A Companion to the Fairy Tale (Paperback)

~ Hilda Ellis Davidson (Editor), Anna Chaudhri (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This latest collection of fine essays brings a new dimension to the existing body of recent scholarship. (...) This collection of essays truly enhances what we already know about the phenomenon of fairy tales by tackling core issues raised by the exploration of the genre, and by suggesting new perspectives and insights based on amazingly rich global research. STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING Sometimes refreshingly inventive, sometimes simply confirming the well known, but, in its personal refractions, always stimulating, even for the cognoscenti. FABULAOnce upon a time, there was a clever, nuanced book. THE FORTEAN TIMESA remarkable store of incisive commentary, a wise review of relevant primary and secondary literature, a reminder to folklorists and readers alike of how varied this field is, and at the price a real bargain. REFERENCE REVIEWSDeploy(s) a detailed knowledge of publishing histories in the western world to give a fascinatingly fresh understanding of the lively interpretation of oral, literary and commercial traditions. SCHOOL LIBRARIAN JOURNAL Offers an excellent introduction to the work currently and historically being done on fairy tales by folk-lorists. MEDIEVAL REVIEW (A) collection to be greatly welcomed, as it brings together a diversity of material and discourse concerning the meaning of 'the fairy tale'.... Allows for a variety of viewpoints to be explored and the result is a deepening and a widening of knowledge and insight into this most eternal of art forms. BÉALOIDEAS

Product Description

Introduction by Derek Brewer. This book discusses 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, the collection is 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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: D.S.Brewer (April 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843840812
• ISBN-13: 978-1843840817
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,576,940 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of essays, June 29, 2004

By	Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Companion to the Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

This collection of sholarly articles on the fairy tale are diverse and interesting. No one school of thought dominates the collection, providing a wide sampling of contemporary fairy tale studies. I especially enjoyed the article on Maria Roalfe Cox by Pat Schaefer and Graham Anderson's article that essentially summarizes his longer book, "Fairytale in the Ancient World." While the emphasis is on European and North American fairy tales, some scholars travel further, such as Mary Brockington in her article about tales from Southern Asia.

Although the book is scholarly and thus costly, it is recommended for avid fairy tale enthusiasts as well as the traditional academic library.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudhri
1. "The Interpretation of Fairy Tales" by Derek Brewer
2. "Creativity and Tradition in the Fairy Tale" by Neil Philip
3. "The Ultimate Fairy Tale: Oral Transmission in a Literate World" by Ruth Bottigheimer
4. "A Workshop of Editorial Practice: the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmärchen" by David Blamires
5. "Old Tales for New: Finding the First Fairy Tales" by Graham Anderson
6. "Helpers and Adversaries in Fairy Tales" by Hilda Ellis Davidson
7. "'Catch If You Can': the Cumulative Tale" by Joyce Thomas
8. "Unknown Cinderella: The Contribution of Marian Roalfe Cox to the Study of Fairy Tale" by Pat Schaefer
9. "Hans Christian Andersen's Use of Folktales" by Bengt Holbek
10. "Collecting and Study of Tales in Scandinavia" by Reimund Kvideland
11. "The Wonder Tale in Ireland" by Patricia Lysaght
12. "Welsh Folk Narrative and the Fairy Tale" by Robin Gwyndaf
13. "The Ossetic Oral Narrative Tradition; Fairy Tales in the Context of Other Forms of Traditional Literature" by Anna Chaudhri
14. "Russian Fairy Tales and their Collectors" by James Riordan
15. "Fairy Tale Motifs from the Caucasus" by David Hunt
16. "The Fairy Tale in South Asia: The Same Only Different" By Mary Brockington
17. "Rewriting the Core: Transformations of the Fairy Tale in Contemporary Writing" by Tom Shippey