New Book: The Cambridge Companion to Fairy Tales edited by Maria Tatar

(US/UK Links)

The Cambridge Companion to Fairy Tales (Cambridge Companions to Literature) edited by Maria Tatar is released in the US on January 31st but it was released last month in the UK. See The Cambridge Companion to Fairy Tales (Cambridge Companions to Literature) (UK Link).

Book description:

Fairy tales have never known geographical, disciplinary or cultural borders. In many ways, they provide a model for thinking about storytelling on a transnational level long before comparative literature began transforming itself into world literature. As the simple expression of complex thought, fairy tales have increasingly become the focus of intense scholarly inquiry. In this Companion, international scholars from a range of academic disciplines explore the historical origins, cultural dissemination and psychological power of fairy stories, and offer model interpretations of tales from a variety of traditions and sources, including Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and the One Thousand and One Nights. Rather than disenchanting the stories, the essays in this volume broaden our understanding of them and deepen our appreciation of the cultural work they do. A chronology and guide to further reading contribute to the usefulness of the volume for students and scholars.

Essays by major scholars incorporate all the latest research in an area of literature attracting increasing academic attention

Traces the history and offers fully comprehensive analysis of specific fairy tales, including Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella

International scholars explore stories that by definition transcend geographical, disciplinary and cultural boundaries

Table of Contents

Introduction Maria Tatar
1. Fairy tales, copyright, and the public domain Valdimar Hafstein
2. Female tricksters as double agents Maria Tatar
3. While beauty sleeps Shuli Barzilai
4. Fairy-tale adaptations and economies of desire Cristina Bacchilega
5. Fairy-tale symbolism Francisco Vaz da Silva
6. Trickster heroes in 'The Boy Who Steals the Ogre's Treasure' Nancy Canepa
7. Exploring empathy and ethics in 'Tales about Three Brothers' Maria Nikolajeva
8. The creation of Cinderella from Basile to the Brothers Grimm Armando Maggi
9. The soul music of 'The Juniper Tree' Stephen Benson
10. Sex, crime, magic, and mystery in the One Thousand and One Nights Ulrich Marzolph
11. Media-hyping of fairy tales Jack Zipes
12. Transformations of E. T. A. Hoffmann's Tales from Hawthorne to Oz Holly Blackford.