top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now
illustration from Joanna Concejo's rendition of Little Red Riding Hood

SEARCH STRATEGIES

FOR LOCATING GENERAL RESOURCES

illustration is from Joanna Concejo's rendition of Little Red Riding Hood

SEARCH SUBJECT HEADINGS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are several subject headings from the Library of Congress relevant to searching for resources on contemporary fairy tales:

​

  • Fairy tales

  • Fairy tales--Appreciation

  • Fairy tales--Appreciation--United States

  • Fairy tales--Adaptations

  • Fairy tales--Bibliography

  • Fairy tales--Classification

  • Fairy tales--History and criticism

  • Fairy tales--Psychological aspects

  • Fairy tales in popular culture

  • Fairy godmothers

  • Ghouls and ogres

  • Magic mirrors

  • Afrofuturism

  • Folk art

  • Folk literature

  • Folk poetry

  • Mass media and fairy tales

  • Storytelling

  • Surrealism

  • Symbolism in fairy tales

​

In addition to the Library of Congress' widely used subject headings, many libraries have subject headings that are specific to their catalogs. One with a particularly strong fairy tale emphasis is that of the Wayne State University library. Wayne State is home to the literary journal The Fairy Tale Review, a Fairy Tale studies department, and a Fairy Tale studies series within Wayne State University Press. So, while you cannot have physical access to Wayne State's library unless you have an affiliation with the school, you can use their library catalog as a way to find books about specific topics.

​

→ Explore Wayne State University's fairy tale specific subject headings and corresponding resources here.

​

​

SEARCH BY STORY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can often find adaptations of classic fairy tales by searching the name or characters of the original story (e.g. Little Mermaid) and specifying a recent publication date within your search constraints. Because of this, it can be helpful when searching for contemporary fairy tales to look at old versions of fairy tales. Here are links to a few resources that have gathered such stories:

​

→ The Cinderella Bibliography​

→ Folklinks

→ Illinois University's Library Guide to Folk and Fairy Tales

→ Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Series from Penguin Books

→ Sur La Lune Fairy Tales

​

Some fairy tales even have their own subject headings. For example:

​

  • Cinderella (Tale)

  • Little Red Riding Hood (Tale)

  • Snow White (Tale)

​

​

FOLK TALE + GEOGRAPHY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The field of fairy tale studies is often quite Euro-centric, and especially French and German-centric. Many non-European fairy tales are labeled as folk tales.

 

So, when searching for resources of or about fairy tales which originated outside of Europe, search for "folk tales" and specify the geographic region of interest. There are also many folk tale Library of Congress subject headings, which are far more numerous and culturally specific than the geography-specifying fairy tale subject headings. Here are a few:

​

  • Folk literature, Igbo

  • Folk songs, Afrikaans

  • Folk literature, Mambae

  • Folk art, Moldovan

​

→ You can explore the full list of folk art relevant Library of Congress subject headings at this link.

​

There are also a few geography and culture-specific Library of Congress subject headings you can try, though :

​

  • Fairy tales--China

  • Fairy tales--England

  • Fairy tales--Germany--History and criticism

  • Fairy tales--Germany

  • Fairy tales--Norway

  • Fairy tales--United States

  • Fairy tales--Scotland

  • Fairy tales--Great Britain

  • Fairy tales--Arab countries

  • Fairy tales--Czechoslovakia

  • Fairy tales--Japan

  • Fairy tales--France--History and criticism

  • Fairy tales--Denmark

  • Fairy tales--France

  • Fairy tales--Ireland

  • Fairy tales--Russia

  • Fairy tales--Sweden

  • Fairy tales--Italy

  • Fairy tales--Finland

  • Fairy tales--India

  • Fairy tales--Romania

​

​

THINK "INTERDISCIPLINARY"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fairy tale studies is a notoriously interdisciplinary field. When searching for fairy tale relevant resources, consider the type of resources you are hoping to find and the corresponding field. Then, try searching databases and journals specific to that field, or add the name of that field to your search terms. Here are a few fields to explore in connection to fairy tale studies:

​

  • Anthropology

  • Art History

  • Childhood Studies

  • Comparative Literature

  • Film & Television Studies

  • Gender Studies

  • History

  • Literature

  • Media Studies

  • Performing Arts

  • Psychology

  • Cultural and Language Studies

​

​

SEARCH ADJACENT GENRES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many authors and artists explore fairy tale themes and structures within their work but do not label their work as part of the fairy tale genre. Because of this, it's often helpful to broaden one's search to writing art that identifies itself as engaging with the following genres:

​

  • Fables

  • Fabulism

  • Fantasy

  • Folk Tales

    • Tall Tales

    • Wonder Tales

  • Frame-stories

  • Ghost Stories

  • Horror

  • Legends

  • Magical Realism

  • Myth

  • Occultism

  • Oral Tradition

  • Parables

  • Science Fiction

  • Storytelling

  • Surrealism

​

​

bottom of page