Fairy Tales and Psychological Development in Late Life: A Cross-Cultural Hermeneutic Study

Fairy Tales as a Trance Experience: Possible Therapeutic Uses

“…Although most fairy tales are structured around children, there are fairy tales for the middle-aged, as well as for the elderly (Chinen, 1987a). "Fairy tales, through charming metaphors, symbolize important developmental tasks in the human life cycle" (Chinen, 1987b, p. 99).…”

“…Chinen (1987a) points out that there is a striking difference between elder tales and youth tales. He attributes the difference to developmentally distinct ways of thinking.…”

“…In middle age, individuals are more complex in that while they are fully committed to certain roles and beliefs, they are able to abandon them for the sake of a new, more meaningful perspective. An important deDownloaded by [University of Sussex Library] at 11:34 07 February 2015 viation from children's tales is that the hero is able to appreciate with humor the absurdity of mankind's situation, while having an awareness of the darkness and tragedy of the human condition (Chinen, 1987a).…”

“…A wish to recapture the wonder of the first feeling, replete with meanings and feelings, encouragesthe retelling of fairy tales. Fairy tales are uniquely suited for this purpose in that, unlike myths and legends, they are not literally believed (Chinen, 1987a). A fairy tale invites the participant to suspend belief by such words as "once upon a time, when wishing still worked" (Grimm & Grimm, 1972), or "when clothes still grew on the clothes tree" (InSob, 1979).…”