"The Fairy Tale" by Steven Swann Jones (Routledge, 2002)

Subtitled "The magic mirror of the imagination"

• "This study deduces from the rhetoric, images, plots, and themes employed in fairy tales a nucleus of essential characteristics that typify these tales. These primary characteristics include: the use of fantasy; the confronting of a problem; the successful resolution of that problem; the use of a sympathetic protagonist; and the presence of a thematic core" p.xiv
• "there are over four hundred collected versions of "Snow White", ranging over five hundred years" p.4
• "Folklore scholars generally recognize three major forms of folk narrative: myth, legend, and folklore. Myths ...use gods ... to explain the operation and purpose of the cosmos. Legends are quasi-historical narratives that use expectional and extraordinary protagonists ... to illustrate cultural ideas, values, and norms. Finally, folktales are entertaining narratives that use common, ordinary people as protagonists to reveal the desires and foibles of human nature" p.8
• Folktales can be further divided into Fables (didactic), Jokes, Novellas (romantic), Fairy Tales (magical). In fairy tales the magical dimension is presented earnestly (unlike the talking animals of fable) as an addition to the known world
• "fairy tales use the poetic and exaggerated symbolism of fantasy to represent the deep-seated feelings of ordinary individuals in facing the typical challenges of life", p.11. The method (using exaggeration, metonymy, simile and metaphor) uses intuitive rather than rational concepts.
• Jung et al see quest as separation, initiation and return. The threshhold crossing leads to a world of magic - the unconscious.
• "Most of the psychological themes underlying fairy tales involve the concerns of young people" p.19 - rejection (by parents), oppression, jealousy (siblings), finding a partner. There are tales for young children about home/family (Hansel and Gretel), tales for adolescents (the biggest section - "Dick Wittington" etc), and tales for mature adults.
• Not all fairy tales appeal to all cultural groups - some European ones don't translate to Oceania.
• "Because of the diminished popularity of the fairy tale genre in the oral culture of literate societies (replaced by jokes and personal experience narratives to a large extent)" p.32
• literary adaption abound, and began long ago. Heroines are replaced by heroes, etc.
• He analyses 2 stories I didn't know - "Three hairs from the devil's beard" and "Faithful John". They both have brilliant plots.
• "While in folk tradition there appears to exist a reasonable balance between the number of male and female protagonists in fairy tales, in printed collections and in the minds of literate audiences, the female folk tale seems to dominate" p.64
• "Given the disproportionate number of heroic legends that feature male protagonists, female audience members might have a greater need for role models in the fairy tale genre to compensate" p.64
• "[females] are emblematic of the ordinary person, which is the legitimate and valued subject of fairy tales" p.64