Critical Multicultural Analysis of Folktales : Power Representation in Reconstructed Rumpelstiltskin Stories

ISBN-13: 9783639094237 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 204 str.

Jane Kelley

Opis

If folktales and fairy tales are supposed to conveyfundamental universal truths, or validate the past,then why do storytellers change the stories? Whenstories share similar folktale characteristics (alsoreferred to as motifs), do they also share the samemessages? Today there are many versions oftraditional tales as well as revised and reworkedtales that provide different points of view. Oneparticular tale that has a number of counterperspectives is Rumpelstiltskin. The Grimm Brothersfirst recorded Rumpelstiltskin nearly two centuriesago. This intriguing tale has a seemingly anti-socialmessage. The only character who tells the truth isthe villain, yet he is the only one who is punished.This book analyzes Rumpelstiltskin for itsnonconformity to predictable patterns and itsimplications for society. Applying a criticalmulticultural analysis of these adaptations bringspower relations to the surface, and highlights howpower can be exercised. By identifying the implicitpower in children s literature and folktales such asRumpelstiltskin, readers can consider how textsmaintain, counteract, and promote alternativesystemic power structures.

O autorze

Jane E. Kelley, Ed.D.: Language, Literacy, and Culture Program at
University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Assistant Professor of
Children s Literature and Literacy Education at Washington State
University, Pullman, Washington.