Max Lüthi and the Literary Analysis of Fairy Tales power point PDF

Preview

Summary

Max Lüthi and the Literary Analysis of Fairy Tales power point notes...

Description

Max Luthi (1909-1991): swiss literary theorist and folktale scholar ● The European Folktale ● Once Upon a Time On the Nature of Fairy Tales ● Sources: ○ Literary texts ○ European tales ○ Germanic focus ● Objectives: ○ What makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? ○ What are the essential laws that can account for the stylistic consistency of the folktale? ○ What makes a European fairy tale distinctive? ○ How does one distinguish it from other genres of oral folk prose? ● Key concepts: ○ One-dimensionality ■ Events appear natural and self-evident because the world of the fairy tale protagonist and otherworldly magic exist in one dimension ■ No shock or fear by protagonist in the presence of magic ● No sense of extraordinary ● Action-driven plot gives no time for pause ■ No explanation given for supernatural events ○ Depthlessness ■ No inner life: express no emotion, surprise, or pain

■ Actions reveal character not words ■ Relationships defined by gifts ■ Lack of connection to past, present, and environment ■ No depth, three-dimensionality ■ Passage of time is insignificant ● Sleeping beauty still young after 100 year spell ○ Abstract style ■ Gives folktale definition and clarity ■ Lack of realism + descriptive detail ● “Handsome prince”, “old woman”, “good girl” ■ Sharp outlines, clear contrasts, and extremes ■ Preference for bold colors, solid metals, precious and rare elements ■ Numbers: 123712 ■ Repetition and fixed formulas ● History of oral tradition ○ Isolation and universal interconnection ■ Isolated characters with no sustained connections ● Separated from family ● Home → real world ○ Tasks ● Interact with other characters in isolated episodes ○ Necessary gifts ○ Advice ○ No sustained relationships

● Isolated environments ○ Forest ○ Towers ■ Universal interconnection ● Coincidences ● Timely gifts ● Wisdom from others ○ Sublimation and all-inclusiveness ■ Motifs have origins in myths ● Rituals ● Incantantations ● Rhymes ● Number patterns ■ Motifs have been weakened and altered ● Jacob Grimm “broken down myth” theory ■ No true eroticism in love, courtship, and marriage ● Themes have been sublimated ■ Fairy tale’s universality ● Why does style matter? ○ Distinguishes it from other genres ○ Style is meaning ○ Plot resolutions are psychologically assuring ○ “The folktale is a world-encompassing adventure story told in a swift, sublimating style.” The European Folktale, pp. 82...