•   Home
  • UA Graduate and Undergraduate Research
  • UA Theses and Dissertations
  • Honors Theses

The Impact of Traditional and Modern Fairy Tales on Society and Its Individuals

Thumbnail

Degree Name

Degree level, degree program, degree grantor, collections.

entitlement

Export search results

The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.

Georgetown University Logo

  •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
  • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
  • School of Continuing Studies
  • Liberal Studies
  • Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

Show simple item record

Germanic Mythology and Christian Story in the Grimms' Fairy Tales

Files in this item.

Cover for Germanic Mythology and Christian Story in the Grimms' Fairy Tales

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Book cover

Fairy Tales as Literature of Literature pp 5–50 Cite as

The Genre ‘Fairy Tale’ and its Research

  • Lothar Bluhm 2  
  • First Online: 16 September 2022

166 Accesses

The central markers in the attribution history of the Grimm’s fairy tales are shown, to which ‘orality’ or ‘folklore’ belong. The research history of the fairy tale, the genre and the problem of delimitation from other narrative forms is outlined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution .

Buying options

  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

A conversion table is offered by the Scientific Service of the German Bundestag, Kaufkraftvergleich historischer Geldbeträge—2016: WD4-3000-096/16.

Taschenbuch der Sagen und Legenden. Ed. by Amalie v. Helwig und Fr. Baron de la Motte Fouqué. 2 volumes, Berlin 1812 and 1817; Kinder-Mährchen. Von C.W. Contessa, Friedrich Baron de la Motte Fouqué und E.T.A. Hoffmann. Berlin 1816; Ernst Moritz Arndt: Mährchen und Jugenderinnerungen. Erster Theil. Berlin 1818. Sales of Arndt’s collection were so slow that the publisher rejected a second volume projected in 1820. The second volume did not appear until 1843, when it was published by Reimer Verlag.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Des Epimenides Erwachen. Ein Festspiel. Berlin 1815.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe durch einen Verein von Freunden des Verewigten. Berlin 1832–1845.

So Leopold Rankes three volumes Die römischen Päpste in den letzten vier Jahrhunderten (1834–1836) and the six volumes Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation (1839–1847).

The corresponding paradigm shift is probably nowhere better tangible than in a call by the young Kaiser Wilhelm II. at the Berlin School Conference in 1890. The programme of a national politicisation of the (higher) school advocated by him leads to the order to make the German the central point of reference and “to educate national young Germans and not young Greeks and Romans”. (Cf. Verhandlungen über Fragen des höheren Unterrichts 1891, p. 71–72).

Of undeniably fundamental importance for the recent research history of the Kinder- und Hausmärchen is Rölleke 1975. For an attempt at a new “remythification” see Bluhm 1989b.

Kotzebue was—like Vulpius—a pupil of Musäus at the Wilhelminum-Ernestinum Gymnasium in Weimar. Johann Gottfried Herder was director of this educational institution from 1776 to 1791.

Cf. Bluhm 1997, p. 251–275, especially p. 272.—The Grimms tried in 1812/3 without success to get a variant of their ‘Hansel and Gretel’ fairy tale from Gräter, which Achim von Arnim had read in his collections.

See also Clausen-Stolzenburg in retrospect on her analysis of Grimm’s conception of fairy tales in terms of oral tradition, age and origin of the stories: “It is not the functioning of oral tradition in general that should be doubted […] But it should have become clear that in none of the cases mentioned […] an existing written culture would have remained without influence on oral tradition.” (Clausen-Stolzenburg 1995, p. 92).

As an example, the notes of the executioner Franz Schmidt could be mentioned, who between 1573 and 1615 kept a book about the numerous executions and corporal punishments he carried out in Bamberg and Nuremberg, and occasionally noted down particularly interesting lies and deception stories told by the malefactors; see Das Tagebuch des Meister Franz (1980, pp. 71 and 143; Nos. 182 [1598] and 119 [1587]). The sketched stories can be easily traced back to contemporary entertainment literature.

For example, Assmann 1992, especially pp. 50–52.

So Murayama 2005, insb. S. 342–349.

In a recent study, for example, Heinz Rölleke emphasizes the status of a “genuine oral tradition” for KHM 44 Death (Rölleke 2013, p. 395), just as Holger Ehrhardt, with a view to KHM 36, understands the fairy tale contributor Eleonore Storch as a “guarantor” who “stands in the oral tradition of a very well-known fairy tale at the forefront.” (Ehrhardt 2017a, p. 227).—See also Ehrhardt (2017b, pp. 149–152, especially p. 152), where the contributions of the fairy tale editor Philipp Hoffmeister are traced back to “the early collecting ethos of the Brothers Grimm, according to which the fairy tales were ‘collected orally’”.

So Ehrhardt 2016, p. 60.

See Kirchhof 1563, p. 194–195; Quote: p. 194.

In this context, the “thesis” can also be seen that “it is only the separation of written and popular culture, which is associated with the enforcement of humanistic epistemes and becomes apparent in the 16th century, which created the prerequisite not for the emergence , but for the prominence of the genre ‘folktale’ in Europe, since only now the paradoxical concept of a ‘littérature populaire’ was filled with content.” (Wolfzettel 2005, p. 18)

Diana Kühndel and Ursula Offermann: Hörendes Lesen und Sehen von Märchen. Zur Einführung. In: Kühndel / Offermann (eds.) 2017, pp. 7–14, here p. 8. The problem with the “expansion” of the term introduced here is that the process of re- or retelling of what has been read in recent fairy tale reception is not distinguished from the process of literary historical fixation of the “fairy tale production”.

Giesecke can already refer to a number of studies by J. Erben, W. Besch or Hugo Kuhn at this point.

See in particular Chap. 2 of her study, where she examines the reception history of the Bible, Eilhart’s Tristrant , Barlaam and Josaphat and the “Trojan War” accordingly (Clausen-Stolzenburg 1995, pp. 94–308).

For context, see Bluhm 1997. Dehrmann 2014 concisely develops the important aspect of the philologically-historical reflection of orality after 1800 and in particular with regard to the Kinder- und Hausmärchen .

Still fundamental Schmidt 1989.

In his “Freundlichen Gruß zuvor”, which serves as a preface to the first volume, Löhr speaks of a “little fairy tale book” (1818, p. [III]), which is supposed to “really lovely and funny” to the “sweet [n] gold hearts” ([V]) young readers, the fairy tales “like to hear and read” ([V]), but also “[…] instructive.” ([III]) Löhr draws on a variety of well-known fairy tale collections of his time—also on the Kinder- und Hausmärchen published shortly before: “I did not make most of the fairy tales myself, […] but I tinkered with them a little and prepared them in my own way […]. ”([IV])

Cf. more detailed Bluhm 2006b, especially p. 373.

Of course, the processes of ‘collecting’, ‘screening’ and ‘ordering’ belong to the editorial work quite self-evidently.

Pabst (2014, p. 138) emphasizes that the known or presumed pretexts “would indeed entitle them to authorship” in the case of the anonymous ‘Kinder- und Hausmärchen’ and that “not always the same anonymity in terms of quality” would apply to the stories.

See also the clarification that Pabst (2014, p. 137) formulates in relation to Grimm’s idea of ‘people’: “The material represented by the fairy tales does not seem to originate from a particular people, but from an anthropological deep structure or divine inspiration […]. People means […] rather something like a transcendental originator.” Nevertheless, the concrete orientation with the Grimms remains throughout primarily national-cultural.

See in particular Uther 2013/2021.

Cf. KHM 1856, p. 283–418.

See also Schäfer/Denecke 2003.

Studies that specifically address Grimm’s ‘fairy tale work’ in relation to the library holdings are far too rare and are among the desiderata of philological Grimm research. An exemplary model of this type of insight into the ‘fairy tale workshop’ can be found in Friemel 2012.

See Denecke/Teitge 1989.

KHM 1856, p. 328. The incorrect attribution of the Ammenmärchen to Vulpius (KHM 1822, p. 28; KHM 1856, p. 27) can also be found in the comments to KHM 17 Die weiße Schlange .—It can be assumed with certainty that Wilhelm Schumann and not Vulpius is the author of the Ammenmärchen : “The most reliable source is the catalogue of the HAAB [Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar], which lists a ‘D,d’ sign for the Ammenmärchen , i.e. the entry is probably from the Goethe period and lists Schumann as the author. The Hofmann Bookshop in Weimar delivered compulsory copies to the Herzogliche Bibliothek in 1791/2. Here they knew of Schumann’s authorship, either through the publisher or through Schumann himself. Vulpius was registrar at the library from 1797 onwards, i.e. he was responsible for the catalogue. If he had found a work by himself with a different attribution, it would not have remained like this.” (Notes from Professor Andreas Meier, Wuppertal, of 4.3.2021)—Grimm’s false attribution leaves its mark even in recent research literature; for example, Waltraud Maierhofer (2013, p. 270) complains in her review of a collected volume on the work of Vulpius about the “gaps” in the text recording, which she finds “incomprehensible”: “So werden etwa die Ammenmärchen in einem […] Eintrag erwähnt, haben aber keinen eigenen.” Even in the Wikisource collection of digital copies, the first volume is listed as a Vulpius work ( https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Christian_August_Vulpius —accessed on 11.04.2021).

A good overview of the development is provided by Reiling 2019, who shows how the poetological model of folk and art poetry was theoretically interpreted and practically handled from the Sturm und Drang period via Romanticism to the late 19th century. The focus of the study is on the reception history of the figure of thought in literary 19th century; for Herder’s importance for the concept and the tradition of ‘folk poetry’ see Reiling 2019, pp. 17–42, for Herder’s ambivalent judgments on the ‘fairy tale’ in particular pp. 35–36.—From 1796 Herder turned to the fairy tales more intensively; plans for a fairy tale anthology for Christmas 1802 were not realized, however; see Arnold 1984.

See comprehensive Herder 1801, p. 132–176.—For his time, Herder saw in tradition material for an art that forms people: “It is now up to us to choose from this wealth, to give new meaning to old fairy tales, and to use the best ones with the right understanding.” (Herder 1801, p. 157)

Jacob Grimm nevertheless wrote a critical review of it in the Leipziger Literatur-Zeitung , no. 229 of 15.9.1819, p. 1830; see also Friemel 2012, pp. 50–52.

Cf. Pöge-Alder 2007, pp. 85–98.

The model character is already evident in the reception. For example, Georg van Gaal complains in the “Preface” to his Mährchen der Magyaren of the vain efforts of his own long search for storytellers or storytellers, “but nowhere did a woman Viehmännin tell a story willingly” (Gaal 1822, p. IV).

See Bluhm 2014, especially pp. 223–227.

For example, in Murayama 2019, who accentuates the “meeting with the fairy tale teller Dorothea Viehmann” in the first sentence of his research contribution to the intermedial stylization of the “Viehmännin” as the ideal fairy tale teller: “The meeting with the fairy tale teller Dorothea Viehmann must have deeply touched the Brothers Grimm, because they probably had the experience of a real existing carrier of the cultural memory for the first time and could observe their narrative performance personally […] with their own eyes and ears.”(Murayama 2019, p. 218)

An interesting aspect is mentioned by Dehrmann (2014, p. 163), who points out that the copper engraving portrait of the “Viehmännin” takes up the “traditional scholarly practice” of “a collection of writings with the image of the author. But of course she modifies this practice, because the Viehmännin is the medium of the fairy tales and not the author.”

For example, Friedrich H. von der Hagen in the preface of his ‘renewal’ of the Nibelungenlied of 1807: “Kein anderes Lied mag ein vaterländisches Herz so rühren und ergreifen, so ergötzen und stärken, als dieses, worin die wunderbaren Mährchen der Kindheit wiederkommen und ihre dunkelen Erinnerungen und Ahnungen nachklingen […].” Hagen, Der Nibelungen Lied 1807, p. [II].

A history of ideology of German fairy tale research is a desideratum of the self-assurance of this branch of science. Within such a history of ideology, the national political convictions of the Brothers Grimm would have to be included, as well as, for example, Herman Grimm’s positioning in the “Berlin Anti-Semitism Dispute” from 1879 to 1881, the racial mixings of fairy tale researchers of the 1910s and 1920s, and later the NS membership of Hans Naumann, who appeared as one of the main protagonists and speakers at the National Socialist book burning on May 10, 1933, of André Jolles, who joined the Security Service of the Reichsführer SS, of Ludwig Denecke, who was active as an ideological trainer of the SS, of Lutz Mackensen, Karl Schulte Kemminghausen, as well as other well-known fairy tale researchers of the middle and late 20th century.

See, for example, Röhrich 1962/1967; Moser-Rath 1964; Brückner (ed.) 1974.

See Rölleke 1998 as well as 2 2004.

These included, for example, Lauer 1993; Bluhm 1989a, 1995a, 2001, 2011, among others; Friemel 2012; Ehrhardt 2020 or Messerli 2020.

Cf. Neuhaus 2005, pp. 1–9; also Neuhaus 2017.

Last Rölleke 2015a, p. 17–28.

For example, Clausen-Stolzenburg 1995, p. 405: “In the end, only this conclusion can be drawn: The fairy tale contributors of the first hour have, in all innocence, unearthed a repertoire dominated by French sources from their memories. ”

Last Ehrhardt (ed.) 2012.

So Bluhm 2014.

An overview is provided by Brinker-von der Heyde et al. (eds.) (2015): Part 1.

An overview is provided by Brinker-von der Heyde et al. (eds.) (2015): Part 2.

See, for example, Bluhm 2006a, especially pp. 478–483.

Cf. Bluhm 2011, esp. pp. 6–10.

Accordingly, the known “Klopfan” sayings are also not evidence of an oral tradition, not “sayings from the people”, but art products.

So Bluhm 2015b, S. 123–132.

“[…] because nothing is represented as sparsely in our literature as—the expression is allowed—the art -fairy tale, which of course lies in the nature of the thing.” Storm-Fontane 2011, p. 136 (letter of October 17, 1868).

See Benz 1907; Todsen 1906.

A trace polemically to Wührl 1984, p. 15: “Benz introduced the nonsense of repeatedly measuring the fairy tales of German poets against the allegedly folkloric ‘natural poetry’ (J. Grimm) of the folktale. But Wührl (1984, p. 16) also assumes the facticity of the “traditionally transmitted fairy tale” as the “‘simple form’”.

See Lüthi 2004, p. 5: “The term Kunstmärchen is not a value concept, it does not only refer to high-ranking artistic achievements, but also to simple inventions of an imagination that takes pleasure in making flowers, animals or furniture talk, fly, or act.”

See Apel 1978; Wührl 1984; Klotz 1985.

Cf. Ewers 1987, pp. 645–678.

Contrary to a common assessment, Galland did not provide a translation, but a transfer, an adaptation; concisely summarized by Heinz Grotzfeld (2005, p. 10): “He had no qualms about incorporating stories into his translation that did not appear in his source. In short: he treated the text of 1001 Nights just as he would have treated a text written by himself: he improved it and changed it if he saw fit.” Similarly, Grotzfeld’s conclusion (2005, p. 14): “We must recognize that Les Mille et une Nuit by Galland, even though the sources of the stories come from the Orient, are a French production.”

How much the “Arabian stories” were seen in the horizon of the genre of fairy tales is already revealed by the preface that J.H. Voß placed before the first volume of his Galland translation: “The Arabs undoubtedly possess a large number of small love stories, gallant narratives in the style of our novellas, and small wonderful stories in the style of our fairy tales […]. (1001 Nights / Voß 1781 I, p. III)

Cf. Oerke 2006, esp. pp. 28-29.—Naubert’s Alme oder Egyptische Mährchen did not receive the same appreciation from the reading public as her Neuen Volksmährchen der Deutschen had before, but nevertheless achieved a second edition after one year.

Clausen-Stolzenburg 1995 offers an equally extensive and thorough development history of the concept, pp. 3–93.

For example, in Becker’s Noth- und Hülfsbüchlein from 1788, meteorological explanations are brought together with reference to the “fact” that “simple people still believe the fairy tale of the witches and think that the devil or the witches make the weather.” (Becker 1980, p. 257) Comparable Eberhard 1783 in his speech from the “fairy tale of the so-called white woman” (Eberhard 1783, p. 3), which he wants to expose as ‘superstition’. In his ‘postscript’ to Eberhard’s study Gedike (1783, p. 42): “It is always only pardonable for the mob to believe in fairy tales of the kind, as in the one of the white woman.”

For example, Herder in section 5 “Fable” in his Adrastea : “Luxurious times degrade everything; so gradually from the great nature teacher and human educator, the fable became a coquettish gossip, or a fairy tale.” (Herder 1801, p. 87–96, here p. 92)

As one example of many, the reference to the mytho-poetics of the swan in Friedrich Justin Bertuch’s Bilderbuch für Kinder (1801, p. 113): “That the swan, which otherwise has a rough unpleasant voice, should begin to sing sweetly when he wants to die, is false, and a fairy tale of the ancients.”

Bausinger 1999, pp. 250–274; Moser-Rath 1977, pp. 463–464; Bausinger 1979, pp. 974–977; Scherf 1993, pp. 1329–1336; Grätz 1996, pp. 612–622.

Tomkowiak 1993, pp. 1297–1329; Bausinger 2002, pp. 972–983.

Rölleke 2000b, S. 513–517, 2000c, S. 366–368.

Bluhm 2007a, S. 472–474, 2007b, S. 413–414.

Kümmerling-Meibauer 2000, S. 254–258; Kliewer and Kliewer 2007, S. 379–382.

Wünsch 2003, S. 70–74; Antonsen 2007, S. 581–582.

See in particular Fehling 1977, p. 99, who describes the “stable tradition of folk epic” as nothing more than a “pure myth”.

Wesselski (1925, p. XI) emphasizes, in contrast to the “triumph of so-called fairy tales”, the importance of the “so-called literary fairy tales”.

See Kreuzer 2007, p. 282–302, in particular p. 287.

To what extent the “wonderfulness of the fairy-tale world” can also claim validity as a “productive means of the Enlightenment discourse” (Hühn and Matuschek 2014, p. 5), as can rightly be claimed with regard to the ‘Enlightenment century’, must be ascertained by corresponding cultural-historical research.

Cf. generally Hecken 2007.

Cf. Kümmerling-Meibauer 2012, p. 14.

Cf. Bluhm 2000 in general.

An overview is provided by Bluhm 2010.

For this, see Rölleke 1985a, especially pp. 52–60. See also Älteste Märchensammlung/Rölleke 1975, p. 341; Rölleke points to Brentano’s Badische Wochenschrift and Arnim’s Zeitung für Einsiedler , where “numerous legends and fairy tales” were published: “Brentano’s contribution after Moscherosch inaugurated [this] … and Rung’s fairy tale Von dem Machandelboom was particularly influential in determining the direction of the Brothers Grimm’s collecting activity. However, the personal encounter with Brentano and Arnim was decisive [for the Brothers Grimm] … At that time, works such as Fischart’s Geschichtklitterung , Moscherosch’s Philander , Grimmelshausen’s Simplizissimus , Nehrlich’s Schilly , Schütze’s Idiotikon , which were used for the Wunderhorn , left clear traces in the [Brothers Grimm’s] collecting activity.”

A separate interpretation is offered by Schmiele 2020, S. 13: „Die Grimms haben vielleicht alles Zotige oder grob Obszöne entfernt, aber gerade diese leichte Sublimierung verleiht ihren Texten eine allgegenwärtige Sinnlichkeit, wenn nicht geradezu Erotik.”

Uther concisely in KHM 1857 / Uther 1996 III, p. 242–249; see also Uther 2013, pp. 488–492, 2021, pp. 491–496.

Cf. Ginschel 1989, especially pp. 216–217 and 440–441.

Cf. Offermann 2017.

Cf. Propp in particular.

See Lüthi 2005 in detail.

It is an element of description based on Gudmund Schütte, which, since Axel Olrik, has been considered one of the relevant “epic laws” of “folk poetry”; cf. Olrik 1909.

Comprehensive Bluhm/Rölleke 2020, where all proverbs and idioms in the KHM are ascertained and analyzed with regard to the procedure of the “folk poetic shaping”.

Naubert 1792 IV, p. 3: “Once upon a time in the Holy Roman Empire there was a knight […].”—See Naubert 2001 IV, p. 7.

Schumann 1791 I, p. 9: “Once upon a time there was a king and a queen.” (Prinz Löwenzagel oder: Was seyn soll, schickt sich wohl.)

Schumann 1791 I, p. 145: “Once upon a time there was a prince in Persia […].

Gehres 1792, p. 19: “Once upon a time in the city called Pforzheim there was an old woman.”

Apuleius 1628, p. 133 [= Metamorphoses, Book IV, Chapter 28.1 (translation: There was once in a city a king and a queen)]. The edition is documented in the Brothers Grimm Library. Also documented is the later edition: Apuleii Psyche et Cupido. Recensit et emendavit Otto Jahn. Lipsiae: Breitkopf & Haetel, 1856 (Denecke and Teitge 1989, p. 109; nos. 890–891).

A beautiful example, which at the same time makes the literary tradition transparent, can be found in Albrecht von Eyb’s Ehebüchlein of 1472, which was published several times. In the final chapter “Das kein sunder verzweyfelen solle” (“That no one should despair or doubt his sins”), a wide-ranging “History” begins as follows: “It should be understood from this that no one should despair or doubt his sins in his sins […] and I will give this first of all through a pretty story that I also brought from Latin into German, and thus it goes: There was once a mighty, noble emperor or king […].” (Albrecht von Eyb 1890, p. 91 ss)

As an arbitrary example, the well-known fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm Magyaren Mährchen may be mentioned, where a large part of the fairy tale narration— Die Speckfestung, Fischer-Mährchen, Die dankbaren Thiere, Der Vogel Goldschweif, Die geitzige Bäuerinn and Kutschermährchen (Gaal 1822, S. 77, 127, 175, 195, 276, 429)—begins with this fiction signal.—In the literature review of the KHM (1856, S. 335), Löhr’s fairy tale book for children is also mentioned with the derogatory remark ”many from our collection”, the first story of which begins in the first volume with “Es war einmal, vor vielen, vielen Jahren” (Löhr 1818, S. [3]). In Löhr’s work, fairy tales often begin with this opening formula.

A very catchy example can be found in Ernst Koch’s (published under the pseudonym Eduard Helmer) humorous story Prinz Rosa-Stramin from 1834: “Es war einmal ein Mädchen, die hieß Marie, und ein junger Bursche, der hieß mit dem ersten Buchstaben Gabelstich.” The subsequent—satirical—narrative sketch ends with the character’s speech: “Das ist keine Geschichte, das klingt wie ein Mährchen.” ([Koch] 1834, S. 198)—See also Wilhelm Grimm’s letter to Hirzel from 28.1.1859 (Briefwechsel der Brüder Grimm 2007, S. 554).

Less common is the later beginning of the Grimm fairy tale: “In olden times, when wishing still helped, there lived a king […]” (KHM 1837 I, p. 1), with which, starting with the second edition of the “Small Edition” from 1833 and then with the third edition of the “Large Edition” from 1837, KHM 1 The Frog King or the Iron Heinrich and thus the entire fairy tale collection begins. The opening formula already occurs in the second volume of the first edition; No. 41 The Iron Oven begins with a similar phrase: “At the time when wishing still helped […]” (KHM 1815, p. 211). Possibly the famous later opening of the story was then reformulated by the Grimms based on Gaal’s The Glass Hoe : “In those adventurous times when the fairies still ruled over the destinies of men, somewhere a count lived […]. (Gaal 1822, p. 53) Georg van Gaal was already familiar with the fairy tale editions of Musäus and the Grimms and oriented himself towards them.

Gunkel’s “formula of the ‘Sitz im Leben’” is used here and in the following only in the general conceptual sense, according to which, when considering literature, the historical-political and socio-cultural conditions of its time of origin and the discourse context valid at that time are to be taken into account.—Gunkel’s religious-historical approach can be grasped in nuce in the much-cited dictum: “Whoever wants to understand an ancient genre therefore has to ask first where it has its seat in popular life” (Gunkel 2004 [1906], p. 3). It is the demand to take into account the time of origin of biblical texts, the spiritual and mental constitution of society, the known form of language and the situational functionality when interpreting them. Text analysis therefore has to take into account content, form and social function at the same time.

Cf. Bluhm 1995a, in particular pp. 6–7.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Campus Landau, Universität Koblenz, Landau in der Pfalz, Germany

Lothar Bluhm

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lothar Bluhm .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Cite this chapter.

Bluhm, L. (2022). The Genre ‘Fairy Tale’ and its Research. In: Fairy Tales as Literature of Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66000-3_2

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66000-3_2

Published : 16 September 2022

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, Berlin, Heidelberg

Print ISBN : 978-3-662-65999-1

Online ISBN : 978-3-662-66000-3

eBook Packages : Literature, Cultural and Media Studies Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Publish with us

Policies and ethics

  • Find a journal
  • Track your research

Monash University

A study of fairy tales as a source of child development in early childhood education

Campus location, principal supervisor, year of award, department, school or centre, degree type, usage metrics.

Faculty of Education Theses

  • Early childhood education
  • Bibliography
  • More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
  • Automated transliteration
  • Relevant bibliographies by topics
  • Referencing guides

Essays on Fairy Tale

Shrek fairy tales analysis, anne sexton's cinderella: subverting traditional narratives, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Cinderella by Jack Zipes Essay

Comparative analysis of three different renditions of cinderella, comparative analysis of perrault’s sleeping beauty and maleficent, godilocks and the 3 bears, let us write you an essay from scratch.

  • 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
  • Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Development of Feminism in The Arabian Nights

The overwhelming feeling of mortality in early literature, analyzing the disney’s stories: snow white and the seven dwarfs, baum’s land of oz: a reflection of a corrupt america, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

Fairytales as a Relevant Part of a Child's Development: The Princess Bride

How the perception of home changes as a person grows up: hansel and gretel, the role of purity in cinderella and the princess on the glass hill, little red riding hood: comparsion of perrault’s and grimm’s story, analysis of little red riding hood through marxist theory, psychological interpretation of the topic of sibling’s rivalry and oedipal period in cinderella, healing humanity and other recipes, fairy tale – analysis proposal, the appropriation of perrault’s "bluebeard" in carter’s "the bloody chamber" and "the piano", analysis of the styles of children’s theatre, analysis of sindbad’s traits of character, meaning of selflessness: examples from classic and modern literature, the function of flouting in the little red riding hood, code of honor and class relations in the arabian nights, what does mercy cost: a comparative analysis of two tales in 1,001 nights, breaking down the features of fairy tales, how grimms created the image of curiosity, similarities between hans christian andersen’s and disney’s mermaids, life of forest dwellers, assignment: multimodal essay, relevant topics.

  • Gothic Fiction
  • Science Fiction

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

  • Instructions Followed To The Letter
  • Deadlines Met At Every Stage
  • Unique And Plagiarism Free

thesis on fairy tales

IMAGES

  1. Thesis Ideas With Fairytales

    thesis on fairy tales

  2. 😂 How to start a fairy tale essay. How to write a fairy tale. 2019-02-12

    thesis on fairy tales

  3. Fairy Tales...

    thesis on fairy tales

  4. How To Write A Fairy Tale Essay

    thesis on fairy tales

  5. Fairy Tale

    thesis on fairy tales

  6. Fairy Tale Analysis Paper

    thesis on fairy tales

VIDEO

  1. eBook Trailer: Fairy Tale Romance Collection (5 ebooks)

  2. Does fairytales exist??

  3. Fairytales (Narrative story)

  4. ⁠ Here begins the first chapter of our fairy tale

  5. Fairy Smut is the Best

  6. Animation Film Sparrow Help #2023

COMMENTS

  1. PDF The Impact of Traditional and Modern Fairy Tales on Society and Its

    Abstract: The genre of fairy tales lacks a concrete confinement, allowing its stories to span across. age, asserting a variety of themes and captivating a wide range of audience members. The. familiarity of such traditional stories, however, sets a precedent for the genre—an ability to. assert a lesson and an element of escaped reality.

  2. Hansel and Gretel: A feature and study on how fairy tales have changed

    A feature and study on how fairy tales have changed. A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the University Honors Program of Loyola Marymount University by. Nazeli Ekimyan May 6, 2016. Ekimyan(1(Naz(Ekimyan(((Not(So(Happily(Ever(After(How(Fairy(Tales(Have(Changed(((

  3. Eastern Washington University EWU Digital Commons

    EWU Masters Thesis Collection Student Research and Creative Works 2013 Once upon a time: fairytales past and present Jordan L. Keithley Eastern Washington University ... fairy tales could be used to explain internal dilemmas that humans experience. While cultural, feminist, and gender studies look at fairy tales as representations of cultural ...

  4. A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for The

    There are many examples of novel-length renditions of traditional fairy tales to be found in young adult fantasy literature. Although there is a significant amount of research on the ... This thesis examines the Faerie-related folkloric themes and motifs to be found in four examples of contemporary young adult fantasy novels: An Earthly Knight ...

  5. (PDF) A fairy tale (R)evolution: The value and the critical reading of

    In this paper we present a diachronic overview of a classical fairy tale, i.e. its creative and receptive (r)evolution, which is the basis on which we determine the educational value of this ...

  6. The Impact of Traditional and Modern Fairy Tales on Society and Its

    Fairy tales exist even in modern times and reappear in existing and novel ways. Both traditional and modern fairy tales possess an extremely important role in societal expectations, disturbances in human desire, and the ideals/behaviors of individuals, regardless of age. With the use of both traditional and modern day texts, it becomes evident ...

  7. PDF Tales As Old As Time: the Origins of Selected Fairy Tales and Their

    The evolution of character through these fairy tales is an area of interest in this thesis, with an emphasis on agency and the depiction of the heroines through the stories and their adaptations. Including two well-known fairy tales and one that is more obscure, this thesis aims to understand how each variation is conceived and

  8. PDF Fairy Tales of the Anthropocene: A thesis Master of Fine Arts

    Fairy Tales of the Anthropocene: Drawing Stories for a New Age of Forest Fairy Tale Abigail Drapkin A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment ... Anthropocentric vein, for my thesis, I felt compelled to make more personal works. Returning to my roots, I examined my individual perspective as a young woman who grew up living on the edge of the ...

  9. Germanic Mythology and Christian Story in the Grimms' Fairy Tales

    The fairy tales explored in this thesis, "Little Red Riding Hood," "Sleeping Beauty," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Godfather Death," are rooted in the diachronic continuity and lived experience of the Medieval Germanic peoples. The above-mentioned tales were born out of the confluence of pagan mythology and Christian story and ...

  10. The Genre 'Fairy Tale' and its Research

    The central markers in the attribution history of the Grimm's fairy tales are shown, to which 'orality' or 'folklore' belong. ... is then also used in the further recent and latest research on fairy tale reception—for example in the collection of essays on the history and present of the fairy tale film edited by Dettmar, Pecher and ...

  11. Und Es War Einmal: A Comparative Analysis of Character ...

    This thesis examines the depiction of archetypal characters such as the step-mother, the old crone/witch, the trickster, the hero, and the heroine within Kinder-und Hausmärchen, first published in 1812 by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and the influence that German culture had on this portrayal. This analysis of the tales will then be

  12. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Fairy Tales and Children

    An Abstract of the thesis of Cornelia Marianne Seigneur for the Master of Arts in German, presented May . 15, 1996. Title: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Fairy Tales and Children Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm prided themselves on the notion that their collection of fairy tales, the Kinder-und Hausmarchen, was poetry from the Volk.

  13. Understanding Culture Through Traditional Chinese Fairy Tales: A Study

    Chinese Fairy Tales: A Study on the effects of Chinese fairy tale characters on audience perception of culture. Bochuan Li . A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design School of Design College of Art and Design Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY

  14. A study of fairy tales as a source of child development in early

    This study investigates the relations between fairy tales, play and child development in early childhood education. The thesis reports on a detailed study of The Frog King fairy tale with a multi-age group of children, their educators and the researcher in an early childhood education setting in Australia. Using cultural historical theory and the principles of Russia's Golden Key schools ...

  15. Dissertations / Theses: 'Fairy tales in literature'

    Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Fairy tales in literature.'. Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago ...

  16. Dissertations / Theses: 'Folklore Fairy tales'

    This thesis will investigate the world of fairy tales in relation to their historical context and their differing relevance for male and female readers. I will examine the fairy tales of the brothers Grimm and of Ludwig Bechstein because these three scholars count among the most important fairy tale narrators in the German-speaking region.

  17. Once Upon a Gender Role:Re-Envisioning the Strength of Females ...

    fairy tales so that it may facilitate the digestion of the information within the thesis. Keeping that in mind, it was best to begin with the origins of fairy tales so that all viewpoints may be shown as well as to help understand the genre. To begin, Jack Zipes, an author who devoted a book to the topic of fairy tales, stated that

  18. Fairy Tale as a Pedagogical Tool for Children under the Age of 3

    This study aims to analyze teacher and student perspectives on educational fairy tales as instructional learning materials. The research was involved 20 teachers and 400 students of forth grade of ...

  19. PDF Fairy Tales in Teaching English Language Skills and Values in ...

    often they use fairy tales in their English classes. The results of the necessity analyses were taken into consideration while compiling the study material and writing the theoretical part of the diploma thesis. The Concept of Fairy Tales A fairy tale is a story which involves folkloric features such as fairies, goblins, princes and princesses.

  20. PDF A Critical Study of Classic Fairy Tales and Their Contemporary

    the tenets of feminism. This paper also examines the reasons behind the choice of contemporary fairy tales for this paper and examines feminist features and how they complement modern society. There has been a huge impact of the classic fairy tales on generations that have grown up conditioned to the patriarchal norms found in such tales.

  21. (PDF) Fairy Tales and its Impact on Children's Development in the

    Fairy Tales and their impact on children's development Mali A. Mann, MD, F.I.P.A Since Bruno Bettelheim, in The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales stressed the value of ...

  22. Essays on Fairy Tale

    2 pages / 871 words. This essay is an evaluation of psychological interpretation of fairy and folklore tales looking at the topic of sibling's rivalry and oedipal period in Cinderella. There is a use of Freud Sigmund psychological theory to interpret.

  23. Fairy Tales Thesis

    Fairy Tales Thesis. 4417 Words18 Pages. UNIVERSITY OF BOLTON. Proposal for PhD Thesis. Area of Study: Psychology. Proposed Title: Once upon a time...An association of fairy tales, parental feeding practices and the development of healthy eating habits among children aged 2-4 years old in Greece. Koutsompou Violetta-Eirini.