About the project
The main questions are what does the wonder tale communicate and how does it communicate. The exploration is carried through in two parts. In part one the different approaches in folk tale research – anthropological, psychological, and literary – are reviewed. In part two an aesthetic framework is developed on the basis of pragmatist philosophy informed by Neo-Kantian philosophy and psychoanalytical meta-theory. Within this framework the Cinderella-Cycle is analysed with special regard to the versions by Giambattista Basile, Charles Perrault and Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. There emerge three aspects of content in wonder tales – norms, drives and systemic aspects – on three different levels – mythological/ritualistic, play/game and artistic. The consequences of this specific structure for the reception by children are then discussed.
Research category
Basic research