Jack Zipes

Jack Zipes is currently the most prolific editor and author in fairy tale and folklore studies. Here is an extensive list of his work although it is not comprehensive. He is currently Professor of German at the University of Minnesota.

Zipes, Jack.  Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments: Classic French Fairy Tales. New York: New American Library, 1989.
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From the publisher: Readers experience the unique charm of this story in its original form--as a 17th century French fairy tale! This Signet Classic edition also contains other beloved tales, such as "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Puss in Boots", conveying all the excitement and timeless appeal to forever keep and cherish.

Zipes, Jack. Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1979.
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From the publisher: Breaking the Magic Spell, first published in 1979, is considered a landmark of the field, and this revised, expanded, and updated edition will be invaluable to scholars and students.

Folk and fairy tales pervade the everyday world to such a degree that we are sometimes unaware of their enormous influence on our behavior. In seven essays collected in Breaking the Magic Spell, Zipes discusses historically and critically the evolution of folk tales as fairy tales, their influence on popular beliefs, the politics behind them, and the way they are used in mass media culture today. Zipes looks at how a wide range of authors, including the Brothers Grimm, Perrault, the German romantics, Hans Christian Andersen, Wilde, and Tolkien, used fairy tales as he assesses their enduring importance.

Zipes, Jack. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
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From the publisher: Most of the fairy tales that we grew up with we know thanks to the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, one of the more astute critics of fairy tales, explores the romantic myth of the brothers as wandering scholars, who gathered "authentic" tales from the peasantry. Bringing to bear his own critical expertise as well and new biographical information, Zipes examines the interaction between the Grimms' lives and their work. He reveals the Grimms' personal struggle to overcome social prejudice and poverty, as well as their political efforts--as scholars and civil servants--toward unifying the German states. By deftly interweaving the social, political, and personal elements of the lives of the Brothers Grimm, Zipes rescues them from sentimental obscurity. No longer figures in a fairy tale, the Brothers Grimm emerge as powerful creators, real men who established the fairy tale as one of our great literary institutions. Part biography, part critical assessment, and part social history, The Brothers Grimm provides a complex and very real story about fairy tales and the modern world.

Zipes, Jack.  The Complete Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm. New York: Bantam, 1987.
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From the publisher: Enchanting, brimming with the wonder and magic of once upon a time, the fairly tales of the Brothers Grimm are the special stories of childhood that stay with us throughout our lives. But most Americans know them only secondhand, in adaptations that greatly reduce the tales' power to touch our emotions and intrigue our imaginations. Now, in the most comprehensive translation to date, here are the classic fairy tales as the Brothers Grimm intended them to be-rich, stark, spiced with humor and violence, resonant with the rhythms of folklore and song. Volume I contains 100 unabridged tales, including those best-known around the world:Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel And Gretel, and Little Red Cap [also known as Little Red Riding Hood ]. These wonderful tales of life, passion, and make-believe appeal not only to children-who unabashedly love them-but to readers of any age.

Zipes, Jack, ed. Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England. New York: Routledge, 1986, 1987.
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From the publisher: Jack Zipes has put together the first comprehensive anthology of feminist fairy tales and essays to appear since the women's movement gained momentum in the 1960's. He has selected works by such gifted writers as Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Tanith Lee, Jay Williams, Jane Yolen, Anne Sexton, Olga Broumas and Joanna Russ-all of whom, whether they consider themselves "feminists" or not, have written innovative stories which seek to break the classical tradition of fairy tales. The accompanying critical essays, by Marcia Lieberman, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar and Karen Rowe, discuss how fairy tales play an important role in early socialization, influencing the manner in which children perceive the world and their place in it even before they begin to read.

Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tale As Myth Myth As Fairy Tale (Thomas D. Clark Lectures). Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1994.
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From the publisher: Jack Zipes begins this lively and provocative work by exploring the historical rise of the literary fairy tale as genre in the late seventeenth century. In his examinations of key classic fairy tales, Zipes traces their unique metamorphoses in history with stunning discoveries that reveal their ideological relationship to domination and oppression in Western society. The fairy tale received its most "mythic" formation and articulation in America. Consequently, Zipes shows how Walt Disney appropriated Snow White to express notions of American male individualism and how L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz has been interpreted in film and literature as a critique of American myths. Zipes also takes on Robert Bly's Iron John, a myth for the American men's movement created out of Bly's misunderstanding of folklore and traditional fairy tales.

Zipes, Jack, ed. Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimer Days. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 1990.
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From the publisher: A collection of literary fairy tales written during the Weimar Republic in Germany, intended to serve as utopian tales for raising the political consciousness of the young people of that period. Includes a scholarly introduction giving the social and cultural background of the tales.

Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization. New York: Routledge, 1985.
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From the publisher: Jack Zipes develops a social history of the fairy tale and shows how educated writers purposefully appropriated the oral folk tale in the eighteenth century and made it into a discourse about mores, values, and manners.

Zipes, Jack, ed. The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
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From the publisher: Based on new scholarship and designed specifically for course use, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm is the indispensable companion for courses focused on the Brothers Grimm and fairy tales in general. As the genre's leading expert, Jack Zipes disproves conventional wisdom regarding the origins of the Grimm fairy tales, which holds that the Grimms collected their tales from the oral traditions of peasants. This is simply not so. Rather, the Grimms took most of their tales from literary sources, rewriting them again and again. These tales are based on a great literary tradition, which this volume documents. The fairy tales—116 in all—are grouped thematically and are accompanied by detailed introductions and annotations. "Criticism" provides seven important assessments of different aspects of the fairy tale tradition by Jack Zipes, W.G. Waters, Benedetto Croce, Lewis Seifert, Patricia Hannon, Harry Velten, and Siegfried Neumann. Brief biographies of the storytellers and a Selected Bibliography are also included.

Zipes, Jack. Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales, Children and the Culture Industry. New York: Routledge, 1997.
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From the publisher: In Happily Ever After, Jack Zipes addresses his ongoing concern with the socialization of children, the impact of the fairy tale on children and adults, and the future development of the fairy tale as film. As a result of analyzing the historical trajectory of storytelling and the literary fairy tale, the essays in Happily Ever After move from the sixteenth century to the present, between different cultures and societies, and from specific analyses to general syntheses. Zipes demonstrates how Straparola's 16th-century Puss in Boots tale is related to Disney's 1922 film version. He examines the narrative structure of Hansel and Gretel as a rationalization for child abuse, tracing the same theme in Collad's novel Pinocchio and its Disney film version. He concludes by examining how we have come full circle from the early oral tradition in light of the rise of storytelling throughout the world. Underscoring all these essays is the question that all fairy tales raise: what does it take to bring about happiness? Is happiness only to be found in fairy tales?

Zipes, Jack, introduction.  Nutcracker and Mouse King and The Tale of the Nutcracker. Joachim Neugroschel, translator. New York: Penguin, 2007.
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It wasn’t until the 1950s that seeing The Nutcracker at Christmastime became an American tradition. But the story itself is much older and its original intent more complex. This eye-opening new volume presents two of the tale’s earliest versions, both in new translations: E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and Mouse King (1816), in which a young girl is whisked away to the Land of Toys to help her animated nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, and Alexandre Dumas’s 1845 adaptation, The Tale of the Nutcracker, based on Hoffmann’s popular work. Irresistible tales of magic, mystery, and childhood adventure, these timeless delights and fresh interpretations about the importance of imagination will captivate readers of all ages.

About the Authors

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) worked in the Prussian civil service before becoming one of the most popular fiction writers of his time.

Alexandre Dumas père (1802–1870), one of nineteenth-century France’s most prolific novelists, is best known for his historical novels that began with The Three Musketeers.

Joachim Neugroschel has won three PEN translation awards and the French-American translation prize.

Jack Zipes is a professor of German at the University of Minnesota.

Zipes, Jack, ed. Outspoken Princess and the Gentle Knight: A Treasury of Modern Fairy Tales. New York: Bantam, 1994.
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From the publisher: Fifteen distinguished authors, including Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, A. S. Byatt, and Lloyd Alexander, present magical, modern renditions of traditional fairy tales. Contains: "Little Polly Riding Hood" by Catherine Starr; "The Gentle Knight" by Richard Schickel; "The Faithful Bull" by Ernest Hemingway (yes, THAT Hemingway); "The Signal" by Jack Sendak; "Princess Dahli" by Tanith Lee; "Molly Mullett" by Patricia Coombs; "Gudgekin the Thistle Girl" by John Gardner; "The Cat-King's Daughter" by Lloyd Alexander; "The White Seal Maid" by Jane Yolen (a bittersweet tale of love and sacrifice); "The Dark Princess" by Richard Kennedy; "Petronella" by Jay Williams; "The Wrestling Princess" by Judy Corbalis (this, along with "Petronella", was my favorite. Both had strong female leads and great characterization); "The Enchanter's Daughter" by Antonia Barber; "The Story of the Eldest Princess" by A.S. Wyatt; and "The Outspoken Princess" by Dov Mir.

Zipes, Jack, ed. The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. Oxford: Oxford University, 2000.
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From the publisher: From its ancient roots in the oral tradition to the postmodernist reworkings of the present day, the fairy tale has retained its powerful hold over the cultural imagination of Europe and North America. Now The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales provides the first authoritative reference source for this complex, captivating genre. With more than 800 entries written by a team of 67 specialists from around the world, the Companion offers an illuminating look at the classic tales themselves, both ancient and modern, from Jack and Jill and Cinderella to Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. The contributors also profile the writers who wrote or reworked these luminous tales, as well as the illustrators, film-makers, choreographers, and composers who have been involved with creating or interpreting them. The Companion also covers such related topics as film, art, opera, ballet, music, even advertising. An introductory overview by Jack Zipes sets the subject in its historical and literary context, and special survey articles explore the development of the fairy-tale tradition in individual countries, focusing particularly on the European and North American traditions. The volume includes a detailed bibliography, to aid in further research into this fascinating topic. Strikingly illustrated with 70 beautiful pictures, from early engravings to 20th-century film stills, this is an essential companion for everyone who loves fairy tales and storytelling.

Zipes, Jack, ed. Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture. New York: Viking, 1991.
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From the publisher: Zipes brings together the best literary fairy tales ever written, giving readers a sense of the history of the genre and its evolution. Includes more than 60 tales by writers such as Hans Christian Andersen, Wilhelm Grimm, Voltaire, Goethe, Hawthorne, Yeats, Hesse, Thurber, Jane Yolen, Angela Carter, and more.

Zipes, Jack. Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children's Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter. New York: Routledge, 2000.
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From the publisher: Have children ever really had a literature of their own? In Sticks and Stones, Jack Zipes explores children's literature, from the grissly moralism of Slovenly Peter to the hugely successful Harry Potter books, and argues that despite common assumptions about children's books, our investment in children is paradoxically curtailing their freedom and creativity. Sticks and Stones is a forthright and engaging book by someone who cares deeply about what and how children read.

Zipes, Jack, ed. The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood. New York: Routledge, 1993. 2nd ed.
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From the publisher: Jack Zipes presents the many faces of Little Red Riding Hood. Bringing together 35 of the best versions of the tale, from the Brothers Grimm to Anne Sexton, Zipes uses the tales to explore questions of Western culture, sexism and politics.

Zipes, Jack, ed. Victorian Fairy Tales: The Revolt of the Fairies and Elves. New York: Routledge, 1989.
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From the publisher: This is an irresistible and unique anthology of fairy tales written by some of the most notable writers of the Victorian period, including Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling and Edith Nesbitt.

Zipes, Jack, ed. When Dreams Come True. London; New York: Routledge, 1998.
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From the publisher: For centuries fairy tales have been a powerful mode of passing cultural values onto our children, and for many these stories delight and haunt us from cradle to grave. But how have these stories become so powerful and why? Until now we have lacked a social history of the fairy tale to frame our understanding of the role it plays in our lives. With the publication of When Dreams Came True, Jack Zipes fills this gap and shifts his focus to the social and historical roots of the classical tales. With coverage of the most significant writers and their works in Europe and North America from the sixteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, When Dreams Came True is another important contribution by the master of fairy tales. From the French Charles Perrault to the American L. Frank Baum and the German Hermann Hesse, Zipes explores the way in which particular authors used the genre of the fairy tale to articulate their personal desires, political views and aesthetic preferences in their particular social context. At the core of this magical tour through the history of the fairy tale is Zipes' desire to elucidate the role that the fairy tale has assumed in the civilizing process--the way it imparts values, norms and aesthetic taste to children and adults. His journey takes us to the familiar and the exotic in the great classical tales by Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen and in such fascinating works as Pinocchio, The Thousand and One Nights, The Happy Prince and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Throughout, Zipes reveals the historical dimensions of the tales and demonstrates their continuing relevance in our lives today.

Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006.
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From the publisher: In his latest book, fairy tales expert Jack Zipes takes on the question of why some fairy tales "work" and others don't, why the fairy tale is uniquely capable of getting under the skin of culture and staying there. Why, in other words, fairy tales "stick." Long an advocate of the fairy tale as a serious genre with wide social and cultural ramifications, Jack Zipes here makes his strongest case for the idea of the fairy tale not just as a collection of stories for children but a profoundly important genre.

Why Fairy Tales Stick introduces new critical approaches to the study of classical fairy tales such as "Cinderella," "Snow White, "Beauty and the Beast," and "Hansel and Gretel" in an effort to understand how and why fairy tales have evolved over the last three hundred years and remained so relevant in our lives. Why culture has favored certain fairy tales may not be simply a question of ideology-tales reinforcing a societal status quo-but also deeply related to issues of genetics, memetics, linguistics, and evolution. Just as we as a species have evolved, Zipes argues, so has the oral folk tale been transformed as literary fairy tale to assist us in surviving and adapting to our environment.

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