Fairy Tales Dramolettes

Three mini-plays by the German wunderkind and asylum-dweller. Fairy Tales gathers the unconventional verse dramolettes of the Swiss writer Robert Walser. Narrated in Walser's inimitable, playful language, these theatrical pieces overturn traditional notions of the fairy tale, transforming the Brothers Grimm into metatheater, even metareflections. Snow White forgives the evil queen for trying to kill her, Cinderella doubts her prince and enjoys being hated by her evil stepsisters; the Fairy Tale itself is a character who encourages her to stay within the confines of the story. Sleeping Beauty, the royal family, and its retainers are not happy about being woken from their sleep by an absurd, unpretentious, Walser-like hero. Mary and Joseph are taken aback by what lies in store for their baby Jesus.

This Oxford companion provides an authoritative reference source for fairy tales, exploring the tales themselves, both ancient and modern, the writers who wrote and reworked them and related topics such as film, art, opera and even advertising.

2009 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Where did Cinderella come from? Puss in Boots? Rapunzel? The origins of fairy tales are looked at in a new way in these highly engaging pages. Conventional wisdom holds that fairy tales originated in the oral traditions of peasants and were recorded for posterity by the Brothers Grimm during the nineteenth century. Ruth B. Bottigheimer overturns this view in a lively account of the origins of these well-loved stories. Charles Perrault created Cinderella and her fairy godmother, but no countrywoman whispered this tale into Perrault's ear. Instead, his Cinderella appeared only after he had edited it from the book of often amoral tales published by Giambattista Basile in Naples. Distinguishing fairy tales from folktales and showing the influence of the medieval romance on them, Bottigheimer documents how fairy tales originated as urban writing for urban readers and listeners. Working backward from the Grimms to the earliest known sixteenth-century fairy tales of the Italian Renaissance, Bottigheimer argues for a book-based history of fairy tales. The first new approach to fairy tale history in decades, this book answers questions about where fairy tales came from and how they spread, illuminating a narrative process long veiled by surmise and assumption.

An international team of scholars explores the historical origins, cultural dissemination and continuing literary and psychological power of fairy tales.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Swiss writer Robert Walser (1878-1956) is now recognized as one of the most important European authors of the modernist period, having garnered high praise from such prominent voices as Susan Sontag, W. G. Sebald, and J. M. Coetzee. Robert Walser: A Companion is the first comprehensive guide to Walser’s work in English. The twelve essays in this collection examine Walser’s literary output, historical milieu, and idiosyncratic writing process, addressing aspects of his biography; discussing the various genres in which he wrote (the novel, short prose, drama, lyric poetry, and letters); and analyzing his best-known novels and short stories alongside lesser-known but no less fascinating poems, plays, and prose pieces. An essential addition to the scholarship about this eccentric, prolific, and influential writer’s work, Robert Walser: A Companion will be of interest both to established scholars and to those coming to Walser for the first time.

What happened to the classic fairy tale? Do we still read the 'old and dusty tales' of wonder to our children or would we rather take them to the cinema? The fairy tale boom has reached Hollywood where popular tales are currently transformed into entertainment movies. Makers of films and TV series have become the storytellers of the digital age - a transition that frequently leads to discussions about how these new forms limit or contribute to the further development and preservation of the traditional fairy tale. But what exactly is a traditional fairy tale? The book follows the history of the tale, how it has been changing colors and how it has been adapting and surviving for centuries. The main focus lies on the literary and multi-medial analysis of two popular fairy tales: Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood, which have not only been adapted to the screen recently but have been repeatedly altered throughout the centuries. Follow the journey of the fairy tale from its most basic form, i.e. oral storytelling, to a written and illustrated commitment that shaped the general image of fairy tales for forthcoming generations, to its newest form: the visualization through new and digital media.