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"As a book, Grimms' Fairy Tales has been with us less than two hundred years, yet it is recognized as one of the most widely known tomes in the world. Explanations for the book's popularity and longevity have typically been one-dimensional generalizations about a universal quality residing within the tales themselves. The tales endure, we are told, because they are timeless, true, or good." "The Reception of Grimms' Fairy Tales rejects the notion that Grimms' tales have enjoyed continued success because of their "ageless magic." Instead this volume explores the historical, cultural, and personal factors that have caused the tales to elicit, from their original publication to the present, extremely diverse responses, reactions, and revisions." "The history of the tales' reception goes far beyond the simple success story of a good book that has been widely accepted because of its moral and aesthetic appeal. Those who encounter the stories - scholars, translators, editors, readers, writers, storytellers, or artists - have interpreted the stories from their own perspectives and for their own purposes. The reception, then, reflects a dynamic process involving the acceptance, rejection, transformation, and revision of a protean book of stories." "This illustrated volume brings together premier scholars of the fairy tale, including Ruth B. Bottigheimer, Maria Tatar, and Jack Zipes, with acclaimed creative writers such as Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter, Jane Yolen, and award-winning artist Trina Schart Hyman. Ranging from scholarly essay to personal memoir and fictional recreation, their work embodies the diverse responses that readers have had to Grimms' fairy tales." "The essays address the reception of the Grimms' texts by their readers; the dynamics between Grimms' collection and its earliest audiences; and aspects of the literary, philosophical, creative, and oral reception of the tales, illuminating how writers, philosophers, artists, and storytellers have responded to, reacted to, and revised the stories, thus shedding light on the ways in which past and contemporary transmitters of culture have understood and passed on the Grimms' tales."--BOOK JACKET
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