Talk:Fairy tale
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[edit] Surely there is a...
Better definition for fairy tales than that they contain talking animals, etc. The first paragraph could just as well apply to Lord of the Rings as to fairy tales. I know, I know, better to keep quiet than to point out a problem without a solution, and I don't have the answer.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hwillmott (talk • contribs) 07:57, March 12, 2007 (UTC)
- Agree about the problem, it was pointed out in the FAC review, but not resolved.--AnonEMouse (squeak) 14:52, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
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- You are aware that The Lord of the Rings often was called a fairy tale? And that Tolkien's famous essay on fantasy world-building was titled, On Fairy-Stories?
- The process by which the genres of fantasy and fairy tales came to be distinguished is discussed in "History of the genre" but be wary of assuming that the distinction is a clear line. Goldfritha 02:09, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] older entries
Fairytales...where did they come from? They came from a long time ago.
[edit] Pictures
All the pictures here are by Ivan Bilibin, and while they are very nice indeed, it would be nice to get some diversity. I'd like to switch a couple out with other illustrations to get some more variety. Any objections? -Branddobbe 05:39, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
- Be my guest. As long as the pictures aren't copyrighted of course. One of Gustave Doré's illustrations would be nice. --Steerpike 10:55, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
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- I took out the second two illustrations and replaced them with a picture of Little Red Riding Hood and a picture of some trolls and a princess. However, the pictures are still obviously pretty Euro-centric. I don't know enough about fairy tales from other cultures to put in pictures from non-European sources, but if someone else here does you're more than welcome to do so. -Branddobbe 16:21, 23 October 2005 (UTC)
Hello. I read the article and I got a very simple problem with it. It's about fairy tales, but it talks about indo-european fairy tales as if whole world's fairy tales were "of same structure". They are not. Not even close. It'd be wise to specify in the article that this applies only to indo-european fairy tales, not to the whole world. Thanks. :)
- Expanding it would be better. Goldfritha 22:28, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
- Since it talks about fairy tales in general rather than in the specific, what, BTW, do you consider inaccurate when applied to other cultures' fairy tales? Goldfritha 22:30, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Animal Farm
is there a difference between fairy tales and fairy stories shouldn't it be described here i was just wondering since George Orwell called animal farm a fairy story but he nor that book are mentioned here so i thought that that might have something to do with it
- That is more the emerging definition of the term "fantasy". I put some discussion of that in the article. If you have a reference to calling Animal Farm a fairy tale, it would be a good addition to the article. Goldfritha 17:34, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales are something you would read to children not adults right because my mom doesnt read fairy tales --TamagotchiGirl13 19:33, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
- Fairy tales aren't something you would read to adults, but they are often read by adults. Adults find meanings in fairy tales that children miss, including adult themes that children don't appreciate. In fact, fairy tales are designed with double-entendres for adults, for both humor and for teaching the birds and the bees.
Coyoty 02:25, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Claim about India
Can anyone back up that claim about "origins"? Given that that is the sort of nationalistic claim often made on scant evidence -- what sort of evidence can be provided for the origin of an oral tale is one country? Goldfritha 23:02, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Faerie tale
"Faerie" is an occasional spelling of "fairy" but I would need references to see that "faerie tales" is a common enough spelling to belong in the lede. Goldfritha 21:14, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Social criticism
Removed one unsubstantiated claim about fairy-tale collectors, and editted another. We need some references for social criticism. Goldfritha 22:28, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
- No references? Out it goes, then. Goldfritha 22:56, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] References
This article would be greatly improved by having references applied within the article itself, rather than an undifferentiated mass. I am working on it myself, but I don't know where everyone got their info. Goldfritha 16:48, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Change Article Title
This article should be re-titled something like History of Fairy Tale Theory and updated (or extensively rewritten). It gives information more useful for the literary theorist than a critical reader in the genre, and focuses on the history of criticism and categorization rather than elements common among fairy tales. Between the section entitled "Motifs" and "Defining marks of the fairy tale" only a single motif is described; this must be further developed if this is to be an article about the fairy tale, and not just about fairy tale theory. Good luck!Delvebelow 20:11, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
- It should certainly not be re-titled. Being useful for the literary theorists is not exactly a disqualification. Goldfritha 02:15, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Is this a fairy tale?
I'm wondering whether to add a film into the category "films based on fairy tales", and would like to ask your thoughts on whether the story qualifies as one. The film in question is The Key, a 1961 Soviet animated feature. If you read the plot summary, you'll see that it has many features associated with fairy tales, particularly the presence of fairies and, most importantly, its structure - the characters, story and the places that the protagonists go to (such as the "Kingdom of Quick Feats and Easy Victories") are simplified abstractions and it is never clear where they are. Elements from Russian fairy tale traditions are used, such as the boy who grows "not by days but by hours". Moreover, the story is built entirely around several morals.
On the other hand, the story contains a scientist and several robots (though they aren't exactly portrayed realistically), and the story takes place more-or-less in contemporary times (1960s USSR). My own view is that "fairy tales" weren't originally about the past, because the world which they presented was close to the one which the people who told them lived in. I think that the story in this film is the same - it seems to have exactly the same structural underpinnings as the older fairy tales, unlike modern fantasy novels which use the same "world" but have radically different structures (a complete lack of economy and concision, for one). Perhaps the tradition of telling stories in this manner just survived longer in the Soviet Union than it did in the West. What do you guys think? Esn 06:03, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- Me, I think using fairy tale motifs would qualify it for that category. Goldfritha 00:55, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] External links
I've purged the links of duplicate links, links to collections with pages of their own, unsuitable stuff. . . anyone who purges it of other unsuitable stuff would be appreciated. Goldfritha 01:02, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
I was interested in adding a link to my podcast home page wwww.fairytalesforever.com witch I think a lot of people would find relevant and interesting.
But I don't want to step on your toes.
--Ericwolf2 02:28, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
WikiProjectSpam is getting increasingly active in encouraging reduction of external links in general. Buddhipriya 02:30, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Classic Fairy Tale Art
I readded the external link to Classic Fairy Tale art removed by Budhipriya. It's been there forever without previous objection. Unless we limit the topic to "History of the Fairy Tale (text ony)", it does not seem out of place.
Xineann 17:31, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Globalize/Europe
Explaining the tag: this section is about Victorian era, but the section was written as if Europe was the whole world. There is an off-hand mention of an Asian tale as the last sentence, but it is not really explained that this tale was actually bowdlerized for children. Did African, Asian, Native American, Native Australian tales get adapted the same way? Without writing about that, the article is assuming that Europe is the only important part of the world, which is hardly correct in this subject.
To a lesser extent this criticism applies to the whole article, which is heavily European-focused on a subject which ostensibly affects the whole world. --AnonEMouse (squeak) 16:15, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
