To browse Academia. It highlights the editorial changes made in subsequent editions and argues for the importance of the original tales in understanding the Grimms' intentions and the cultural heritage they represent. The author expresses gratitude to collaborators and emphasizes the richness and authenticity of the original narratives. This title foregrounds the role of the brothers and the status of the tales as authored or children's stories in a way which Jacob and Wilhelm would not have entirely agreed with.
As proof of a once existing German epic literature, they were evidence of the existence of a German cultural heritage. All this was instrumental in the formation of a German identity. In the same year that the brothers started collecting old German material in , Napoleon was at the summit of his career and German territory was occupied. Turning towards the German language and evidence of its history and cultural validity allowed for a self-identification which resisted the occupying force.
Collecting tales which were. The second important question is, What is their legacy exactly and what are their tales? Here I must note that the stories in their collection are not strictly speaking all fairy tales, for there is hardly a fairy in any of their tales, which range from fables, legends, and animal tales to folk anecdotes, trickster stories, tall tales, and religious narratives.
On the other hand, there is, of course, a great deal of magical or miraculous transformation and moral counterworlds that constitute prime characteristics of the great tradition of fairy tales. Bearing that in mind, the third question, for there must always be three, is, What has happened to the Grimms' tales in Germany since the reunification of East and West Germany, and why are they still so relevant?
Why is there a contemporary fairy-tale boom in Germany, not to mention in the United States and other parts of the world? Because there have been excellent studies about the influence and heritage of the Grimms' tales up to I am thinking here of Donald Haase' s book The Reception of Grimms' Fairy Tales, an informative collection of essays, among others-I want to set the discussion of the legacy of the.
