The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales

From the Brothers Grimm to Andrew Lang

By Jack D. Zipes

2013

First Published

4.27

Average Rating

753

Number of Pages

22H59M

Audio Length

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, attitudes toward history and national identity fostered a romantic rediscovery of folk and fairy tales. This is the period of the Golden Age of folk and fairy tales, when European folklorists sought to understand and redefine the present through the common tales of the past, and long neglected stories became recognized as cultural treasures. In this rich collection, distinguished expert of fairy tales Jack Zipes continues his lifelong exploration of the story-telling tradition with a focus on the Golden Age. Included are one hundred eighty-two tales—many available in English for the first time—grouped into eighteen tale types. Zipes provides an engaging general Introduction that discusses the folk and fairy tale tradition, the impact of the Brothers Grimm, and the significance of categorizing tales into various types. Short introductions to each tale type that discuss its history, characteristics, and variants provide readers with important background information. Also included are annotations, short biographies of folklorists of the period, and a substantial bibliography. Eighteen original art works by students of the art department of Anglia Ruskin University not only illustrate the eighteen tale types, but also provide delightful―and sometimes astonishing―21st-century artistic interpretations of them.

Avg Rating

4.27

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

53%

4 STARS

33%

3 STARS

2 STARS

1 STARS

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Author

Jack D. Zipes

Author · 25 books

Jack David Zipes is a retired Professor of German at the University of Minnesota. He has published and lectured extensively on the subject of fairy tales, their linguistic roots, and argued that they have a "socialization function". According to Zipes, fairy tales "serve a meaningful social function, not just for compensation but for revelation: the worlds projected by the best of our fairy tales reveal the gaps between truth and falsehood in our immediate society." His arguments are avowedly based on the neo-Marxist critical theory of the Frankfurt School. Zipes enjoys using droll titles for his works like Don't Bet on the Prince and The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Ridinghood. He completed a PhD in comparative literature at Columbia University. Zipes taught at various institutions before heading German language studies at the University of Minnesota. He has retranslation of the complete fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.