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Author
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Comment
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molly
(5/14/04 5:49 pm)
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origins and meanings of shudder boy
i wondered if anyone had any interpretations, origins or meanings of the tale of the boy who went forth to learn how to shudder. Its a pretty strange tale,and more fantastical than most.
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StinePernille
Registered User
(5/15/04 4:15 pm)
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Re: origins and meanings of shudder boy
This is one of my favorite tales, so though I'm new to this forum, I thought that I'd give it a comment.
Many years ago, while still an undergraduate, I did a paper on 8 different Danish versions of AT 326, and though my object of inquiry was rather limited, two significant patterns of narrative emerged in the tales.
The basic interpretation of the tale, if one applies the theories of Köngäs Maranda and Bengt Holbek, is that it centres on a young man who tries to establish a position in a society to which he is, essentially, an outsider.Holbek describes him as "a [u]desperado[/u] in the original sense of the word, a man without hope and therefore without fear, an outcast of the lowest order and a rugged gambler to whom no authority was sacred.[...] the existing social order is supposed to be natural, 'the way of the world', and is not in any need of support. The hero's aim is to change [u]own[/u] position in that order." (Holbek: 1987) In the tales, I examined this objective was achieved in one of two ways. In the first group of stories, the integration of the hero into society is created by the establishment of a home and a family. This "domestication" forces a socialization of the hero. In the second group of stories, the hero has to learn the same lesson - that is to function in society - but the means wherewith this lesson is achieved is radically different than that of the first group. The focal point is not so much on the hero's material achievements as it is on the question as to whether the hero is able to survive in a society in which he is an outsider, and common to this group of stories is that if the hero, despite material success does not conform to the norms of society, he will come to a sad end. In some of the tales, the hero doesn't conform and is eventually killed.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(5/15/04 7:35 pm)
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Autism and this story
I can't help thinking when I read this story that the protaganist seems to suffer from autism. I know several families dealing with this and these children's idea of fear is something that varies far from our ideas. Anyone else notice this? StinePernille, this seems consistent with your analysis in some ways.
Jess
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rosyelf
(5/17/04 1:52 am)
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boy who learned to shudder
Molly, this sounds a fascinating story! Please could you tell me where you found it. Thanks.
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Nalo
Registered User
(5/18/04 8:11 am)
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Re: boy who learned to shudder
Is this the story where a young man agrees to spend a night in an abandoned house, and is visited by all manner of ghoulish apparitions? (The bed with feet is my favourite).
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molly
(5/18/04 3:25 pm)
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where i read it
I read the story in a book I got from amazon called grimms grimmest. But i also found the story along with etchings by the artist David Hockney(would post link but don`t know how too)on the web.
Interesting to think of the story as social exclusion.
I know the fish poured over him at the end is a sexual encounter, but parts of the story are really bizarre, cats and cards, feet bowling, is there any other significance for this or is it just to show that the boy really doesn`t shudder at anything.
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redtriskell
Registered User
(5/18/04 10:39 pm)
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fearlessness
I think the story you describe must be related to the one I know about the boy too stupid to be afraid. It's in the line of simpleton tales. He is too dumb to be afraid of anything, and his father gets so disgusted with him, he sends the boy into the world with the injunction not to return until he learns fear. So, of course, he has many dangerous and terrifying adventures until he comes to the town with the haunted castle. As per Nalo's comment, one of the features of this horrible abode is a bed that runs away with anyone who attempts to sleep on it. Anyway, the simpleton, too stupid to fear for his life or sanity, stays in the house three days. Obviously, he doesn't die and is hailed as a great man by the people of the village. Later, after he marries, he asks his sensible wife about this fear thing and she explains it to him- describing shuddering, eyes bulging etc. His comment is that he felt those things the whole time, but since they didn't do anything, he ignored it. All in all, a great and sly little tale about the relevance (sp?) of fear.
As in- does fear actually matter? Is fear enough to stop you from living? I like these simpler notions about stories. I have a hard time getting behind the more complex interpretations because they seem forced to me. Maybe because I write, I find it difficult to imagine most authors burdening their work with such obscure themes- after all, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar... Of course, the great thing about all artistic expression is that we can make it mean whatever we need it to mean. An everyday magic for everybody...
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