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- Convenors:
-
Gergana Petkova
(Sofia Unversity St Kliment Ohridski)
Vyara Nikolova (Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski)
- Stream:
- Narrative
- Location:
- A225
Short Abstract:
Fairy tales today are a source of inspiration. They find their way into the classroom, in cinema, comics and animation, in literary works, art and visual culture. The panel welcomes contributors to explore the new way of existence of fairy tales nowadays.
Long Abstract:
Fairy tales have a history of hundreds of years. The scholarship of folktales started in 19th century to continue in the following decades in many countries around the world. The folktale study was very intensive in the second half of the 20th century, when many new approaches were applied - from collecting and indexing folktales to analyzing and interpreting them with the help of socio-historical analysis, structural approach, psychology and depth-psychology interpretations, comparative study, gender-studies approach, etc. Since the beginning of the 21st century the fairy tales have found many new forms of existence. They are no longer "tales of lore", but a source of inspiration in various fields. They find their way into the classroom and in foreign language teaching, new readings of fairy tale motifs and types could be seen in cinema (like Maleficent, Jack the Giant Slayer, The brothers Grimm), folktale structure and characteristics become the building "bricks" of comics and animation stories (from the application of Vladimir Propp's morphology sequence in the works of Hayao Miyazaki to Marvel's heroes or Shrek), new interpretations of folktale motifs could be found in literary works (like Robin McKinley's Deerskin) , in art and visual culture. The panel welcomes contributors to explore how fairy tales are interpreted in various art forms and fields, to search for their new way of existence nowadays, to reveal how traditions are preserved and how new readings and interpretations facilitate the future existence of fairy tales.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Gergana Petkova (Sofia Unversity St Kliment Ohridski)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the art of animation of one of the most influential directors Hayao Miyazaki. By applying analytical methods of folktale study, the author reveals how and why Miyazaki can be perceived as a modern story-teller.
Paper long abstract:
Fairy tales (and folklore in general) have always been examined in their local frame and background in the same extend in which they have been thought as a universal phenomenon. Be it on socio-historical level with the theory of Lutz Roehrich, or within the depth-psychology stream initiated by Sigmund Freud, on structural level applying Vladimir Propp's morphological parsing or through Max Luethi's literary analysis, in the methods of geographic-historical school of Krohn and Aarne, or the theories of origin and distribution developed by von Sydow, Benfey, and Bastian, folktales have always been as much local as a global phenomenon.
Shiro Yoshioka calls Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away "a folktale for the 21 century which teaches that contemporary culture is an extension of, or even a part of, a much larger context of Japanese tradition" (2008: 258). In the proposed paper we would argue that Miyazaki is indeed a modern story-teller, whose art is very much bound to folktale structure, thematic and impact.In this new anime-lore the author traces the emerging medium for transmission of ideas and visions, which are born in the interaction of local and global cultures and whose success has much to do with the essence of folktales.
Kristín L´orange
Paper short abstract:
This paper discusses the representation of the hero/ine in the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel with an emphasis on the heroine. The research examined fourteen variations from Iceland and compared to 19 variations from Europe. The findings suggest that some heroines are passive while others are active.
Paper long abstract:
Fairy tales are about characters that are faced with tests and trials and when they successfully complete their tasks they are well reworded. These characters will react differently when faced with danger; some are passive while others are clever and brave. This paper discusses the representation of the heroine and the hero in the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel with a particular emphasis on the heroine. The research examined all of the fourteen variations from Iceland and compared to 19 variations from different countries in Scandinavia and Europe for the purpose of getting a more complete idea of the roles of heroines and heroes. The purpose of this research was to bring focus to the heroine, her interactions with the hero, and to evaluate who takes on a more active role in the story. The paper also discusses the geographical differences of the heroine's representations. The findings suggest that the these fairy tales are diverse and the characters take on different gender roles depending on the cultural and geographical context. There are obvious similarities regarding these gender roles based on similar cultural heritage and location, for example there are similar motifs and representations of the hero/ine and narratives in the variations from Iceland and Scandinavia. The paper concludes by discussing the heroines' broad spectrum of participation, from being almost totally passive to an active and strong leader; and how these tales can be used in the teaching and socialization of children in past and present.
Nada Kujundžić
Paper short abstract:
Focusing on Michael Buckley's Sisters Grimm series, the Shrek movie franchise, Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables and ABC's Once Upon a Time, the paper proposes to examine the popular trend of combining characters from different fairy tales and placing them within the same fictional realm.
Paper long abstract:
In addition to re-envisioning well-known stories, the contemporary fascination with fairy tales also manifests itself as a surge of fairy-tale "mash-upsˮ, narratives (literary, cinematic or other) built around the premise that not only are fairy-tale characters "realˮ, but they all inhabit the same universe. Sometimes, this universe exists as separate from the "real worldˮ, as evidenced by movies from the popular Shrek franchise which are, in the traditional fairy-tale fashion, set in an unspecified "far, far awayˮ. At other times (and unbeknown to humans), the realistic and the marvellous exist side by side or even intertwine, which is particularly prominent in the Sisters Grimm novels by Michael Buckley, Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables and the ABC TV series Once Upon a Time, where each fairy-tale character is also given a "humanˮ identity.
By focusing on select examples from film (Shrek), (graphic) novels (Fables, Sisters Grimm) and TV series (Once Upon a Time), the paper proposes to examine how individual fairy-tale characters and stories are interpreted and transformed in these "mash-upsˮ and how the existence of a fairy-tale multiverse (especially one set in the "realˮ world) affects the our understanding of the genre as such. Special attention will be given to the changing notion of the fairy tale as a genre, as these supposedly fairy-tale realms often include characters from nursery rhymes, fables, legends, children's stories and other fantastic (and even realistic) genres.
Merja Leppälahti (University of Turku)
Paper short abstract:
I am studying literature with intertextual connections to Kalevala, Finnish national epic. My topic is especially quite new literature, beginning from 1990’s. In my paper, I will present some books with different kind of connections to Kalevala.
Paper long abstract:
The Finnish national epic, Kalevala, was compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore verses. The first Kalevala was published in 1835, but Lönnrot expanded it made some changes. The new Kalevala was published in 1849; this is what we know as the Kalevala today.
Since publishing Kalevala has been a source of inspiration for artists, composers, and authors. Today there is even comics and rock lyric inspired by Kalevala. Today there are many versions of
Kalevala; the text has been rewritten in modern Finnish (both in verse and prose form) and in many Finnish dialects.
I am studying literature with intertextual connections to Kalevala. My topic is especially quite new literature, beginning from 1990's.
I will present examples of books with different connections to Kalevala. Johanna Sinisalo's Sankarit ("The Heroes") is Kalevala retold in modern times, and shaman Väinämöinen is a rock star named Rex. Jari Tammi's Kalevan solki ("The Brooh of Kaleva") tells the Kalevala-story "how it really happened". What happened to Lemminkäinen after Kalevala has ended; that is told in Juha Ruusuvuori's Lemminkäisen laulu ("The Song of Lemminkäinen"). Kalevala is real history in Timo Parvela's trilogy Sammon vartijat ("The guards of the Sampo") and Seija Vilen's Pohjan akka ("The Old Woman of Pohjola"). Mikko Karppi's Väinämöisen vyö ("The Belt of Väinämöinen") and Harri Hietikko's Roger Repo ja tuonen väki ("RR and the people from Death") are both detective stories. Of course there are a lot of books having smaller connections to the Kalevala.
Farah Aboubakr (The University of Edinburgh)
Paper short abstract:
The folktale is not just a narrative of entertainment; it can also act as a hybrid site for cultural resistance, cultural and collective memory reaffirmation, and continuity in the Palestinian discourse of orality.
Paper long abstract:
Following the trauma of the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948, Palestinians still suffer from constant violations of their rights, land and culture. To fight forgetfulness and denial, some Palestinian folklorists have sought to collect, document, analyse and translate pre-1948 Palestinian folktales. One major example is Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989), a selection edited by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana, and its Arabic version Qul Ya Tayerقول يا طير (2001). The paper examines the folktales in the English and Arabic compilations along with the compilers' paratextual elements (introduction, footnotes, afterwords, etc.) in order to explore the importance of orality and folk narratives in framing and preserving Palestinian memory and identity. The folktales, told mainly by women, are divided by the compilers into five main groups, following the individual's life cycle from childhood to old age: Individuals, Family, Society, Environment and Universe. Synthesising various concepts within memory studies, the paper will discuss three main aspects: the compilers, storytellers, and folktales. By examining the scholarly contribution of the compilers and the agency of the storyteller, the paper argues, reinforce the narrative of cultural resistance hence reaffirming cultural memory and identity.
Vyara Nikolova (Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski)
Paper short abstract:
Teachers use fairy tales to stimulate the imagination of students in the process of foreign language acquisition - a combination of image, sound and writing, which is in fact a form of a short fairy tale.
Paper long abstract:
Teachers use fairy tales to stimulate the imagination of students in the process of foreign language acquisition - a combination of image, sound and writing, which is in fact a form of a short fairy tale. This is very often applied at the beginners level in foreign language teaching. Examples from Russian and Japanese language classes for foerigners will be given to illustrate how fairy tales find their natural and effective way into the classroom.