Thursday 1 November 2012
amazing arts
FAIRY TALES….
For a comparison of fairy tale with
other kinds of stories, such as myths, legends and fables, see Traditional story. For other uses, see Fairy tale
(disambiguation).
A fairy tale (pronounced /ˈfeəriˌteɪl/) is a type of short story that typically features folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies,
goblins, elves,
trolls, dwarves,
giants, mermaids, or gnomes,
and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number
of the stories refer to fairies. The stories may nonetheless be distinguished
from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally
involve belief in the veracity of the events described)and explicitly moral
tales, including beast fables.
In less technical contexts, the term
is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in
"fairy tale ending" (a happy ending) or "fairy tale romance" (though not all fairy tales
end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story"
can also mean any farfetched story or tall tale; it's used especially of any
story that not only isn't true, but couldn't possibly be true.
In cultures where demons
and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales
may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived
both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However,
unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more
than superficial references to religion and actual
places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual
times.
Fairy tales are found in oral and in
literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace
because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary
works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed for thousands of years,
although not perhaps recognized as a genre;
the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century.
Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have
appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world. Fairy tales,
and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today.
The older fairy tales were intended
for an audience of adults, as well as children, but they were associated with
children as early as the writings of the précieuses; the Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's
and Household Tales, and the link with children has only grown
stronger with time.
Folklorists have classified fairy
tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson
classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable.
Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has
been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.
There are many fairy tales from every corner of the globe. Some are very
well known, others not so and some that have even fallen into disuse.
Fairy tales vary from country to country and can sometimes have many
different versions of the same story.
Why are fairy tales
so called…
Folklorists have classified fairy
tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson
classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable.
Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has
been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.
As we know, fairytales are not always about fairies.
So, why do we call these tales fairy tales? Why not just wonder tales, as they
were earlier known?Well, such stories became very popular in France towards the end of the 17th century. Writers such as Mme D'Aulnoy began to put these tales into literary form; Antoine Galland translated and adapted into French The Thousand and One Nights; and Charles Perrault published his famous Tales of Mother Goose which included Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood among others. The French writers coined the term 'conte de fee' to describe such stories. This term translates into English as 'fairy tale'. Hence we call such wonder tales 'fairy tales'.
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