Bridge Essay: Fairy‐Tale Transformations

Abstract

What is a fairy tale, where on earth do these tales stem from, and what are fairy tales about? The discussion in this chapter addresses these basic questions, and then considers a long‐standing puzzle: Why are all fairy tales fundamentally similar, although no two variants are ever alike? I argue that answering this question requires heeding fairy‐tale transformations. For this purpose, we watch how the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Yasunari Kawabata variously transform one pervasive fairy‐tale image. The main point of this exercise is to suggest that fairy tales hinge on a stable pattern of symbolic transformations, which literary taletellers ply to their own genius (and specific agendas) as they recycle old tales into new stories that keep talking to one another.