Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales

by Max Lüthi

Book Overview

This first paperback edition of the seminal work by the Swiss scholar Max L?thi will be welcomed by folklorists for its informative survey of the various ways in which fairytales and related genres (local legends and saints' lives) may be read.

"L?thi's lucid and intelligent book is refreshingly welcome." --Sewanee Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253202035
• ISBN13: 9780253202031
• Release Date: September 1976
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (Ips)
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A passionate, perceptive enquiry; & primer for folklorists

This is a joy to read, concise and short, full of insight and authority yet never hard going. Luthi is a distinguished scholar, but keen to communicate his enthusiasm rather than any dry analysis. Scholars have analysed fairy tales according to many models, but this book becomes a primer for folklore theories too, as Luthi takes a tale or two in each chapter and examines them according to a different one of those approaches each time.For anyone fascinated in adulthood by fairy tales, this really teases out the essence of the tales, their nature and appeal, and the various ways they resonate with us. 'It is quite likely that behind many features in our fairy tales there are old customs and beliefs; but in the context of the tale they have lost their original character. Fairy tales are experienced by their hearers and readers, not as realistic, but as symbolic poetry.' (chapter 4)Here are the chapters: 1. Sleeping Beauty - the meaning and form of fairy tales 2. The Seven Sleepers - Saint's legend, local legend, fairy tale 3. The Dragon Slayer - the style of the fairy tale 4. The Uses of Fairy Tales - Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, The White Snake. 5. The Little Earth-Cow - symbolism in the fairy tale 6. The Living Doll - local legend and fairy tale 7. Animal Stories - a glimpse of the tales of primitive peoples 8. Rapunzel - the fairy tale as representation of a maturation process 9. The Riddle Princess - cunning, jest, and sagacity 10. The Fairy-Tale Hero - the image of man in the fairy tale 11. The Miracle in Literature