FYS 1067 - Uses of Enchantment

Otterbein University Course Catalogs

Hours: 4
There is no culture on the planet that does not have some tradition of folk or fairy tales. Originally, fairy tales were not intended for children. In fact, throughout most of their history, they were told to adult audiences for entertainment and education. Many of the popular fairy tales we know today were originally transcribed and collected by two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who edited and shaped them from their original and sometimes lewd, violent content into narratives more suitable for younger minds. While the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm reflected many of the specific values of their Germanic culture, fairy tales are now widely viewed as raising universal and archetypal questions about human nature, culture, and morality.

This course will explore and analyze the cultural purposes of fairy tales from around the globe by examining their history, narrative forms, and traditions, and how they have continued to develop and change over time. We’ll examine modern adaptations of traditional tales, and how they reveal themselves in contemporary literature, film, television, gaming, and advertising. We’ll also engage with the tales from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including literature, psychology, feminist and film studies, anthropology and sociology in order to appreciate how fairy tales help us understand the human condition.

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FYS 1067 - Uses of Enchantment