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Bruno Bettelheim

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The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales Paperback – April 23, 1989

by Bruno Bettelheim (Author)

4.6 514 ratings

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National Book Critics Circle AwardWinner, 1976
National Book AwardWinner, 1977

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The great child psychologist gives us a moving revelation of the enormous and irreplaceable value of fairy tales - how they educate, support and liberate the emotions of children.

Print length

328 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

April 23, 1989
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0679723935
ISBN-13

978-0679723936
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The great child psychologist gives us a moving revelation of the enormous and irreplaceable value of fairy tales - how they educate, support and liberate the emotions of children.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; 49352nd edition (April 23, 1989)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679723935
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679723936
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,335,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,372 in Fairy Tales (Books)
- #5,060 in Popular Child Psychology

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4.6 514 ratings

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C. Middleton

A classic psychoanalytical view of fairy tales

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2005

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It is well known that storytelling is an innate expression of civilization, in an effort to define who we are and to make sense of the world. The fairy tale is an important part of this tradition that has a long and rich history spanning thousands of years.

First published in 1975, Bruno Bettleheim, one of Sigmund Freud's followers and an important contributor to psychoanalysis, has written an incredible book, suggesting that the fairy tale has a pedagogical use, educating the child about the struggles in life, that these struggles are an intrinsic aspect of existence. Following Plato, he believes that the literary education of children should begin with the telling of myths. In other words, the fairy tale can present models for behaviour, providing meaning and value to our lives. This wonderful book expresses this view extremely well and also provides a frame of reference towards the child's overall psychological development.

I have read Freud for some years, and nowhere, including Freud himself, have I read a more succinctly expressed view on the ultimate purpose of psychoanalysis, than in this book by Dr. Bettleheim, he writes,

"Psychoanalysis was created to enable man to accept the problematic nature of life without being defeated by it, or giving in to escapism. Freud's prescription is that only by struggling courageously against what seems like unwieldy odds can man succeed in wringing meaning out of existence." (P.8)

Fairy tales inform us about life's struggles, hardships and the reality of death. From Bettleheim's point of view, the fairy tale is a "manifold form" that communicates to the child, educates them, against life's vagaries and realities, which are the unavoidable aspects of our existence. More specifically, the fairy tale is an educational tool to help children grow and develop into adults. He goes on to say that the child needs to be given "...suggestions in symbolic form about how he may deal with these issues and grow safely into maturity." (P.9)

Bettleheim adeptly sets out to prove his theses by analysing well known fairy tales in the context of psychoanalytic theory, persuasively arguing the value of these tales towards the child's psychological development.

If you are interested in psychoanalysis and would like to know more about the profound positive effects the telling of fairy tales can have on our young, this incredible book is indispensable.

88 people found this helpful

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Donald Bertram

The History of Knowledge

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2013

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Myths, Legends, Folklore, and Fairy Tales comprise the historical frame of reference for all our organized beliefs, theories, and speculations about the nature of man and our place in the cosmos. Bruno Bettelheim, with his thorough academic background and his ability to organize and explain the material, gives us a key piece of the puzzle which has fascinated scholars, theologians, philosophers, poets, writers, and story tellers since the beginnings of our civilization. His orientation is psychoanalytic, which at first glance might seem pedantic and overly specialized. It should not. The discipline itself is based in Ancient Greek literature which deals with the many wanderings of the human soul. Making sense of those wanderings, together with the admonition, "Know thyself," is the aim of psychoanalysis. It is also the aim of those early repositories of wisdom who first spun the yarns we have come to know as Fairy Tales. These stories have meaning which is specifically designed to guide us down the paths of our lives with courage, wisdom, compassion, heroism, and a sense of the eternal hope of success. Bettelheim does a remarkable job in driving these points home. For the lover of knowledge and wisdom, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales is a valuable tool, to put it mildly.

18 people found this helpful

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C. Gardner

Interpretations of fairy tales match real life situations.

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2022

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This is the only book I read on interpretations that made sense. This is the only book on Freudian psychology that I understood. I was never much for Freud, but these fairy tales fit like Cinderella’s glass slipper onto her foot. I learned a lot! This book is spot on.

6 people found this helpful

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grace

... and I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading this book

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017

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I had to purchase this book for an English composition class and I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading this book. It was fun to read the analysis of many famous fairy tale stories.

2 people found this helpful

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Laurence Chalem

A must read for parents and adult children

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2012

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When I first read this book twenty years ago it changed the way I looked at life. Although Bruno Bettelheim got a lot of things wrong in his practice, he got a lot of things right in the book about THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT, even if it uses outdated terms like id, ego and superego. Now, twenty years later, I found myself thinking about fairy tales and decided to read it again. It had the same insightful impact on me. The book really makes one think about how we see our parents, our children and all other people in our lives, and how children see those same people. According to Dr. Bettelheim--he's deceased--no sane child ever believes that these tales describe the world realistically, however, they do see them as outlets. We should allow them--entice them even--to read them. When they do, when we do too, it helps cope with struggles; struggles that before reading it, I had no idea even existed. A life changing book and highly recommended... - lc

6 people found this helpful

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net shopper

Interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2019

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This is a bit of a specialized and not particularly light reading (although also not technical and hard reading)
which is exactly what I hoped for. There are fascinating details in this book which most don't know, and some don't care to know. but then, isn't every book is to some extent valued in the eye of the reader. This is intelligently and well written. The language is clear and unpretentious and Bettelheim does a thorough job explaining fascinating and historic details of these Fairy Tales!

15 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

The ISBN of the copy received is 0679723935, which ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2017

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The ISBN of the copy received is 0679723935, which is different from the 2010 version. I purchased it for my class. Even though it is almost the same content in this book, I have a hard time catching the required schedule managed about the 2010 version.

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Dilma loli

Perfeita!

Reviewed in Spain on August 9, 2021

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Ótima edição e ótima diagramação. As páginas poderiam ser mais amareladas.

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Amazon Customer

valuable resource, should be in everyone's library

Reviewed in Canada on June 8, 2019

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exceptionally informative - should be in everyone's library. it's an eye-opener. i wish all parents would read this, but it's also an important work for anyone who wants to understand the fundamental importance of fairy and folk tales. great for therapists as well. a valuable resource

Diana

Such a pleasant reading!

Reviewed in Germany on March 28, 2020

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The world of fairy tales becomes much more fascinating when you enter it from a psychodynamic standpoint.

X

As good as can be

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2018

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No-one can know everything about popular culture and its place in child psychology, so any work like this is bound to be questioned, even attacked. With that proviso this is really a great read. It's not "The Absolute Truth", but it is thought-provoking in a rational manner. It's not the latest thing in child psychology thinking and the presentation and language show their age, but once that is allowed for it's a good read. While reading you have to remember that this was, all those years ago, a pioneering, ground-breaking work on a taboo subject: sexual awareness and children. It is very flawed, as we now know, but finding those flaws and dealing with them has advanced childhood psychology immeasurably.

Don't forget that Colombus made a mistake of a few thousand miles in his navigation, but he had no way of knowing it was a mistake, and several great nations, in North, Central and South America, have grown from his error. Bettelheim "did a Columbus" in many ways, but vital knowledge has been built by those who have taken the good of his work and highlighted and corrected his errors. It is this book's existence which is its vital quality, because that existence has been the catalyst of so much progress.

Over 40 years ago I was in a long-term relationship with a psychotherapist. She "generously" gave me her copy of this book, because "it was out of date and she didn't want it any more...". That copy disappeared recently; it's nice to have its replacement on the shelf. (And this copy is free of the "challenging" additions made by the first owner of the copy it has now replaced...)

10 people found this helpful

Ashvin

Wow.....Excellent.

Reviewed in India on January 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

I love this books......what a study.
Also go for 'Metaphors'.
The author takes the reader into the mind of a story.

One person found this helpful

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