This is a post about how the word fairy tale came to be, and what it’s turned into. I would like to start off by warning you: I am no friend to the bridal industry. That doesn’t mean marriage: that means the commercialization of marriage. And what that commercialization has done to fairy tales. Here’s a preview: The following image is from Disney Bridal. They name all their dresses after fairy tale heroines. You can, in fact, even buy matching brides maids and flower girl dresses. This one is Giselle:
I might be sick...
…okay. Anyways. To start with: Haven’t you ever wondered why the heck we call these things fairy tales? Many of them have no fairies in them at all…especially (my favorites) the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Where did the term come from? Who originated it? And why ‘fairy tales,’ for pete’s sake?
Well, the term was originally coined by Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baronne d’Aulnoy, a French Baroness who was a great figure in the Salon culture of the late 1600s. She was the first person to coin the term “fairy tales.” In French, the term is Les Contes des Fees (tales of fairies).
For a fairy tale author, I don't look very happy, do I?
Madame d’Aulnoy’s tales were – shall we say – not exactly for children.
But that is beside the point. There is no question that the term ‘fairy tale’ originated in France, although the genre itself originated in Italy with the works of Giambattista Basile and Straparola. Straparola was the earliest western fairy-tale writer. He modeled his tales off of the Arabian Nights. But he did not call them fairy tales – “Le piacevoli notti” translates roughly as “the facetious nights.”
Once French fairy tales emigrated over to Germany, the name changed to Märchen. A Märchen is a tale, a narrative, a story…but a Märchen can also be a lie or a falsehood. The original word is the Old German Märe, meaning news. The Germans liked to play around with this word a lot…we get Zaubermärchen for a magical tale, Kunstmärchen for an artistic, romantic tale, and the homey “Kinder- und Hausmärchen” (Nursery and Household Tales, the title of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale collection).
In Spanish, the colloquialism is “cuento,” which is very akin to Märchen – it means both a tale and lie.
If you think about it, we have this idea in English, too. It’s not for nothing that Bill Clinton compared Obama’s policies to a “fairy tale.” The word is potent – it can mean ‘pie in the sky,’ unrealistic, a “mere” dream.
What does the word mean in our culture? What shouldthe world mean in our culture?
Too often, the world is tied up in a consumerist culture. We have “fairy tale” weddings, we have “fairy tale” relationships, we have “fairy tale” endings that often involve things like expensive wedding, large houses, lots of things. Too often, fairy tale is a synonym for perfect. And I have problems with that. There are so many fairy tales with problematic endings! There are so many fairy tales that are about death, so many bloody, violent fairy tales, so many fairy tales where there is no happily ever after. My favorite example of this is The Three Snake Leaves. It’s okay to click the link – the translation’s legit. But seriously – read this fairy tale. And you tell me – does it have a happy ending?
I think it’s time that we liberated fairy tales from their consumerist fetters. That we reclaim our right to have lives where thing go wrong, where we haven’t yet found our endings. And by recognizing that fairy tales in and of themselves aren’t perfect, we’ll be able to recognize that’s it’s okay that we’re not perfect, too.
They call this one "Giselle," after the heroine of 2007's "Enchanted."
And they are making millions off of the fantasy.
I mean seriously people! Disney has an entire operation dedicated to fairy tale weddings! Let’s let go…let go of the obsession with fantastical perfection that doesn’t even exist in the literature that we use to justify it. Let’s rise up! Fairy tale lovers everywhere…unite!!!
…what a weird rant, huh? You know, come to think of it, I’m gonna post a rant one day about the fairy-tale wedding industry. You’d be surprised what Disney has done, my friends…you would be surprised.
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October 21, 2008 at 4:33 am
irreverently
On second inspection, one of the things that really floors me about these Disney Bridal photos is the actual visual. Do the women look happy? No. Are the backdrops even remotely appealing? Definitely not. The first one aside (no point in commenting on the plain gray obviously meant to emphasize the dress), the second one is downright creepy. It looks like some kind of eternal golf course, sterile and not at all magical. No one laughs or cries; I guess there isn’t any death or aging, and there’s no pain or trauma or disappointment, but there’s also nothing special or beautiful or joyful about it. The only thing beautiful about it is cloudscape, which has been distorted in such a way that it looks fake and positively uncanny.
Which leas me to wonder: does anyone really want to live in this sort fairy tale? They seem like prisons, at least to me.
On a different note, where do you stand on the Antti Aarne and, much later, Maria Tatar classification system concerning what constitutes a fairy tale versus a folk tale? (I’ve taken this from Tatar’s book “The Hard Facts of the Brothers Grimm,” which I’m reading right now!) I really like it, as a classification system, as it’s straightforward, has a useful corresponding visual (oh, how I love corresponding visuals), and fully acknowledges the many both the differences and the many overlapping features of folk and fairy tales. I’ve noticed that you use the phrase “fairy tale” very intentionally. But then again, maybe you’re using it as a cultural reference point — after all, folk tales have become kind of an obscure, academic subject (although obviously they still exist in the fabric of cultures worldwide!), whereas fairy tales are considered synonymous with contemporary culture, retellings, etc.
To digress entirely from the above, I also wondered whether you have a bit of a bone to pick with Jack Zipes, and what that’s about!
Unite! Unite!
October 21, 2008 at 8:02 am
Dae
Yes! You are perfectly correct…what a weird looking fantasy. Also, it recently occurred to me that, in all of the fairy-tale bride fantasy literature out there, the *groom* is hardly ever mentioned. He actually seems kind of incidental to the whole thing. This is, after all, *her* day…
Whew! So many questions! I think I’ll respond by writing a post about folk v. fairy tale, Aarne-Thompson, Propp and Greimas. Suffice to say for now that Tatar’s book is quite excellent – though she tends towards oversimplification. Her visual model is based (as I recall it) on Greimas’ critique of Vladimir Propp.
The Aarne-Thompson system is the only thing that I would wish out of folk-and fairy tale studies if I could. That’s another story…for another time.
…Yeah, this could get complex. Definitely will write a post about it.
I do have a bone to pick with Jack Zipes…mostly because he has a bone to pick with the Brothers Grimm, and he isn’t all that subtle about it. “Ah ha! Lookee here, I found two middle-class brothers trying to spread bourgeois morals! Watch out! They’re trying to indoctrinate your children. Do you hear me?! Indoctrination! Contamination of the original tales! Brainwashing of the children! Fleeeeeee!!!!”
It’s stuff like this that really makes me wonder if he’s even read all (211) of the tales, and not just the (50) from the Kleine Ausgabe. It’s really frustrating how he assumes that the folktales that the Grimms “contaminated” (his word, not mine) were so much purer, and *devoid of any cultural or ideological baggage.* Ha! Look at the *pure* Volk, look at the *contaminated* Grimms. He posits this black and white version of fairy tale contamination when what I see is evolution – each age takes a fairy tale, changes it, makes it their own. Zipes believes this too…so long as the folk tale remains oral. Underlying Zipes’ critique of the Grimms is the assumption that once something is written down, it stops evolving. Oh ha! Really? My favorite counter example is the Faust legend, which has evolved mostly in written form over the past 500 years.
Also – Zipes would just hate my thesis. Hate it. Which is why I decided not to meet him over this summer when I had the chance. I admire his work, but I doubt he would admire mine.
I’ll get right on that new post…
June 13, 2009 at 7:31 pm
KateW
First, your site is truly after my own heart. My own blog is dedicated to the appreciation, understanding and analysis of fairy tales and their art.
The wedding post also intrigues me. My husband and I hosted our only child’s wedding last Sept. We adore our daughter and her husband — but wow! It sure was a headache.
I am linking to your highly useful blog. Expect some posts from college students in the fall. My blog is used to teach a course on fairy tales.