Family relationships in fairy-tales and their reception in modern european society

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Project objective

During the last two decades there has been an increased emphasis on the potential of fairy-tale stories for evaluation of the social historical reality in which they functioned. Their main advantages include representations of popular beliefs, manifestations of social values, and a tendency to adapt to contemporary ideologies. The proposed project aims at an improved understanding of family relationships in European societies of the past three centuries, through means of their representation in fairy-tales like the tale of Cupid and Psyche and its multiple variants. Such relationships would include those between father and daughter, sisters, husband and wife, bride and mother-in-law, and would be characterized by complex socio-economic and psychological processes such as marriage issues and household domination. Evidence from cultural studies and from the historical literature of the family will be used to elucidate the nature of family relationships in fairy-tales, the issue of status in family roles, and the ways these interact and reflect contemporary values. The process of transmission and transformation of the 'Cupid and Psyche' type of tale would allow for analysis of the significant alterations of its specific content, and would lead to an investigation that can serve as model for application in similar types of tales.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN · GRONINGENCoordinatorNetherlands

Links

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