The Fairy Tale

Fairy tales and legends evoke images of wonder, quests for dragons and magic talismans, heroic deeds and magic spells.  They are fundamental to literature and popular culture.

This course will examine them in the light of art, literature, myth and folklore, to expand our understanding of the importance of themes and characters from medieval tales to modern fantasy.

Learning and teaching

The module will be delivered through ten 2-hour sessions.

These sessions will consist of a 1-hour lecture followed by class discussion and group work on specific topics relating to the module.

The discussion and group work will enable students to think critically and contribute to the debates and topics presented during the lectures.

The discussion-led sessions and the lectures will be supplemented by resources available to students via Learning Central.

Syllabus:

1. Once Upon a Time: what is a fairy tale? An introduction to concepts and the main collections of tales.
2. Heroes and Heroines: the function of character in fairytales and legends.
3. Journey to the World’s End: characters and their helpers.
4. Quests: contrasting images of male and female quests in traditional tales and myths.
5. Magicians, Witches and Wicked Stepmothers: opposition in the fairy tale.
6. Treasures and Talismans.
7. Metamorphosis: helpers and enchantment.
8. The Dark Fairy Tale: elements of horror and the Gothic.
9. Transformations: the literary tale and its relation to mythic themes.
10. Did they Live Happily Ever After: meaning and function of traditional themes in contemporary life.

Coursework and assessment

Formative assessment / feedback will occur on a weekly basis through class discussion and group work.

Assignment 1 (Critical Review): 30% - Exact nature of the task will vary from year to year. 500 words. Week 5-6.

Assignment 2 (Essay): 70% - Exact nature of the task will vary from year to year. 1000 words. End of the module.

Reading suggestions

• Christina Bacchilega, Fairy Tales Transformed? Twenty-First Century Adaptations and the Politics of Wonder (Detroit,MI, 2013).
• Ruth B Bottigheimer, Fairy Godfather: Straparola, Venice and the Fairy Tale Tradition (Philadelphia, 2002).
• Jane Chance (ed.), Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader (Lexington, KY, 2004).
• Alison Lurie, Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature (Boston, 1998).
• James M. McGlathery et al., The Brothers Grimm and Folktale (Urbana, Ill, 1988).
• Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi (eds), Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations Across Cultures (Detroit, MI, 2020).
• Claudia Schwabe, Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture (Detroit, MI; 2019).
• Maria Tatar, Off With Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood (Princeton, N.J., 1992).
• Andrew Teverson, Fairy Tale (New York, 2013).
• Marina Warner, From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and their Tellers (London, 2015).
• Jack Zipes, Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England (Aldershot, 1986).
• Jack Zipes, Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales (London, 1979).

Library and computing facilities

As a student on this course you are entitled to join and use the University’s library and computing facilities. Find out more about using these facilities.

Accessibility

Our aim is access for all. We aim to provide a confidential advice and support service for any student with a long term medical condition, disability or specific learning difficulty. We are able to offer one-to-one advice about disability, pre-enrolment visits, liaison with tutors and co-ordinating lecturers, material in alternative formats, arrangements for accessible courses, assessment arrangements, loan equipment and dyslexia screening.