Fairy Tales and Culture

Fairy tales, which occur in almost every culture, encapsulate in (usually) succinct form many of the pressing concerns of human existence: family conflict, the struggle for survival, sexual desire, the quest for happiness, etc. This course explores why writers and readers have been attracted to the fairy-tale form through a study of its key elements and its uses in adult and children's literature, book illustration, and film. Special attention given to French contes de fées , along with North American, English, German, Italian and selected non-Western fairy tales. Discussions and readings in English with French, German, and Italian originals on reserve.