Happily Ever After? German Fairy Tales and Their Afterlives

Catalog description

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are virtually universally known and loved. Translated into over 160 languages and included on UNESCO's Memory of the World Registry, there are few corners of the earth the 1812 publication and its many subsequent editions have not reached. But what do we really know about the tales? What are their sources, versions, and contexts? In this course we will explore the meaning and enduring appeal of one of Germany's greatest cultural exports. We will consider the historical, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts of the Grimms and "their" tales, as well as subsequent theoretical approaches to them. A variety of literary and cinematic adaptations, from Disney to dark political satire, and from feminist reinterpretation to contemporary anti-fairy tales and poetry, will also serve us as points of comparison. Finally, we will try our hand at writing tales and creating adaptations of our own.