Analyzing Contemporary Fairy Tales

detail of Self Portrait by Leonora Carrington

ANALYZING

CONTEMPORARY FAIRY TALES

detail of Self Portrait by Leonora Carrington

JOURNALS, PRESSES, & SERIES

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These publications and publishers are reliable sources for resources of contemporary fairy tale analysis:

→ WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS

You could really just look here and you would see most of the recent publications on fairy tale studies. Wayne State is home to the literary journal The Fairy Tale Review, several of the most acclaimed fairy tale studies scholars, and a Fairy Tale studies department. The university's press includes a Fairy Tale studies series. This is the reliable source for contemporary fairy tale studies books.

→ MARVELS & TALES

Marvels and Tales is a peer-reviewed journal based out of, surprise, Wayne State University. It is the (or one of very few) journals focused fully on critical fairy tale studies, as opposed to a focus on folktales and folklore more broadly.

→ JOURNAL OF FOLKLORE RESEARCH

This is a free, online, scholarly publication, run by Indiana University's Folklore Institute, which publishes research and reviews on folklore and ethnomusicology, and its intersections with race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Remember that fairy tales are a subcategory of folklore. You can access the journal's book reviews openly, but need to sign up for a free newsletter in order to access the full journal issues.

→ MYTHS & LEGENDS PODCAST

Myths and Legends is an incredibly popular podcast about, yes, myths and legends, but also sagas, folktales, fairy tales, storytelling and many things at the intersection of magical literary history. New episodes, which run about 40 to 45 minutes each, are released every Wednesday.

→ HAPPILY by Sabrina Orah Mark in Paris Review

Happily is a monthly non-fiction essay column by author Sabrina Orah Mark. Happily lyrically explores the relationship between fairy tales, motherhood, and the fascinating overlay of fairy tale tropes onto modern life.

ADDITIONAL JOURNALS TO KNOW

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These journals require annual membership fees to their respective societies, and so are a bit more costly than other resource options. Still, if you do have access to a university system, these are strong sources worth consulting:

→ JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLKLORE (AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY)

→ FOLKLORE (THE FOLKLORE SOCIETY)

Screen shot of Paris Review's page for Happily articles

Screenshot of Myths and Legends podcasts website

Screen shot of Journal of Folklore Research homepage

screen shot of homepage for Wayne State University Press' Fairy Tale Studies page

BOOKS TO READ

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Recommendations of books featuring analysis of contemporary fairy tales. Click a title to learn more about it. Descriptions are from the books' back cover copy.

From Dog Bridegroom to Wolf Girl, Mayako Murai

As in the United States, fairy-tale characters, motifs, and patterns (many from the Western canon) have pervaded recent Japanese culture. Like their Western counterparts, these contemporary adaptations tend to have a more female-oriented perspective than traditional tales and feature female characters with independent spirits.In From Dog Bridegroom to Wolf Girl: Contemporary Japanese Fairy-Tale Adaptations in Conversation with the West, Mayako Murai examines the uses of fairy tales in the works of Japanese women writers and artists since the 1990s in the light of Euro-American feminist fairy-tale re-creation and scholarship.

Critical and Creative Perspectives on Fairy Tales, by Vanessa Joosen

In Critical and Creative Perspectives on Fairy Tales: An Intertextual Dialogue between Fairy-Tale Scholarship and Postmodern Retellings Vanessa Joosen broadens the traditional concept of intertextuality to include academic texts. With three key texts from the 1970s at the center of her discussion-Marcia K. Lieberman's "Some Day My Prince Will Come," Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment, and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic-Joosen connects the critical views expressed in these feminist and psychoanalytic interpretations with fictional fairy-tale retellings and illustrations that have been published in Dutch, English, and German since the 1970s.

Queer Enchantments, by Anne E. Duggan

To the uninitiated, the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy can seem strange and even laughable, with their gaudy color schemes and sung dialogue. Yet since the late 1990s, a generation of queer filmmakers in France have found new inspiration in Demy's cinema. In this volume, author Anne E. Duggan examines Jacques Demy's queer sensibility in connection with another understudied characteristic of his oeuvre: his recurrent use of the fairy tale.

The Routledge Companion to Media and Fairy-Tale Cultures, edited by Pauline Greenhill, Jill Terry Rudy, Naomi Hamer, and Lauren Bosc

From Cinderella to comic con to colonialism and more, this companion provides readers with a comprehensive and current guide to the fantastic, uncanny, and wonderful worlds of the fairy tale across media and cultures. It offers a clear, detailed, and expansive overview of contemporary themes and issues throughout the intersections of the fields of fairy-tale studies, media studies, and cultural studies, addressing, among others, issues of reception, audience cultures, ideology, remediation, and adaptation. Examples and case studies are drawn from a wide range of pertinent disciplines and settings, providing thorough, accessible treatment of central topics and specific media from around the globe.

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, by Amanda Leduc

If every disabled character is mocked and mistreated, how does the Beast ever imagine a happily-ever-after? Amanda Leduc looks at fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney, showing us how they influence our expectations and behaviour and linking the quest for disability rights to new kinds of stories that celebrate difference.

Postmodern Fairy Tales : Gender and Narrative Strategies, by Cristina Bacchilega

Postmodern Fairy Tales seeks to understand the fairy tale not as children's literature but within the broader context of folklore and literary studies. It focuses on the narrative strategies through which women are portrayed in four classic stories: "Snow White," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Bluebeard." Bacchilega traces the oral sources of each tale, offers a provocative interpretation of contemporary versions by Angela Carter, Robert Coover, Donald Barthelme, Margaret Atwood, and Tanith Lee, and explores the ways in which the tales are transformed in film, television, and musicals.

SEARCH STRATEGIES

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Tips for locating resources specifically featuring contemporary fairy tale visual art.

→ See "General Search Strategies" for additional tips on finding fairy tale resources.

1. SUBJECT HEADINGS

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There's not a wild abundance of fairy tale criticism around, so in many ways you're best off sticking to the non-criticism-specific search terms listed in the subject heading suggestions for →general searches, →literature searches, and →visual arts searches.

For a handful of additional terms that might be helpful, here are the Library of Congress subject headings potentially relevant for locating contemporary fairy tale studies resources:

Art criticism--History--20th century
Fairy tales--Adaptations--History and criticism
Fairy tales--History and criticism
- Fairy tales--Germany--History and criticism
- Fairy tales--France--History and criticism
→ Fantasy fiction--History and criticism
→ Fantasy literature--History and criticism
→ Fantasy films--History and criticism
Film adaptations--History and criticism
Film criticism
→ Folk literature--History and criticism
Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Intertextuality
Literary form--History--20th century
Literature, Modern--History and criticism
Literature, Modern--21st century--History and criticism
Science fiction films--History and criticism
Symbolism in fairy tales

Many contemporary fairy tale studies are focusing on elements of feminism, disability, and queer identity in fairy tales. Here are some subject headings specific to finding fairy tale studies resources specifically on those subjects:

Disabilities in literature
Disability studies
Feminist art criticism
Feminist film criticism
Feminist literary criticism
Feminist theory
Gender identity in literature
Gender nonconformityin literature
Gender transition in literature
People with disabilities in literature
Sex role--folklore
Sex role in art
Sex role in literature
Sex role in motion pictures
Women--folklore
Women's studies

2. CHECK THE DATE

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Most critical studies of fairy tales are of non-contemporary fairy tales. When looking for resources, keep an eye out for terms like "adaptation," "contemporary," and "post-modern." With books, it's helpful to check the back cover description and table of contents for an idea of the scope of the book.

3. BROWSE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Having your hands on even just one contemporary fairy tale studies book opens up worlds. Check the book's references and footnotes for a list of other relevant resources.

4. FIND VISUAL ARTS ANALYSIS WITH LITERATURE ANALYSIS

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Many fairy tale studies books discuss the prevalence of fairy tales in both literature and visual arts. This is to say that when searching for resources about contemporary visual arts and fairy tale studies in particular, it's helpful to keep your search terms broad (e.g. "fairy tale criticism") rather than use visual arts specific terms. Note: an exception here is for film and tv criticism.

ANALYZING

CONTEMPORARY FAIRY TALES

These publications and publishers are reliable sources for resources of contemporary fairy tale analysis:

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ADDITIONAL JOURNALS TO KNOW

Recommendations of books featuring analysis of contemporary fairy tales. Click a title to learn more about it. Descriptions are from the books' back cover copy.

Tips for locating resources specifically featuring contemporary fairy tale visual art.

​

1. SUBJECT HEADINGS

2. CHECK THE DATE

3. BROWSE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

4. FIND VISUAL ARTS ANALYSIS WITH LITERATURE ANALYSIS