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Number 4, January 2006, Semi-Annual News Heighlights
Fairy tales are familiar to all of us. Most of us grew up hearing or reading Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Wolf and the Boy, and The Little Red Riding Hood ...... Are these sweet memories still vivid in your mind? You may know that fairy tales have many more roles to play now. They are widely and deeply studied in various fields like psychology, education, and anthropology.
Marie-Louise Von Franz, one of the most devoted followers of the renowned psychologist C. G. Jung, believes that fairy tales deal with one or another aspect of our basic life process. Through reading tales, we may help ourselves to grow in conscious awareness of psychological realities in ourselves and our society, and find healing and meaning in our lives and greater depth in our sense of purpose.
In Individuation in Fairy Tales she focuses on the symbolism of the bird motif in six fairy tales of Europe and Asia: "The White Parrot" (Spain), " The Bath the Castle of Nothingness(The Bath B dgerd)" (Persia), "Prince Hassan Pasha" (Turkestan), "The Bird Flower Triller" (Iran), "The Nightingale Thousand (The Nightingale Gisar)" (Balkans), and "The Bird Wehmus" (Austria). Through the transformation of the bird images, she explores the themes of psychological and spiritual connections of our development.
In The Witch Must Die Sheldon Cashdan interprets fairy-tale plot elements in relation to basic psychological development. With psychoanalytic interpretations, he explains how fairy tales work their magic by acknowledging our identification with the darker aspects of ourselves such as envy, avarice, cowardice, and sloth.
Finally, Cashdan reveals the magic of the number three. Have you noticed how frequently it appears in fairy tales? Are phrases like “I give you three wishes” and “you need to accomplish three missions” familiar to you? Didn't Snow White’s stepmother tempt her three times before could succeed in poisoning her? Why three but not two or four? Reading this book will give you an interesting answer.
Fairy tales introduce fiction and moral lessons to youngsters, but originally they were written for adult entertainment and contained elements of horror and immorality. The Hard Facts of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales is a scholarly analysis of fairy tales and their origins and impact. Maria Tatar, the author, compares old versions with new ones. These versions are revised and changed continuously over history by numerous writers and artists, for readers of all ages and different cultures. Her observations are based on anthropological and pedagogical studies, bringing a completely new point of view to Grimm’s tales.
Exceptional studies on these ancient
superstitions, archetypal fears, contemporary folk beliefs, exotic conventions,
symbolism, enduring wishes, and social commentary differ from one author to
another. Among the interpretations of Marie-Louise Von Franz, Sheldon Cashdan
and Maria Tatar, which one is most meaningful to you?
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2006 Macau Central Library |
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