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Author
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Comment
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danmuse1983
Registered User
(6/2/05 2:31 pm)
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ftales with unhappy endings for children
Hello,
im writing my dissertation on the popularity of fairy tales and more specifically the growing popularity of fairy tales with unhappy endings with reference to things such as Lemony Snickett, and also red riding hood, goldilocks and more loosely Ed Gorey.
i find it interesting that stories with unhappy endings particuarly ones with dire consquences for children can be popular in the mainstream, can anyone offer any ideas on why this may be?
also im struggling to concisely mark the differences between a folk story and a fairytale- can anyone clarify this?
big thankyou to anyone that can help,
yours sincerely,
a confused student
daniel
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(6/2/05 3:00 pm)
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Re: ftales with unhappy endings for children
The quick answer to your second question is that folktales are an oral phenomenon whereas fairy tales are written down. Many fairy tales come out of an oral tradition, obviously, but there are also plenty of fairy tales that come out of a purely (insofar as that word is ever realistic) literary tradition.
As to your first question, I guess I'm not sure why such stories wouldn't be popular. Kids live in this world too, and they're not stupid; they can tell that life isn't fair and that the good guys don't always, or even usually, win. It can be nicely refreshing for them to see that admitted; so often stories for children are didactic or sweetened. There are also morality tales, like Little Red Riding Hood, in which the kid does something bad and is punished--obviously adult propaganda, in my book!
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(6/2/05 6:30 pm)
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Re: ftales with unhappy endings for children
Fairy tales with sad or gruesome endings are not new, and I believe have always been popular. I'm thinking particularly of Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter) by Heinrich Hoffman which has remained in print for 150 years. A relatively recent edition called Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Children includes a critical foreword by Jack Zipes on the use of scary/sad stories for children.
Best,
Alice
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beautifulstars
Unregistered User
(6/3/05 4:05 pm)
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unhappy endings
In my studies as a teacher, specializing in children's literature, I've found that it is mostly adults who are against stories with unhappy endings for children, and children (or teens) who are more than happy to read things that don't come to a good end.
I had an arguement with one of my profs once about Cormier's 'The Chocolate Wars.' (Not a fairytale, but still an amazingly written and generally fabulous book with a less than happy ending). He thought that, considering that teens have to face so much unhappiness in the world anyway, they should at least be given literature in schools that gives them hope and the illusion of happiness. I, on the other hand (besides not being entirely convinced that an unhappy ending means 'no hope' for the reader), felt that students were sick of being given nothing but illusion. However, like many gruesome fairytales, Cormier's book was not originally intended for children--it has just been embraced in that manner.
Besides that, there are an awful lot of kids/students these days who are of the 'Hello Kitty and combat boot' crowd-- verging on goth/punk, who embrace this particular aesthetic. They want something young/fairytale-ish enough to satisfy the child in them and something gruesome enough to satisfy the bloodthirsty/gothic adult in them.
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