6. On the couch

2018 ◽  
pp. 86-91
Author(s):  
Marina Warner
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Carl Jung ◽  
Human Psyche

‘On the couch: house training the Id’ explains how the intertwining of psychoanalysis and fairy tale is tight, and the stories are still trusted to offer a key to understanding the human psyche—regardless of history or social circumstances. It considers Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, one of the most influential studies of fairy tales ever written, and the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The stories have universal meaning, but most decodings remain subjective. The belief that the stories have the power to lead by example and shape character, especially gender, to engineer social citizens, and inculcate values and ideology has been widely held and is still accepted.

scholarly journals Fairy-Tale Symbolism: An Overview

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Vaz da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Carl Jung ◽  
Semantic Field ◽  
Cognitive Research ◽  
Max Müller ◽  
Human Psyche ◽  
Wilhelm Grimm

Because the marvelous elements in fairy tales call for an explanation, a cohort of bright minds have pored over the problem of fairy-tale symbolism. Models sharing the nineteenth-century penchant for genetic inquiries have assumed that symbols are the survivals of archaic metaphors. Thus, Max Müller proposed that myths and fairy tales stem from obscured metaphors about solar phenomena; Sigmund Freud speculated that fairy-tale symbolism is the fossilized residue of primordial sexual metaphors; and Carl Jung submitted that symbols express immanent archetypes of the human psyche. Such early approaches assume that symbols convey fixed meanings, and they disregard the effects of folklore variation on meanings. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm did take variation into account. They conceived Märchen in terms of immanent blueprints incessantly recreated in myriad retellings, but they never tried to make sense of the themes by means of the variants. This path was taken by folklorists influenced by Freud. Alan Dundes proposed to harness tale variants to grasp symbolic equivalences, and he pioneered the study of folk metaphors. But Dundes focused on preset Freudian symbols, a trend that Bengt Holbek followed. To this day, the prospect of addressing fairy-tale symbolism beyond Freud’s assumption of fixed translations remains elusive. Nevertheless, the basic tools are available. Maria Tatar remarked that fairy tales are metaphoric devices, and Claude Lévi-Strauss pointed out that metaphors—in switching terms that belong to different codes—lay bare the broader semantic field underlying each transposition. Müller, Freud, Dundes, Tatar, and Lévi-Strauss variously glimpsed metaphoric patterns in tale variations. The time is ripe to synthesize these intuitions in the light of contemporary cognitive research on conceptual metaphor, so as to address the creative dynamics of symbolism in fairy tales.

Freud, sex, and the soul: does Freud’s focus on sex obscure his relevance to the twenty-first century soul-searcher?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Eliza Preston
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Psychotherapy Training ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
First Century ◽  
Clinical Approach ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Modern Reader ◽  
Human Psyche ◽  
Twenty First Century

This article explores what the work of Sigmund Freud has to offer those searching for a more spiritual and philosophical exploration of the human experience. At the early stages of my psychotherapy training, I shared with many peers an aversion to Freud’s work, driven by a perception of a mechanistic, clinical approach to the human psyche and of a persistent psychosexual focus. This article traces my own attempt to grapple with his work and to push through this resistance. Bettelheim’s (1991) treatise that Freud was searching for man’s soul provides a more sympathetic lens through which to explore Freud’s writing, one which enabled me to discover a rich depth which had not previously been obscured. This article is an account of my journey to a new appreciation of Freud’s work. It identifies a number of challenges to Bettelheim’s argument, whilst also indicating how his revised translation allowed a new understanding of the relevance of Freud’s work to the modern reader. This account may be of interest to those exploring classical psychotherapeutic literature as well as those guiding them through that process.

The Alluring Nature of Children's Culture: Fairy Tales, the Carnival and the World Wide Web

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-184
Author(s):  
Željka Flegar
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Mikhail Bakhtin ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Time Out ◽  
The Social ◽  
Children's Culture ◽  
Language And Ideology

This article discusses the implied ‘vulgarity’ and playfulness of children's literature within the broader concept of the carnivalesque as defined by Mikhail Bakhtin in Rabelais and His World (1965) and further contextualised by John Stephens in Language and Ideology in Children's Fiction (1992). Carnivalesque adaptations of fairy tales are examined by situating them within Cristina Bacchilega's contemporary construct of the ‘fairy-tale web’, focusing on the arenas of parody and intertextuality for the purpose of detecting crucial changes in children's culture in relation to the social construct and ideology of adulthood from the Golden Age of children's literature onward. The analysis is primarily concerned with Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes (1982) and J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2007/2008) as representative examples of the historically conditioned empowerment of the child consumer. Marked by ambivalent laughter, mockery and the degradation of ‘high culture’, the interrogative, subversive and ‘time out’ nature of the carnivalesque adaptations of fairy tales reveals the striking allure of contemporary children's culture, which not only accommodates children's needs and preferences, but also is evidently desirable to everybody.

Grimm Legacies

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Zipes
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Folk Tales ◽  
Brothers Grimm ◽  
Folk Tale ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Wilhelm Grimm

This book explores the legacy of the Brothers Grimm in Europe and North America, from the nineteenth century to the present. The book reveals how the Grimms came to play a pivotal and unusual role in the evolution of Western folklore and in the history of the most significant cultural genre in the world—the fairy tale. Folklorists Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm sought to discover and preserve a rich abundance of stories emanating from an oral tradition, and encouraged friends, colleagues, and strangers to gather and share these tales. As a result, hundreds of thousands of wonderful folk and fairy tales poured into books throughout Europe and have kept coming. The book looks at the transformation of the Grimms' tales into children's literature, the Americanization of the tales, the “Grimm” aspects of contemporary tales, and the tales' utopian impulses. It shows that the Grimms were not the first scholars to turn their attention to folk tales, but were vital in expanding readership and setting the high standards for folk-tale collecting that continue through the current era. The book concludes with a look at contemporary adaptations of the tales and raises questions about authenticity, target audience, and consumerism. The book examines the lasting universal influence of two brothers and their collected tales on today's storytelling world.

Mirroring the Complexities of the Human Psyche and the Depiction of Female Powerlessness in Alice Munro’s “Runaway”

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1036-1041
Author(s):  
Steffi Santhana Mary. S ◽  
Dr Anita Albert
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Psychological Aspects ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Human Psyche

Human behaviour is constructed by unconscious drives and impulses. To Freud, thoughts are supposed to be guided by desires and these desires are the fundamental basis of humankind, life, and psyche. Not being expressed directly, they take other shapes in order to be expressible in personal and social situations. They are repressed because they could not be fitted into social norms and laws. Freud believes that many of our actions are motivated by psychological forces unknown to others which he calls ‘the unconscious’. The objective of the present paper is to read Munro's Runaway in the mirror of Sigmund Freud to detect the psychological aspects of the characters.

Kecakapan Hidup Abad Ke-21 dalam Tokoh Utama Dongeng Jawa Timur Kajian Antropologi Sastra

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Rian Damariswara
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Good Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Creativity And Innovation

ABSTRAKTokoh utama dalam dongeng Jawa Timur memiliki sisi lain yang perlu diungkap. Sisi lain tersebut, yakni kecakapan hidup yang dimiliki tokoh utama dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapinya. Kecakapan hidup tersebut, memiliki relevansi dengan kecakapan hidup di abad ke-21. Jadi, dengan menganalisis kecakapan hidup tokoh utama secara otomatis peneliti dan pembaca dapat mengetahui bahwa tokoh-tokoh dongeng yang terdapat di Jawa Timur memiliki budaya hidup yang baik untuk dijadikan contoh dan motivasi.Untuk mengungkap kecakapan hidup abad ke-21 pada tokoh utama dongeng Jawa Timur menggunakan kajian antropologi sastra.Penelitian ini termasuk deskriptif kualitatif. Sumber data adalah teks dongeng Jawa Timur. Teknik yang digunakan adalah studi dokumenter. Kecakapan hidup abad ke-21 yang ditemukan pada dongeng Jawa Timur sebagai berikut. Pertama, berpikir kritis dan pemecahan masalah. Semua tokoh utama dalam dongeng memiliki pemikiran kritis sehingga dapat memecahkan masalah. Kedua, kreativitas dan inovasi yang ditemukan yakni jenis pengembangan dan sintesis. Inovasi pengembangan yang ditemukan adalah adanya alat bajak sawah dari batu menjadi kayu dan ditarik sapi serta dapat dipergunakan sebagai sarana hiburan. Alat tersebut diberi nama karapan sapi.  Inovasi sintesis adalah menggabungkan segala sesuatu yang dimiliki untuk dijadikan sesuatu yang baru. Seperti pada dongeng Asal Mula Reog Ponorogo,yakni menggabungkan kepala tokoh Singabarong dengan burung merak sehingga dinamakan reog ponorogo. Ketiga, kolaborasi antaranggota dan pemimpin dengan bawahan. Keempat, komunikasi yakni berupa diskusi, pengarahan, berkeluh kesah, dan perintah.Kata kunci: Kecakapan hidup abad ke-21, Tokoh utama, DongengABSTRACTThe main character in the East Java fable has another side that needs to be revealed. The other side, namely the life skills possessed by the main character in solving the problems they face. Life skills, have relevance to 21st century life skills. Therefore, by analyzing the life skills of the main characters automatically the researcher and reader can find out that the fairy tale figures in East Java which have a good life culture to be used as an example and motivation. To uncover 21st century life skills in the main characters of the East Javanese fable, the study of literary anthropology is used. This research is descriptive qualitative. The data source is the text of a fairy tale in East Java. The technique used is documentary study. The 21st century life skills found in the East Java fable are as follows. First, critical thinking and problem solving. All the main characters in fairy tales have critical thinking so they can solve problems. Second, the creativity and innovation found are types of development and synthesis. Development innovation that was found was the existence of a rice plow from stone to wood and pulled by cows and could be used as a means of entertainment. The tool is named Karapan Sapi. Synthesis of innovation is to combine everything that is owned to be something new. As in the fable of Reog Ponorogo, which combines the head of the Singabarong character with a peacock so it is called Reog Ponorogo. Third, collaboration between members and leaders with subordinates. Fourth, communication in the form of discussion, direction, complaints, and orders.Keyword: 21st century life skills, The main character, Fairy tale

Tradition and Modernity in the Work of Komi Storytellers (SUS 502 “Copper Forehead”)

2021 ◽  
pp. 66-78
Author(s):  
Надежда Степановна Коровина
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Strong Connection ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
Complete Destruction ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Plot Type ◽  
Traditional Stories

Глубокая и прочная связь коми и русской сказочных традиций отмечалась неоднократно, вместе с тем конкретных разысканий по данной проблеме недостаточно. По этой причине в статье предпринята попытка исследовать особенности взаимодействия сказок соседних народов, принадлежащих к разным языковым семьям, но имеющих близкие культурные традиции. Материалом стал сказочный сюжет СУС 502 «Медный лоб». Проанализировав пять вариантов коми сказки, можно заметить, что в них реализованы все значимые эпизоды этого сюжетного типа. Однако наблюдения над коми региональным материалом меняют представление о стабильности законов народной сказки. При современном процессе затухания сказочной фольклорной традиции произошли изменения в наиболее устойчивой ее составляющей - сюжетно-композиционном строении. Широкое варьирование коми сказочниками сюжетов, образов, их трансформация привели к «новеллизации» некоторой части коми сказок, превращению их в авантюрно-фантастические устные повести. Традиционные сюжеты переосмыслялись прежде всего путем контаминации, а также путем сближения фольклорных сказок с русскими книжными произведениями. Приведенные примеры закономерных изменений отнюдь не говорят о полном разрушении его глубинной традиционной основы. Исследование показало, что коми сказочники имели представление о традиционной сказочной обрядности, широко ими пользовались, что во многом способствовало сохранению волшебной сказки как жанра. The strong connection between the Komi and Russian fairy tale traditions has been noted repeatedly, yet research on this issue is clearly insufficient. In this article the author attempts to define the interaction of fairy tales of these neighboring peoples which belong to different linguistic families but which have closely related cultural traditions. Its specific focus is fairy tale SUS number 502 “Copper Forehead.” It examines five Komi variants of the fairy tale that contain all of the significant elements of this plot type. Examination of the Komi material challenges the idea that the laws governing folktales are stable. With the fading of folkloric traditions, there have been changes in fairy tales’ most stable components, their plot and compositional structure. Komi storytellers have introduced changes that transform Komi fairy tales in the direction of “novelization,” turning them to some extent into oral tales of adventure and fantasy. Traditional stories are reinterpreted primarily due to contamination, including bringing folklore tales closer to those from Russian books. At the same time, these normal changes by no means indicate the complete destruction of Komi folklore’s deep traditional basis. The study also demonstrates that Komi storytellers have had a clear notion of traditional fairy-tale patterns and made wide use of them, which has largely contributed to the preservation of the fairy tale as a genre.

scholarly journals A Tale of Two Trans Men: Transmasculine Identity and Trauma in Two Fairy-Tale Retellings

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Jeana Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Trauma Victim ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Fluidity ◽  
Trans Men

Abstract Transgender identities in fairy tale retellings are rare, but can reveal much about gender fluidity. Helen Oyeyemi’s novel Boy, Snow, Bird conflates transgender identities with mirrored falsehoods and fairy-tale spells, pathologizing a trauma victim who turns out to also become an abuser, while Gabriel Vidrine’s novella “A Pair of Raven Wings” depicts a queer transgender man with dignity, making it clear that the trauma he suffers is at the hands of bigots rather than being an invention of a sick mind or the cause of his transition. Pairing these fairy-tale retellings illuminates the topic of gender fluidity in fairy tales by demonstrating that gender is indeed fluid, but that representations of gender fluidity due to trauma are misguided at best and harmful at worst, while those representations that assert the dignity of transgender people, even as they face trauma at the hands of bigoted people, are another stellar example of the genre’s potential to represent people who are culturally marginalized, connecting identity to power in a classic magical fairy-tale move.

scholarly journals THE IMAGE OF THE CROW IN THE GERMAN AND UZBEK PEOPLES

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-100
Author(s):  
Akmal Akhmatovich Jumayev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Folk Tales ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
The World ◽  
Personal Qualities

Background. The article focuses on specific similarities of the peoples of the world in their views on the crow. Also in myths, in German and Uzbek fairy tales, the portrayal of the crow in positive and negative images was analysed comparatively. All folk tales lead to good. The same lesson is also reflected in the article on the educational significance of the two folk tales. Methods. Particular attention is paid to the fact that the peoples of the world have certain similarities in their views on the crow. The image of the Crow also moved to fairy tales based on Legends. Results. In the fairy tale, it is not explained why the hero became a crow. It is known that in fairy tales the evolution of children to different birds (often owl or crow) is described either because of some side work of their father, or because of his own senselessness. Discussions. In German fairy tales Interesting is that in “Die sieben Raben“ “The seven ravens”, “Die Rabe“ ‘The raven” fairy tales, a crow is not just an ordinary bird, but a symbol of children. In Uzbek fairy tales, the image of birds is focused on fostering such positive personal qualities as industriousness, honesty and friendliness.

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