Welcome to our IDS 2015 Seminar at McDaniel College

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Once upon a time … For centuries folk and fairy tales have fueled the popular imagination of people of all ages around the world. The course provides an in-depth analysis of folk and fairy tale traditions. We will read, discuss and analyze folk and fairy tales from around the world, as well as modern folktale adaptations (film, music, art). In the course, folk and fairy tales will be illuminated from different perspectives, including formalist (structure and style), feminist, religious, sociological and psychoanalytic approaches. McDaniel Plan: International Nonwestern, Textual Analysis.

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Learning Objectives:  In this course, students will gain an appreciation of the larger context (cultural and historical) of the development of the genre “fairytale”. They will also gain a better understanding of the literary and form/stylistic characteristics of the genre. The course provides the students with the interpretative tools they need to critically examine fairy and folk tales from various scholarly approaches, above all psychoanalytical (Bruno Bettelheim (Freud), Marie-Louise von Franz and Verena Kast (Jung)), feminist (Maria Tatar, Ruth Bottigheimer and Kay Stone), Marxist (Jack Zipes), social (19th century nationalism and bourgeois construction of the family and children), and religious. Students will also learn to analyze films with fairy tale motives (e.g. Silence of the Lambs or What Lies Beneath). In addition, they will demonstrate literary and cultural openness and appreciation of various cultures around the world.

Week 1- Jan. 29 & 31

Week 1 – Jan. 29 & 31

Tuesday:         Introduction of Course and Material

                           Read:      “Introduction,” The Classic Fairy Tales, pp. xi-xxvi
Neil Geiman “Instructions”, The Classic Fairy Tales (3-4)

                           Film: The Brothers Grimm – Part 1

Thursday:       What are Folk and Fairy Tales

                           Read:      “The Types of the Folktale,” The Classic Fairy Tales, pp. 491-497,
“Folklore and Literature” and “Morphology of the Folktale,” The Classic Fairy Tales, pp. 498-507

                           Film: The Brothers Grimm – Part 2

Blog Entry 1: Why did you choose this class? What are you hoping to accomplish in the course? What is your favorite folktale or fairy tale of all times and why? Blog is due by Sunday, Feb. 3

Week 2 – Feb. 5 & 7

Week 2 – Feb. 5 & 7

Tuesday:  Once upon a time … History, Form and Theories of Fairy Tales

Read: Marie Louise von Franz, “Theories of Fairy Tales,” pp. 1-23

Film: The Brothers Grimm – Part 3

Thursday: Why read folk and fairy tales? Morphology of folk and fairy tales

Read: Bruno Bettelheim, “Introduction. The Struggle for Meaning,” pp. 3-19.

Film: The Brothers Grimm – Part 4

Blog Entry 2: Develop a one-page working definition of folk or fairy tale based on class discussions and materials we have read in class. Blog is due by Sunday, Feb. 10.

Week 3 - Feb. 12 & 14 - Littel Red Riding Hood

Week 3 – Feb. 12 & 14

Tuesday: Little Red Riding Hood – Loss of Innocence

Read: “Introduction: Little Red Riding Hood” (5-14)
“The Story of the Grandmother” (15-16)
Charles Perrault, “Little Red Riding Hood” (16-18)
Brothers Grimm, “Little Red Cap” (18-21)
Zohar Shavit, “The Concept of Childhood and Children’s Folktales,”
(Blackboard, Course Documents)

Thursday: Little Red Riding Hood – Loss of Innocence

Read: Italo Calvino, “The False Grandmother” (21-22)
Roald Dahl, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf” (23-24)
Roald Dahl, “The Three Little Pigs” (24-26)
“The Tale of the Tiger Woman” (26-28)
“Tsélané and the Marimo”, (28-30)
Bruno Bettelheim, "Little Red Riding Hood,” pp. 166-183.

Blog Entry 3: Find a cartoon on-line with “Little Red Riding Hood” as a theme and write a reflection on that cartoon. What kind of cartoon is that (political, social)? How do you like it, etc.? Add a copy of the cartoon, name of cartoonist and the source (URL).  Blog is due by Sunday, Feb. 17.

Week 4 - Feb. 19 & 21

Week 4 - Feb. 19 & 21

Tuesday: Beastly Bride(groom): Beauty and the Beast

Read: “Introduction: Beauty and the Beast” (30-39)
Jeanne-Marie de Beaumont, “Beauty and the Beast” (39-50)
Giovanni Straparola, “The Pig King” (50-55)
Brothers Grimm, “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich” (55-58)

Thursday: Read: Angela Carter, “The Tiger’s Bride” (58-74)
“Urashima the Fisherman” (74-77)
Alexander Afanasev, “The Frog Princess” (68-71)
“The Swan Maiden” (79-80)
Maria Tatar, "Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy tales,"
in: The Classic Fairy Tale, pp 446-456

Blog Entry 4: Choose two of the fairy tales we read and discussed in class and compare and contrast them by focusing on one single aspect: Sex and violence, transformation of the beast, reinforcement of patriarchal order, etc. What is similar? What is different? Which one do you like better and why? Blog is due by Sunday, February 24.

Week 5 - Feb. 26 & 28

Tuesday: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Read: “Introduction: Snow White” (84-92)
Giambattista Basile, “The Young Slave” (92-95)
Brothers Grimm, “Snow White” (95-102)

Thursday: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Read: Ann Sexton, “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs” (102-106)
Neil Gaiman, “Snow, Glass, Apples” (106-116)
Jack Zipes: “Breaking the Disney Spell,” in: The Classic Fairy Tale, pp 414-435
 

Film: Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Blog Entry 5: Watch the music clip “Sonne” by Rammstein on YouTube and compare the story and persons, motives, symbols in the music video with those in the “Snow White” fairy tales we have read in class. What is similar? What is different? Which one do you like better and why? Blog is due by Sunday, March 3.

Week 6 – March 5 & 7

Tuesday: Cinderella: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Read: “Introduction: Cinderella” (139-145)
           “Yeh-hsien” (146-148)
           Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” (148-153)
           Charles Perrault, “Donkeyskin” (154-162)
           Joseph Jacobs, “Catskin” (166-169)

           “The Story of the Black Cow” (169-171)
           Lin Lan, “Cinderella” (171-175)
          “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” (175-181)

Presentation: Danielle: Bettelheim “Cinderella,” pp. 236-277

Thursday:No class: Watch Films: Pretty Woman (https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8llxvz8mh3k67v/PrettyWoman.mp4?dl=0) and Disney’s Cinderella ( ) Make sure to download them first.

Blog Entry 6: Cinderella is one of the so-called “rise tales”, which features a narrative arc of “rags to riches through magic and marriage.” Using the fairy tales and the films “Pretty Woman” and "Cinderalla by Disney" as an example, write a reflection on this motif. Can someone reach success or riches with magic, marriage, charm, etc.? How realistic is that? Blog is due by Sunday, March 10.

Week 7 – March 12 & 14

Tuesday: Lecture by Dr. Esa: "Snow White and Rammstein: The Classical Fairy Tale Meets Heavy Metal"

Take Home Midterm Exam will cover all materials studied in the first half of the semester including all required readings and fairy tales. Please bring a print out of the exam to class on Tuesday

Thursday: Guest Speakers: Dr. Paul Mazerof, Psychology
“Fairy Tales from a Jungian Perspective"”

Week 8 – March 26 & 28

Week 8 – March 26 & 28

Tuesday: “Folktale and Storytelling Tradition from Kenya”

Guest Speaker: Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe, Education

Thursday: Villains: “Bluebeard”

Read:“Introduction: Bluebeard" (182-188)
Charles Perrault, "Bluebeard" (188-193)
Brothers Grimm, "Fitcher's Bird" (193-195)
Brothers Grimm, "The Robber Bridegroom" (196-198)
Joseph Jacobs, "Mr. Fox" (199-201
Margaret Atwood, “Bluebeard’s Egg” (205-227)

Blog Entry 7: This entry should be either about the Folktale and Story-Telling Tradition from Kenya and the lecture by Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe. What makes Kenyan folk and fairy tales unique? How are they different from others we have read? OR about Bluebeard as a villain: Which of the Bluebeard tales we have read did you like the most? Why? Please elaborate and include quotes from the tale to prove your point of view; Blog is due by Sunday, March 31.

Term Paper Due on Thursday, April 25, 9:40 a.m.

All students are required to write a research paper including in-text citations for all quotations, as well as a “works cited” list including all internet sites you used at the end of the paper, all in the proper MLA style.

The term paper (at least 1,200 words) must be typed (double-spaced). Include a bibliography of all sources you have used, both books and Internet resources. Use Times Roman New, size 12 and leave a 1-inch margin on all sides. Title page, table of contents, pictures and bibliography are not considered part of the required pages. Please include a word count at the bottom of your paper. The term paper is due at the beginning of class on the day indicated on the syllabus. Unless I have explicitly granted an extension before the due date, late papers will be penalized one-third of a letter grade per day. (A paper that would have earned a B+ will receive a B if it is one day late, a B- if it is two days late, and so on.)

In the research paper, you should carefully compare and contrast any two of the fairy tales that we have studied. You may choose two versions of the same tale (such as Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and the Grimms’ “Little Red Cap”) or similar versions of different tales (such as "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Little Thumbling"). You must apply one of the theories (disciplines) we have studied in the semester in your analysis. Be very careful in choosing the texts you want to write on, since you want to choose the ones most appropriate to your topic. You should have a precise topic focusing on a specific theme. I hope you choose the theme you are most interested in; some suggestions that seem particularly relevant to these tales are: women, assertiveness, passivity, independence, autonomy, men, sexual desire, fathers, mothers, sisters, family, home, security, marriage, nature, magic, money, violence, class. 

Another option would be to choose one of the following topics and write a research paper on it: the image of women in fairy tales, religion and spirituality in fairy tales, sex and violence in fairy tales, fairy tales as an educational tool, fairy tales and material culture (greeting cards, cartoons, advertisements, games, etc.), fairy tales and psychotherapy, villains and heroes in fairy tales, fairy tales and horror films/ suspense films, fairy tales and Disney, the depiction of childhood; the depiction of nature; the depiction of animals; the depiction of human nature; the depiction of men; the depiction of sexuality; the depiction of girls or women; the depiction of marriage; the depiction of family; the depiction of poverty, etc.

Term Paper is due by April 25.

Week 9 – April 2 & 4

Tuesday: Tricksters: The Child as Hero

Read: Introduction: Hansel and Gretel," The Classic Fairy Tales, (229-235)
Brothers Grimm, "Hansel and Gretel" (236-241)
Fulano de tal and his Children” (242-244)
Brothers Grimm, "The Juniper Tree" (245-252)
Joseph Jacobs, "The Rose Tree" (252-254)

Thursday: Tricksters: The Child as Hero

Read: “The singing Bones” (254-255)
Charles Perrault, "Little Thumbling" (255-263)
Alexander Afanasev, “Vasilisa the Fair” (263-269)
“Momotato, or the Peach Boy” (270-272)
Joseph Jacobs, “Jack and the Beanstalk” (272-277)
Bruno Bettelheim, "Hansel and Gretel,” pp. 159-166.

Film: “Hansel & Gretel – An Appalachian Version”

Blog Entry 8: The topic of this blog entry is “The Child as a Hero.” Describe the role of various children as heroes in at least 2 fairy tales. Also explain the meaning of this from a Freudian (here Bettelheim) psychoanalytical point of view.  Blog is due by Sunday, April 7.

Week 10 – April 9 & 11

Tuesday: “The Three Feathers” – A Jungian Interpretation

Read: Marie-Louise von Franz, Folktales as Therapy, chapters 2-4, pp. 24-69

Thursday: “The Three Feathers” – A Jungian Interpretation

Read: Marie-Louise von Franz, Folktales as Therapy, chapters 5 & 6, pp. 70-113

Blog Entry 9: Write a summary of the interpretation of “The Feathers” by von Franz and explain whether you agree with her interpretation or not and why? Blog is due by Sunday, April 14.

Week 11 – April 16 & 18

Tuesday: Jewish Folktale Tradition (on Blackboard under Course Documents)

READ: “The Rabbi Who Was Turned into a Werewolf,”
“A Dispute in Sign Languages” (42-44)
“The Rabbi and the Inquisitor” (157-158)
“Chelm Justice” (176-177)
“The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam” (276-282)
“It Could Always be Worse” (408-409)

Thursday: Native-American Folk and Fairy Tales (on Blackboard under Course Documents)

Read: “How Men and Women Got Together” (68-72),
“Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden” (121-123),
“The Flying Head (233-234),
“How Mosquitoes Came to Be” (350-351) and
“The End of the World” (474-475)

Blog Entry 10: This entry should be either about the Jewish folktale tradition or on the Native-American stories and how these are distinctly different from those of European origins. What is unique about them?) Blog is due by Sunday, April 21.