Wundermärchen

I have a fascination for fairy tales, their endurance over the ages and recurring themes of transformation, along with their continued prevalence in children’s literature and the role they still play in the work of contemporary artists.

Fairy tales, according to Marina Warner, are the connection between a mythological past and the reality of the present (Warner, 2014). Another expression for fairy tale is ‘wonder tale’ translated from the German ‘Wundermärchen’.  This describes the wonder of magic in the tale, allowing for narratives to deliver a “magical elsewhere of possibility…” (Warner, 2014: xxiv).  However, fairy tales can also be said to be cautionary and have a long established history, having evolved from historical events and shared folk tales.

 

 

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