A Companion to the Fairy Tale

Introduction by Derek Brewer.The aim of this book is to discuss the characteristics of the traditional fairy tale in Europe and North America, and various theories of its development and interpretation. The book deals with the main collections - the Grimm brothers, Hans Andersen, Perrault and Afanes'ev - and with the development of tales in various regions of Europe, including Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia, as well as India, where it was once claimed that they originated.The subject of the fairy tale is a controversial one: problems discussed here include the relationship between tales recorded from story-tellers and literary works, the importance of printed works for the spread of the tales, the growth of recent examples with a feminine approach, the spread of popular tales like Cinderella, special types like the cumulative tales, possible effects of TV, and the nature of traditional plots and characters. Above all, we have been concerned with the distribution and long survival of these tales, and the nature of their appeal. SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATHARINE BRIGGS FOLKLORE AWARD 2004. Contributors: GRAHAM ANDERSON, DAVID BLAMIRES, RUTH BOTTIGHEIMER, DEREK BREWER, MARY BROCKINGTON, ANNA CHAUDHRI, HILDA ELLIS DAVIDSON, ROBIN GWYNDAF, BENGT HOLBEK, DAVID HUNT, REIMUND KVIDELAND, PATRICIA LYSAGHT, NEIL PHILIP, JAMES RIORDAN, PAT SCHAEFER, TOM SHIPPEY, JOYCE THOMAS.

Table of Contents

The Interpretation of Fairy Tales - Derek S BrewerCreativity and Tradition in the Fairy Tale - Neil PhilipThe Ultimate Fairy Tale: Oral Transmission in a Literate World - Ruth BottigheimerA Workshop of Editorial Practice: the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmärchen - David BlamiresOld Tales for New: Finding the First Fairy Tales - Graham AndersonHelpers and Adversaries in Fairy Tales - Hilda Ellis Davidson ***DECEASED***'Catch if you can': the Cumulative Tale - Joyce ThomasUnknown Cinderella: The Contribution of Marian Roalfe Cox to the study of fairy tale - Pat SchaeferHans Christian Andersen's Use of Folktales - Bengt HolbekCollecting and Study of Tales in Scandinavia - Reimund KvidelandThe Wonder Tale in Ireland - Patricia LysaghtWelsh Folk Narrative and the Fairy Tale - Robin GwyndafThe Ossetic Oral Narrative Tradition; Fairy Tales in the Context of other forms of Traditional Literature - Anna ChaudhriRussian Fairy Tales and their Collectors - James RiordanFairy Tale Motifs from the Caucasus - David HuntThe Fairy Tale in South Asia: the same only different - Mary BrockingtonRewriting the Core: Transformations of the Fairy Tale in Contemporary Writing - T A Shippey

Contributors: GRAHAM ANDERSON, DAVID BLAMIRES, RUTH BOTTIGHEIMER, DEREK BREWER, MARY BROCKINGTON, ANNA CHAUDHRI, HILDA ELLIS DAVIDSON, ROBIN GWYNDAF, BENGT HOLBEK, DAVID HUNT, REIMUND KVIDELAND, PATRICIA LYSAGHT, NEIL PHILIP, JAMES RIORDAN, PAT SCHAEFER, TOM SHIPPEY, JOYCE THOMAS.