Fairy Tales in the Postmodern World: No Tales for Children

by Daniela Carpi

Overview

In what way can we look today at the fairy tale and its tradition? The fairy tale, born as an oral process based upon formulaic repetitions, becomes in contemporary writers a typically literary process founded upon the play with tradition and the recovering of formulas in an experimental sense. The user of a fairy tale makes personal use of it, resorting to manipulations and re-writings helpful for his particular needs. The expansion of the fairy tale shows its endless literary evolution thanks to the monumentalisation of the written word. The classic fairy tale needs to die in order to be reborn as literary play. In fact the writing of the tale of wonder absorbs its oral antecedents and reconstitutes original human consciousness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783825366049
Publisher:	Universitatsverlag Winter
Publication date:	04/01/2016
Series:	Anglistische Forschungen Series , #455
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Re-Reading the Fairy Tale from a Postmodern Perspective 7

Chapter 2 On the Ruins of Tradition? No Tales for Children Angela Carter 19

Chapter 3 Antonia Byatt's Metaphorical Perspective 43

Chapter 4 Politically and Legally Correct Fairy Tales 57

Chapter 5 White as Snow by Tanith Lee: Between Fable, Gothic Tale, and Myth 69

Chapter 6 Beauty Sheri Tepper 89

Chapter 7 The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: the novel as fairy tale 111

Chapter 8 The Fairy Tale and the Law Harry Potter 135

Chapter 9 Fairy Tales in the Media 161

Chapter 10 Conclusions and exclusions 173

Bibliography 181