readings will be provided electronically via Laulima.