Literature and Arts A-18
Fairy Tales
and the Culture of ChildhoodSpring Term 1996
Inaccessible as of October 30, 1997
Professor Maria Tatar
This course will study fairy tales in the broader context of children's literature and childrearing practices. It addresses issues such as the varying historical constructions of childhood, the role of parental and institutional interventions, and the disciplinary edge to children's literature. Students will investigate the evolution of specific tale types, interrogate gender roles in these cultural stories, and identify strategies for reinterpreting and rewriting fairy tales. The voice of the child and the degree to which it is suppressed or authorized will figure as important concerns throughout the course.
The course will begin by focusing on the genre of the fairy tale, with special emphasis on the way it took on new social functions as it moved from the realm of adult entertainment to children's literature. Students will examine how the child is represented within tales and look critically at the possible effects of that representation on the child outside the book. Questions concerning the relationship between author and audience will be especially acute, since children's literature is a category defined by its audience and since children are generally excluded from the official production of texts. The second half of the course will contextualize our understanding of fairy tales by addressing broader topics in the areas of children's literature, the culture of childhood, and theories of childrearing and education. The course concludes with a discussion of contemporary children's literature and of rewritings of fairy tales.
Students are required to attend two lectures and one section meeting per week. Section forms will be circulated during the second week, and section lists will be posted at a designated location at the end of the second week. Sections will not meet on the first two Fridays of the term. There will be a midterm examination (March 18) and a final examination, in addition to two written assignments (5-7 pages for the first paper; 7-10 pages for the second paper). The first essay is due on March 8 (extensions granted only for certified medical reasons or family emergencies). The second written exercise is due on the first day of the reading period. Topics must be approved either by the course head or by your section leader.
Students must complete both papers and take both the midterm and final examination in order to earn a passing grade in this course. Seniors writing theses may elect to write one paper (12-17 pages) due on the first day of the reading period, but they are required to take the midterm examination. Final grades will be calculated on the following basis:
Midterm 15% Midterm paper 20% Final paper 25% Final examination 30% Section participation 10%
SB = Sourcebook
Week 1: January 31 / (repeated on February 2)
Introduction:
To what degree do fairy tales raise timeless and universal issues and to what extent are they specific to a single time and place? What is at stake in their telling? The introductory lecture will address interpretive problems raised by the instability of fairy tale "texts" and will look at the evolution of fairy tales as they moved from workrooms and parlors to the nursery. It will also survey varying historical constructions of childhood (Locke, Rousseau, Freud, etc.) and discuss the problematic status of children's literature.
Week 2: February 5 / February 7
"Snow White" and "Bluebeard"
Philippe Ariegraves, Centuries of Childhood, pp. 33-49; 329-36 [SB]
Grimms, "Snow White," "Mother Trudy," "Fichter's Bird,"
"The Robber Bridegroom"
Anne Sexton, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in Transformations
Disney, Snow White (clips shown in lecture)
Perrault, "Bluebeard" [Opie]
Tatar, Off with Their Heads, pp. 94-119
When and why did the folktale develop a disciplinary edge? To answer this question, we will examine the controversial thesis on the "discovery of childhood" set forth by the French historian Philippe Ari, and turn our attention to "Bluebeard," a cautionary tale that reveals the degree to which fairy tales came to be invested in civilizing, socializing, and educating the child. The week will begin with an examination of generational conflicts that transcend disciplinary issues and with a discussion of how they are played out in "Snow White," a fairy tale that was canonized by the Grimms, recast by Disney, and subjected to a feminist critique by Anne Sexton.
Week 3: February 12 / February 14
[February 14: Guest lecture by Professor Carol Gilligan, Harvard School of Education, on "Cupid and Psyche"]
"Beauty and the Beast"Apuleius, Cupid and Psyche
Madame de Beaumont, "Beauty and the Beast" [Opie]
Grimms, "The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich"
Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale, pp. 19-65 [SB]
Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment, pp. 277-310 [SB]
Disney Studios, Beauty and the Beast (clips)
This unit considers transformations and will trace the evolution of one tale type. We will discuss the role of self-sacrifice, self-effacement, and (com)passion in the stories assigned and consider the ways in which curiosity, disobedience, and violence figure in the tales. Vladimir Propp's formal/structuralist model for analyzing the folktale will be contrasted with Bettelheim's psychoanalytic approach as we consider the practical applications of both theories.
Week 4: February 21
"Giant Killers, Dragon Slayers, and Numbskull Tales"Robert Darnton, "Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose," in
The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History [SB]
Perrault, "Little Poucet" [Opie], "Puss in Boots" [Opie]
Tabart, "Jack and the Beanstalk" [Opie]
Grimms, "Iron Hans" [SB]
To what degree are fairy tales historically embedded in material circumstances, e.g. in the laws of dowry, feudal obedience, domestic hierarchies, and other cultural scripts? This week's readings will focus on heroes and their stereotypical features in different cultures. How do we explain the prominence of tricksters and numbskulls, and how are they superior to their royal counterparts? We will also consider adult (mis)appropriations of fairy tales.
Week 5: February 26 / February 28
"Incest, Cannibalism, and Other Acts of Violence"
Grimms, "The Juniper Tree," "Allfur," "The Maiden without Hands," and
"Hansel and Gretel"
Perrault, "Cinderella" [Opie], "Donkeyskin" [SB]
Afanasev, "Vasilisa the Beautiful" [SB]
Marina Warner, "The Runaway Girls: Donkeyskin I," pp. 319-34 [SB]
Tatar, Off with Their Heads! pp. 212-28
Why is incestuous desire so persistent a theme in fairy tales and how is it disguised or repressed in modern versions of tales? To what degree is there a relationship between cannibalistic threat and erotic pursuit? How are mothers and fathers repositioned (foregrounded or effaced) in cultural stories about cannibalism and incest?
Week 6: March 4 / March 6
"Hans Christian Andersen and Literary Fairy Tales"
"Little Red Riding Hood" Revisited
Monday:
Hans Christian Andersen, "The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf," "The Little Match
Girl," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and "The Little Mermaid"
Disney Studios, The Little Mermaid (clips)Wednesday:
Texts below in Alan Dundes, Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook:
Perrault, "Little Red Riding Hood"
Grimms, "Little Red Cap"
Delarue, "The Story of Grandmother"
Zohar Shavit, "The Concept of Childhood and Children's Folktales"
Bettelheim, "Little Red Cap and the Pubertal Girl"
Find one other version of "Little Red Riding Hood"-- a variant from another culture, an illustrated version of the Grimms' story, or a modern variant. Use Dundes's bibliography to get you started or check local libraries and bookstores. Be prepared to comment on the version you have found in section.
This unit will focus on the literary fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and will contextualize some of the themes in his works. Why are suffering and death valorized in these stories? How do we account for their appeal? We will also take another look at "Little Red Riding Hood" and review interpretive strategies for understanding fairy tales.
Week 7: March 11 (no lecture; reading and review day for midterm) / March 13
"Constructing Childhood"Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (Chapters 1-27 and 37-38)
To what extent is Charlotte Brontâ's novel shaped by fairy-tale motifs, themes, and structures? Jane Eyre will serve as a model for discussion of the traffic between folklore and literature. The novel's representation of childhood and its depiction of childrearing and educational practices will lead directly into the issues that form the focal point for the second part of the course.
Week 8: March 18 (Hour Examination) / March 20
"Children's Literature: The Construction of an Official Canon"James Janeway, A Token for Children [SB]
John Bunyan, A Book for Boys and Girls: or, Country Rhymes for Children [SB]
Isaac Watts, Divine and Moral Songs [SB]
Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw"
How has childhood been defined by different cultures? This week's readings will investigate the social and cultural position of the child and will provide students with background on the emergence of an official form of children's literature. It will raise questions about the production of literature for children by adults and explore how children become targets of religious instruction and didactic strategies. Finally, it will investigate the demonization of children in texts ranging from Puritan children's literature to Henry James's "Turn of the Screw."
Week 9: April 1 / April 3
"Progressive Education and Its Discontents"John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education [SB / excerpts]
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
This week will focus on Locke's introduction of "enlightened" practices in the process of childrearing and will continue the discussion of historical developments in children's literature. For a critique of Lockean faith in enlightened reason, we will look at Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Week 10: April 8 / April 10
"Subversive Voices?"
Rousseau, Emile: Books I & II and pp. 184-5, Book V, pp. 357-71
To what extent did Rousseau shift the terms of the debate on childrearing practices? Why has his program for education been seen as progressive? How does Rousseau define the relationship between freedom and education? How does the tutor figure in Emile's education? How does Emile's education differ from Sophie's?
Week 11: April 15 / April 17
"Containing Fantasy"
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
These two classics of children's literature will serve as points of departure for reflecting on the role of fantasy in childhood and in children's literature. We will consider the "suspect" role of child-loving in the lives of both authors.
Week 12: April 22 / April 24
"Reinvention through Intervention"
Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Revolting Rhymes [reserve]
Maurice Sendak, Dear Mili [reserve] andWhere the Wild Things Are [reserve]
John Scieszka, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales [reserve]
This unit will explore contemporary efforts by male authors to reinterpret, retell, and rewrite fairy tales. Is it ever possible to escape presenting an adult agenda in children's literature? Is the disciplinary edge always there? How are violence and humor placed in the service of capturing the child's imagination? What works for children, and what does the term "works" mean?
Week 13: April 29 / May 1
"Feminist Revisions"
Anne Sexton, Transformations
Angela Carter, "The Bloody Chamber"
This week's readings examine feminist rewritings of traditional tales. To what extent do these poems and stories represent a means of "working through" feminist issues? How do they resist or reinscribe traditional values?
Week 14: May 1 / May 4 Final Exams