The Fairy Tale: The Magic Mirror of ImaginationIn The Fairy Tale: The Magic Mirror of Imagination, Steven Swann Jones draws upon his extensive knowledge of the genre to provide readers with a study that is at once a sorely needed introduction to the subject and an original contribution to existing scholarship. Step by step, Jones guides the reader in understanding and appreciating the genre's origins and its evolution over the past 3,000 years; synthesizes the various approaches - psychological, sociohistorical, and formalisttaken by scholars studying the form; and isolates five key characteristics distinguishing the fairy tale from related forms of folk narrative, such as myths and legends. A series of close readings of selected old and new fairy tales - among them The Wizard of Oz and The Cat in the Hat - serve to illuminate these characteristics for readers, while chapters on the gendering of fairy tale protagonists and other topics stimulate readers to consider fairy tales from new and multifaceted perspectives. Complemented by a chronology detailing fairy tales from Boccaccio's The Decameron to Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, as well as a reflective bibliographic essay and a valuable list of recommended readings, The Fairy Tale: The Magic Mirror of Imagination is a comprehensive handbook for students from secondary through graduate levels, a one-of-a-kind reference for scholars, and an engaging overview for any interested reader. |
Contents
Chapter 2 | 19 |
The Literary History of the Fairy Tale | 32 |
Chapter 5 | 64 |
Copyright | |
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Aarne Aarne and Thompson analysis Antti Aarne anxieties audience members basic Beast Beauty behavior bride characteristics child Cinderella concerns cosmic cultural Cupid and Psyche depict devil Dorothy emotional enchanted essay essential example existence fairy tale genre fairy tales Fairy Tales Told Faithful John fantastic father figure Favorite Fairy female feminist FF Communications Folklore Folktale Grimms hero heroine heroine's husband identify Illus impulses Jack Zipes journey king king's legends literary magical male marriage married mate metaphoric moral mother motifs myths narrative Nights oedipal offers oral tradition perspective plot popular prince princess problem Propp protagonist Psyche psychological published quest realm represents reveals role scholars servant sexual Snow White social society sociohistorical Speaking Horsehead story storytellers stove structural suggests supernatural symbolic T. H. White tale types texts themes Thompson Three Hairs tion trans unconscious mind Unkind Girls versions Vladimir Propp Wild Things Wizard of Oz York