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Comment
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g1precise
Registered User
(7/17/01 9:45:03 pm)
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fairy tales imply a distinct set of values
I too am new to this, but I need help. I am writing a research paper about fairy tales. I have decided to pick Cinderella by Charles Perrault and Gullivers Travels as my examples of fairy tales implying a distinct set of values. I am not sure if my selections are the best. So if anyone has any suggestions, I would be very appreciative.
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(7/17/01 9:51:50 pm)
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selections
Well, as others are sure to tell you, Perrault's version of Cinderella is a good choice, but Gulliver's Travels is NOT a fairy tale. It is a fantasy novel. That is the short of it.
Jane
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(7/17/01 10:26:09 pm)
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Re: selections
Perhaps, and this is only a suggestion, it would be interesting to use one or two different versions of Cinderella and compare and contrast the values being presented in each. In some, docile sweetness is rewarded while in others it isn't. For example, comparing Perrault with Gail Carson Levine's "Ella Enchanted" might make an interesting paper. Or between the versions from different cultures. Grimms' Ashputtle is quite different from Perrault, too. Just the end "rewards" for the stepsisters can show a difference in mercy vs. vengeance.
Heidi
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Benjamin
Registered User
(7/18/01 12:28:08 am)
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Gulliver
I'm afraid I agree that you may have trouble presenting Gulliver's Travels as a fairytale; but besides this Swift is such a slippery satirist that you'll have a deal of trouble pinning him down to a distinct set of values.
Since values are often culturally-based, it might be interesting to compare similar fairytales from different cultures & comparing the values they imply.
The fairytales you choose depend on the sort of values you're interested in looking at. If you have any particular values in mind (gender roles? imperialism?) I'm sure that there are tales which will present themselves as particularly relevant.
Cheers
Benjamin
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Midori
Unregistered User
(7/18/01 4:00:45 am)
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using the site
Heidi is too modest, but she should have also suggested having a look at her site, Surlalune Fairy Tales (which is linked at the bottom of the page I believe). And there you will find she has collected a number of different variants of not only Cinderella but other fairy tales as well. Also, it might be of interest to you to have a quick look at the Endicott Studio site (www.endicott-studio.com) and go to the "Forum"section. There are quite a few articles on fairy tales written by Terri Windling, Heinz Insu Fenkl and one by myself (on the history and changes done to Sleeping Beauty). The articles are brief, and pleasant places to start you thinking. In fact you will find a column Terri Windling did on the french fairy tale, and especially, those aristocratic women authors of the "Contes des Fees" where Perrault snatched a good many ideas for his own writing after first changing them to reflect more male oriented agendas. There are a number of wonderful books and articles about these women writers (Patricia Hannon: "Fantastic identities"...and some articles in a journal called "Marvels and Tales: A Journal of Fairy Tale Studies" which you should be able to find at a University Library )
And I'd have to agree with the other posters; Swift's Gulliver's Travels will give you more trouble here. It is a complex political satire, and while it makes use of fairy tale tropes, it isn't meant to be read as one at all.
Good luck and let us know what you decide to write about. And come back if you get stuck, want to try out some prewriting thoughts, or just want a second opinion.
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janeyolen
Unregistered User
(7/19/01 8:43:43 am)
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Cinderella
there is also THE CINDERELLA CASEBOOK edited by Alan Dundes, with a number of essays on that particular fairy tale. (I have one in it called "America's Cinderella.)
There are also a series of Cinderella retelling from various cultures in children's picture book form, though I am suddenly spacing on the author and the publisher. Anyone?
Jane
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Laura
McCaffrey
Registered User
(7/19/01 11:14:11 am)
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Re: Cinderella
Hey all,
To follow up on what Jane said - I don't know if you were thinking of a particular series, but here on my desk is _Gift of the Crocodile_ by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Reynold Ruffins. It's a Cinderella tale from the Spice Islands. Anita Lobel illustrated _Princess Furball_. I'm going to have to look up the person who re-told it. And I'll also have to check, but I believe there's a re-telling by San Souci? Umm. Have to look it up.
Illustrated versions of the Perrault retelling are quite common.
Anyway. Sorry I've been reading a lot of posts lately, but with kids, summer, editorial revisions on my book, and a library curriculum class, I haven't been posting so much. Will try to follow up on _Princess Furball_ and the San Souci retelling. Laura Mc
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Laura
McCaffrey
Registered User
(7/19/01 11:19:55 am)
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Re: Cinderella
OK -
Charlotte Huck retold _Princess Furball_ and the San Souci's retold both _Sootface: an Ojibwa Cinderella Story_ and _Cendrillon: A Carribbean Cinderella_ .
Tata. Laura Mc
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