In his latest book, fairy tales expert Jack Zipes explores the question of why some fairy tales "work" and others don't, why the fairy tale is uniquely capable of getting under the skin of culture and staying there. Why, in other words, fairy tales "stick." Long an advocate of the fairy tale as a serious genre with wide social and cultural ramifications, Jack Zipes here makes his strongest case for the idea of the fairy tale not just as a collection of stories for children but a profoundly important genre.
Why Fairy Tales Stick contains two chapters on the history and theory of the genre, followed by case studies of famous tales (including Cinderella, Snow White, and Bluebeard), followed by a summary chapter on the problematic nature of traditional storytelling in the twenty-first century.
1: Toward a Theory of the Fairy Tale as Literary Genre; 2: The Evolution and Dissemination of the Classical Fairy Tale; 3: Once Upon a Time in the Future; 4: The Moral Strains of Fairy Tales and Fantasy; 5: The Male Key to Bluebeard's Secret; 6: Hansel and Gretel; 7: To Be or Not to Be Eaten
Jack Zipes is Professor of German at the University of Minnesota. An acclaimed translator and scholar of children's literature and culture, his many books includeHans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller and Speaking Out: Storytelling and Creative Drama forChildren, both published by Routledge.
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