"If you truly wish to understand the people of the world, you must read their stories, the stories handed down from generation to generation."
-Bosima, p.15
A fairy tale is a tale which is so fantastic in content that it is unbelievable. It contains supernatural elements and magical, creatures or beings and they generally begin with "Once upon a time," and end with "They lived happily ever after," however, there are exceptions.
Argument against use:
-Adults have been concerned about exposing children to fairy tales because: they are violent; they contain magic and magical creatures; children will confuse fantasyand reality; it will cause fears; and its escapist.
Argument for use:
-"C.S. Lewis respected childrens abilities to distinguish between worlds. He insists children often find the fantasy world more orderly than the real one. They feel safe encountering uncomfortable frightening situations or characters in a fantasy world because they know these situations or characters are not real in their worlds. Indeed, Lewis asserts, children receive more detrimental, negative impressions from realistic genres and media then from fantasy"(Goforth and Spillman, 7).
-". . . folk literature captures the interest of a wide range of readers"(Bosma, vii).
-They contain things with which we can still identify. The characters experience fear, hope, love, dreams, sorrow, anger, jealousy, hate, loneliness, wishes, hope. It shows that these things have always existed for people and exist throughout the world.
-" . . . folk heroes often need to accomplish two or threes trials before they accomplish their goals . . . disappointments don't signal the end of a struggle, but that through these frustrations the characters find strength to continue until they are successful"(Goforth and Spillman, 6).
In 1928 Vladimir Jakolevic Propp published Morphology of the Folktale. In this book he was covering the tales which are located between numbers 300 and 749 on the Aarne-Thompson index of Folk Literature classification. Propp identifies 31 functions with in the tales. A function being an action a character performs that causes a reaction. Not all 31 functions appear in every tale. I will give some examples of some of the functions that I have come across in various tales which I have read.
II. An Interdiction is addressed to the Hero.
Propp describes this function as the hero being told to not do something. He also writes that this function can be inverted and the hero could receive an order or a suggestion to do something. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of tales where the hero is told not to do something are tales where there is a secret room such as Bluebeard In this tale the lord of the castle tells his young wife she can go into any part of the castle but this one locked room she is never to enter. Another example of a tale where the hero is told not to do something is Little Red Riding Hood, she is told to stay on the path by her mother.
VIIIa. One member of a family Either Lacks something or desires to have something
This lack can be human, magical, non-magical, a specific thing, or something you need to live. In The Singing Bone the king wanted to rid his land to be rid of a destructive wild boar in his country. In The Snowmaiden the old man and his wife wanted a child so they built one of snow.
XII. The Hero is tested, Interrogated, Attacked, ect, Which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or Helper.
A magical agent can be an object, person, or ability.This shows up in many tales. In The Golden Goose an old man asks the woodcutter for something to eat which eventually leads to the youngman receiving the golden goose. In One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes, a woman asks Two Eyes why she is crying and later the woman gives her the ability to use her goat to get food.
XIV. The Hero acquires the use of a magical Agent
This would be where Aladdin gets his magic lamp. Or where the Queen in Rumplstilzkin acquires the help of the funny little man. This would be like when the young man in the tale What came of Picking Flowers obtains a pair of boots that can take you anywhere you want to go and a key that will open any lock. The objects can be acquired honestly or dishonestly.
XIX. The Initial Misfortune or Lack is Liquidated
This is where the object is obtained honestly or dishonestly, poverty is dispelled, the spell is broken, a dead person is revived, or a captive is freed. A good example would be when sleeping beauty is released from the spell by the prince's kiss.XXX. The Villain is punished
The wolf is slain in Little Red Riding Hood. The Wicked Stepmothers daughters die in the snow in Frost. The fierce band of robbers are killed by the seven old samurai in The Seven Old Samurai. The mean old woman who cut the sparrows tongue gets a basket of goblins and devils in The Tongue cut Sparrow. The evil are punished.
XXXI. The Hero is Married and ascends the Throne
Propp describes this function as having several possible ways of being expressed: the hero gets a bride and a kingdom, all at once or half now and half after her parents die; the hero marries and doesnt get a kingdom; the hero only gets a kingdom; the hero gets a monitary reward instead of a bride or a kingdom. There are many stories that end with marriage: Twelve Dancing Princesses; One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes; The Golden Goose; and in Cinderella.
The interesting thing about these 31 functions is that not only do they apply to fairy tales but they can apply to other things as well. This is because they are archetypes. We can see these functions in all kinds of places such as film, comic books, novels, and many other places around us.
-Let students learn about what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale by exposing them to a wide variety of tales within the genre.
-In class discussions of fairy tales.
-Look at the difference in the way fairy tales are told around the world. For example in Japan fairy tales often do not end with the hero getting married and in secret room stories it's women rather then men who have the secret room and usually it has to do with nature rather then horrible things. Also in Japan the tale is told for aesthetic reasons rather then moral reasons.
-Compare contrast tales with similar storylines. For example "Tom Thumb" is very similar to a Japanese fairy tale called "One Inch Fellow." In both cases we have a young man who is unusually small in size. In both cases they end up going out into the world and serving a person of some high social position. "Thumbalina" is also a tale about a little person. It, too, is comparable to both tales.
-Have students look around the community to find fairy tales.
-Students can write their own fairy tales.
Here are some websites with useful information on fairy tales
Sources for the Analysis and Interpretation of Folk and Fairy Tales
Cap ORushes: A Folkloric and Literture Resources for Teachers and Librarians
Jerry Everads introduction to Vladimir Propp