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Definition: fairy tale from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Genre of magical story, usually originating in folklore. Typically in European fairy tales, a poor, brave, and resourceful hero or heroine goes through testing adventures to eventual good fortune.

The Germanic tales collected by the Grimm brothers have been retold in many variants. Charles Perrault's retellings include ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’. The form may also be adapted for more individual moral and literary purposes, as was done by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen.

FAIRY TALES

From The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis
These are short ‘once upon a time’ narratives existing paradoxically concurrent with, yet removed from, the present and possessing qualities of entertainment and cautionary instruction, e.g., rites of passage, quests, awakenings, abandonment, etc. Fairy tales have been interpreted sociologically as reflections of social and political structures, but, since the influence of Freud and Jung, they have been interpreted primarily as narratives of inner psychological import. Characters are thus defined psychological attributes. Of prime importance is the first sentence, delineating ‘the situation’, e.g. ‘There was once a miller who had fallen upon hard times’ (the failed father), or ‘There was once a childless king and queen’ (the childless couple), and from this first sentence inevitable consequences follow. Bettelheim, B. ( 1977 ) The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Random House, Vintage Books . Von Franz, M. L. ( 1982 ) The Interpretation of Fairy…
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Full text Article FAIRY TALES

From The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis
These are short ‘once upon a time’ narratives existing paradoxically concurrent with, yet removed from, the present and possessing qualities of entertainment and cautionary instruction, e.g., rites of passage, quests, awakenings, abandonment, etc. Fairy tales have been interpreted sociologically as…
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Full text Article fairy tales

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
Fairy tales are a part of the world’s vast common stock of stories, literally folktales. Fairy tales have, however, their own special quality and not all folk tales are fairy tales. The essence of a fairy tale is a story of growing up, maturation, usually with a strong element of wish-fulfillment by…
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Full text Article aphorisms and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
In addition to the numerous literary adaptations of fairy tales in the form of prose works, poems, and plays, there also exists a tradition of reducing well-known tales to short aphorisms of a few lines. These aphorisms allude to fairy tales in general or to specific tales and their individual…
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Full text Article psychology and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
The psychological significance of fairy tales has been one of the most pervasive topics in the history of fairy-tale studies. There are many different theories concerning the fairy tale's psychological meaning and value, but most start with the premiss that the stories are symbolic expressions of…
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Full text Article Germany, fairy tales in

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
The roots of the German literary fairy tale can be traced to the ancient Egyptian and Graeco-Roman period of myths and oral storytelling as well as to the pagan Nordic and Slavic traditions of folklore. Though it is customary to credit Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm with fostering the study of folk and…
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Full text Article feminism and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Feminists have an abiding interest in the socio-historical and cultural contexts in which literature arises and is received, how women have helped shape and contributed to traditions, and how women are represented in texts and scholarship. Feminist involvement with fairy tales falls roughly into two…
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Full text Article socialization and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Though fairy tales often seem to be products of pure fantasy, they always have designs on their audiences and readers, defining proper behaviour and enforcing codes of conduct. As Maria Tatar says, ‘Any attempt to pass on stories becomes a disciplinary tactic aimed at control.’ Following Norbert…
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Full text Article postcards and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Picture postcards were first introduced in Europe and North America during the 1890s. Given the popularity of fairy tales and the craze for picture postcards at the turn of the century, there were numerous fairy-tale postcards printed by international firms such as Birn Bros., Davidson Bros., Max…
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Full text Article storytelling and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Fairy stories occupy an important place in storytelling. Anne Pellowski's 1977 survey revealed the existence of the activity in every part of the inhabited world. In the past, storytelling required an apprenticeship in some places, and in others it was passed down by families of storytellers from…
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Full text Article pornography and fairy tales

From The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
While fairy tales were historically intended for audiences of all ages, the present-day assumption that fairy tales are the domain of childhood has led writers, artists, and film-makers to explore the potentials for ‘adult’ readings and creating of fairy tales, particularly with regard to sexuality…
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