FSEM 100U4 | International Fairy Tales and Children’s Literature

Old illustrated book surrounded by lights and leaves.

Fairy tales are a literary genre that encompasses the world. While often considered to be part of children’s literature, fairy tales reflect the culture of the region they originate from. On the other hand, as Vladimir Propp shows, fairy tales share common structures that transcend national and cultural boundaries. This course takes a closer look at the structure, meaning, and function of international fairy tales and their enduring influence on popular culture. We will consider fairy tales from several different cultural traditions and historical periods, including the American present. We will investigate the evolution of specific tale types and trace their transformations in various media from oral storytelling through print to film, television, and the stage.

While Professors Orozco and Lewis will be the instructors of record and will set the framework, colleagues from the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures’ seven languages will visit during the semester to lend their expertise in teaching fairy tales from their respective world regions.

Photo of Patricia Orozco, Lecturer of Spanish

Patricia Orozco, Lecturer of Spanish

Listening to fairy tales while I was growing up in Mexico was fascinating. It was not by chance that I volunteered to lead the story-telling sessions of a beginner’s English class for my internship to complete my B. A. at Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. For my graduate studies at UND and GMU, I chose courses that could take me to unlock the socio-cultural meanings behind the stories. Unmistakably, this path would eventually take me to find pilgrim stories as I began research in Spanish literature at CUA. Although those stories are mostly from the sixteenth century, my most recent publications deal with my area of specialization, nineteenth century peninsular literature and their interconnections to journeys. Sharing my findings in more than a dozen national and international scholarly talks on literary and language learning topics has kept me busy during the last 12 years. Here at UMW, I have taught courses on Realism in Spain and Peninsular literature as well as language courses. International Fairy Tales and Children’s Literature is a course that hopes to be the bridge to a fantastic world that will have you thinking critically about our society.

Photo of Elizabeth Franklin Lewis , Professor of Spanish

Elizabeth Franklin Lewis , Professor of Spanish

I loved fairy tales as a kid. I read them, listened to them, staged them with my friends, even tried to write my own. Growing up in the deep south, I think fairy tales were my first exposure to international cultures and led to my love of languages. I studied French in high school, but a chance placement in Bolivia for a study abroad experience changed my path. Those three months led me to change my major from design to Spanish, more study abroad in Spain, an honors thesis on women characters in Goya and eighteenth-century popular Spanish theater, and eventually graduate school at the University of Virginia. Now known as Dra. Lewis to my students, I have taught all levels of Spanish language, literature, and culture at Mary Washington. I am also the director of Undergraduate Research for Mary Washington, and I love facilitating the amazing research and creative work that our students do. When I’m not working, I love the outdoors with my family including camping, hiking, and running, and of course, travel.

Image Credit: book open surrounded by lights and leaves photo by Natalia Y on Unsplash , Free to use under the Unsplash License.