English 2F - Children's Literature
Module 7: Fairy Tales, Folklore and Mythology
Fairy tales and folklore may be the the quintessential form of children's literature as we think of it today, but originally, these tales were not meant for children at all. Rather, they were handed down orally through the generations. Children heard the stories incidentally, but they were not the intended audience. |
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| Most fairy and folk tales originate from oral tradition, which means they are the product of many minds, not a single author. This puts them under the category of mythology, which is the body of stories that unite any community, tribe or religion . What’s important to a society – its values, belief systems, behavior codes and traditions - can all be seen in its mythology. | |
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How many fairy tales can you recite by heart? How many versions do you think exist of those tales that are so familiar to you? Take Cinderella for example - a version of this story exists in almost every culture throughout the history of storytelling. The details of each version reveal important insight into the values and concerns of the culture that spawned it. |
Myths, Fairy Tales and Psychology In addition to revealing truths about a particular society's language, history, culture, and social norms, these stories also reveal truths about universal human nature, our needs and our limitations. We humans constantly seek to reconcile ourselves to our mortality, to know the unknowable. Myths help to reconcile the psychological gap that comes from knowing how little we really know about the world and our place in it, about our complex relationships to one another, to the earth and the cosmos, and to ourselves. Children especially can benefit from folklore, fairy tales and myths. These types of stories provide children with a map, useful for navigating the sometimes treacherous waters of life. In all their incarnations, ancient and modern, the stories help shape the child’s view of reality, and help him cope with stressful situations. Read the following resources for an introduction to the elements of fairy and folktales, and for some ideas about the social, psychological and emotional effect on children. Note that this is in no way a comprehensive introduction - such an undertaking is a semester-long class unto itself. For the scope of this module, we will be dealing with the basics only. |
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Resources on fairy tales - elements and definitions Elements Found in Fairy Tales, by Valerie Gokturk What is a Fairy Tale? by Heidi Anne Heider Resources on fairy tales - interpretation Intro to Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim Once Upon a Time: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives, by Jonathan Young The DNA of Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning, by Renee Hall Fairy Tale Themes and Motifs, Laureen Tedesco, East Carolina University Psychology and Fairy Tales, by Carrie Hughes Bibliographies: Criticism |