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Author
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Comment
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friskymongoose
Registered User
(1/30/06 4:26 pm)
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fairy/folk tales for child-heros
Greetings, everyone!
I'm searching for fairy and folk tales to inspire and encourage children who are survivors of trauma, especially within a therepeutic setting (my interest is child and adolescent therapy, especially play therapy).
My theme is that by reading fantasy stories about resourceful young protagonists, children can access their own heroic qualities, expand and explore their understanding of Self, and create story and meaning in their own lives.
I'm currently working on a degree project with the same thesis. My idea is to rewrite several of these stories, and create commentary on their importance and potential as metaphor and guide for child-heros.
Another thought that I've been playing with is the idea of finding stories that may not include a youthful protagonist, but do parallel hardships that kids are trying to come to grips with in their own lives (my initial thought on this was the story of the Selkie-woman as a metaphor for choosing between two worlds, as some children of divided homes often feel they are forced to do).
I'll welcome any ideas people can send my way! So far, I'm really interested in the Fitcher's Bird/Bluebeard/Your Hen is in the Mountain tales as a metaphor for escaping domestic/sexual abuse and Little Red Riding Hood (sexual abuse). Other stories I like but don't have meanings for yet are Katie Crackernuts, Maid Maleen, Burd Janet/Tamlin, Mizilca, and the Mastermaid saga.
As I said, any other suggestions, commentaries, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Grazi!
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(1/30/06 6:19 pm)
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Re: misc
You should definitely look for Terri Windling's The armless maiden and other tales for childhood's survivors. It's all about this topic, and very effective.
It's out of print, but libraries or out-of-print websites should have it.
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friskymongoose
Registered User
(1/31/06 4:05 pm)
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thanks!
I'll look for it. I read a great commentary by Robert A Johnson, The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden: Understanding the Wounded Feeling Functions in Masculine and Feminine Psychology. It's definitely worth picking up if you get a chance.
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shipra0705yahoocoin
Unregistered User
(2/6/06 11:10 pm)
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great topic
hi! this is a great topic. i m working for my doctoral thesis on the same. i think u m ust read Bruno Bettelheim and Jack Zipes. that is really gonna help u.
please do let me know if u have any suggestions for me.
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Terri Windling
Registered User
(2/13/06 7:30 am)
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Re: great topic
Bruno Bettleheim's Uses of Enchantment is widely considered quite flawed nowadays, because of his narrow interpretations of the tales and his lack of understanding of fairy tale history. Better books about children and fairy tales are: Touch Magic by Jane Yolen, and The Witch Must Die by Sheldon Cashdan. I agree that Jack Zipes's various books on the history of fairy tales are excellent, as are Maria Tatar's.
As mentioned above, my anthology The
Armless Maiden is a collection of fairy-tale-inspired stories
and poems specifically aimed at survivors of child abuse and childhood
trauma. This book is geared for teenagers and adults, however, not
children. You can read one of the stories from the anthology on-line:
"Wolf's Heart" by Tappan King, www.endicott-studio.com/jMA0301/wolfsHeart.html
I also highly recommend these works of fantasy fiction that deal specifically with the subject of child abuse:
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
Flying in Place by Susan Palwick
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
Jumper by Steven Gould
These are all wonderful novels for survivors of child abuse -- but again, they are for teenagers and adults, not children.
For children, I recommend two fairy tale collections edited by Jane Yolen:
Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls
Mightier Than the Sword: World Folktales for Strong Boys
For adults who want to read about fairy tales and folktales as healing narratives, I recommend (in addition to the Robert Johnson book mentioned in the post above):
Eating the Underworld by Doris Brett
Spinning Straw Into Gold by Joan Gould
Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine by Gertrude Mueller Nelson (a look at fairy tales from a Catholic/Jungian perspective)
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
On-line, here are articles looking at child abuse themes in fairy tales:
Ellen Steiber's article on "Brother and Sister":
www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forbrsis.html
Midori Snyder's article on "The Armless Maiden"
www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrHJourney.html
Helen Pilinovsky's article on "Donkeyskin"
www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/fordnky.html
My essay on the importance of fairy tales to children from abusive homes, titled Transformations:
(it's on a page about the artist Adrienne Segur, so you need to scroll half-way down the page to find the essay):
www.endicott-studio.com/jMA03Summer/segur.html
Also, the new issue of the Endicott Studio's on-line Journal of Mythic Arts is all about healing narratives is fairy tales, folklore and myth:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/jMA06Winter/index.html
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 2/13/06 7:40 am
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Chris Peltier
Registered User
(2/13/06 9:59 am)
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Re: great topic
The Saturday, February 11, 2006 entry of Caroline Martin's blog, Feringhee: The India Diaries entitled "Girl Power, Indian Style", profiles the plight of real child heroes. Because of the expense of doweries little girls are often unwanted in India, and like the children abandoned by their father in the woods, many are left in railway stations. You can read about them here:
www.sirensongs.blogspot.com/
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friskymongoose
Registered User
(2/13/06 7:15 pm)
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yes!
I would love to collaborate on this topic (and my apologies for not replying sooner)!
another book you might look at is Carol Gilligan's The Birth of Pleasure (Alfred A. Knopf: New York).
It's indirectly related, but it follows the myth of Psyche and Eros in relation to modern childhood and womanhood in a way that I really love. It's actually my favorite Gilligan book.
Also, if you'd like to talk more via email we could do that - I've got an outline and a haphazardly assembled but pretty good booklist that I'd be up for sharing/brainstorming on ;)
~Jessie
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friskymongoose
Registered User
(2/13/06 7:41 pm)
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grazi, Terri & Chris
those are really great suggestions, thank you both...
I've been an avid Jane Yolen fan for years - and then I got assigned Touch Magic for a class, and that pretty much cemented me on this topic!
Healing through fantasy is such a powerful medicine... thank you for honoring that.
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princessterribel
Registered User
(2/14/06 12:53 pm)
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the ugly duckling
The ugly Duckling could be utilised as a means of telling children that things get better with time...quite a nice story...short and sweet too.
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(2/15/06 9:45 am)
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Re: misc
Well, but they often don't. I mean, I suppose they do insofar as it's easier to be an adult than a kid--more power over your own life--but in terms of physical ailments and people treating you badly, they often don't.
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Terri Windling
Registered User
(2/18/06 4:04 am)
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Re: misc
You'll find some good tales with healing/redemptive themes in these two fairy-tale-fiction anthologies: The Wolf at the Door and Swan Sister, published for an range of (roughly) 9 to 12 year olds.
In particular, take a look at "Becoming Charise" (inspired by The Ugly Ducking) by Kathe Koja. (It was Princessterribel's post above that reminded me of Koja's wonderful story.) Also: "Cinder Elephant" by Jane Yolen, "Swans" by Kelly Link, "The Girl in the Attic" by Lois Metzger, and "My Swan Sister" by Katherine Vaz.
I also recommend "The Dream Catcher," an epistolary story
by Will Shetterly. A copy of the story is posted online in Shetterly's
blog at: shetterly.blogspot.com/2004/07/dream-catcher.html.
It's not a fairy tale, though it has a mythic touch in that refers to Native American dream-catcher legends.
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 2/18/06 4:21 am
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