Power Relationships in Rumpelstiltskin: A Textual Comparison of a Traditional and a Reconstructed Fairy Tale

Abstract

Reconstructed fairy tales provide a different point of view and challenge the assumptions of a common set of values; for that reason, these stories provide a medium in which to examine power relationships in texts by applying a critical multicultural analysis (Botelho & Rudman, forthcoming, 2008, A critical multicultural analysis of children's literature: Mirrors, windows and doors. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum) to identify and analyze power relations of Rumpelstiltskin (Grimm & Grimm, 1812/1987, New York: Bantam) and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter (Stanley, 1997, New York: Morrow Junior Books). Specifically, this study examines how power is exercised on a continuum: domination, collusion, resistance, and agency. Findings indicate that by identifying and questioning text ideologies, critical readers can consider how texts maintain, counteract, or promote alternative systemic power structures.Keywords Folk literature Á Power Á Ideology Á Critical multicultural analysis Á Rumpelstiltskin It is a common misconception that children's literature is nonpolitical and thus absent of power relationships. The issue of power, in its various forms, is often a central theme in stories written for children. Scholars (e.g., MacLeod, 1995) have long understood that the purpose of early children's literature, such as Puritan literature, was explicit and direct dissemination of ideology. Moreover, literature is also subversive in nature, that is, implicit and indirect. In Should We Burn Babar?, Herbert Kohl (1995) argues that power relationships are indeed embedded or hidden in children's literature consequently promoting political ideology: ''Power relationships also provide examples and models for children of social and moral behavior' ' (pp. 4-5). That is, literature suggests ways of acting and behaving.Fairy tales, a popular genre with children, are not exempt from political power relationships because they provide guidelines for mores, values, gender, and power in a

What do we read to our children? Messages concerning ethnic diversity in popular children’s books in the Netherlands

“…(Wooldridge, as cited in Botelho & Rudman 2009, p. 4) The authors highlight that the point of view, social processes among characters, story ending, and imbedded assumptions need to be considered, and that both linguistic and visual information in children's literature are important (Botelho & Rudman 2009). Previous studies have used CMA to analyze children's literature, examining power in various ways (e.g., Johnson & Gasiewicz 2016;Kelley 2008;Malcolm & Lowery 2011;Richards 2013). Richards (2013) for example focused on power in terms of ideologies that are represented in Jamaican children's literature.…”

“…Johnson and Gasiewicz (2016) examined the characterization of immigrant characters and cultures, but in addition investigated power relations among characters. Kelley (2008) looked at power in relation to characters too, but focused on character's actions and responses to power, and whether and how characters benefited from power.…”

Os contos dos Irmãos Grimm e o seu poder questionador

“…Neste nosso artigo, argumentamos que uma das linhas de força exibidas por alguns destes contos reside na atenção concedida aos mais fracos ou aqueles que factual e simbolicamente não parecem ser possuidores de voz ou de capacidade de ação. Nesta nossa argumentação socorremo-nos de princípios como os defendidos por Jack Zipes (1994) ou Jane E. Kelley (2008), segundo os quais os contos de fadas, dando a ler valores e condutas para os costumes, exibem sempre, ainda que, muitas vezes, apenas de modo indireto ou oblíquo, determinadas relações de poder. Com efeito, os textos selecionados neste artigo mostram-nos que aqueles que não são detentores de poder conseguem sempre alcançar uma certa ordem simbólica, desde que, manifestando sempre uma autoconfiança e uma capacidade de perseverança, a que se associam princípios éticos de retidão e de solidariedade, realizem um determinado esforço, superando um conjunto de provas ou de obstáculos.…”

‘Mind you stay on the path!’ The representation of the parent–child relationship in stories for children

“…The rhetorical and narrative structure of Andersen's fairy tales have also been subjected to some analysis (in the work edited by Hansen and Lundholt, 2005). 'Critical multicultural analysis', consisting of a multi-layered analysis of power relationships (formalized by Botelho & Masha, 2008), has been applied by Kelley (2007) to two different versions of the Grimms' fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. The analysis identifies some interesting representational differences between the two versions in relation to the characters' power, agency, domination and resistance, but does not amount to systematic (SFL-based) linguistic analysis.…”