Postmodern = Fairy Tales:

English/Cultural=20 Studies &nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; &n= bsp;=20 Instructor: Michelle LaFrance

Quarter=20 &nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; &n= bsp; &nb= sp; &nbs= p; =20 Email: mlf@u.washington.edu<= /SPAN>

Location;=20 Room &nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; &n= bsp; &nb= sp; &nbs= p; =20 Office: Padelford, B5C =20

Day=20 of Week; Time &nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; &n= bsp; &nb= sp; &nbs= p; =20 Phone: (206) 525-8665

Postmodern=20 Fairy Tales:

Rewriting=20 Myth, Rewriting Ourselves

=93But=20 the fairy tale only invents what is not the case: it does not talk nonsense.=94 =96Wittgenstein, = Philosphical Investigations=20

The=20 Alchemy: objectives and introduction

Beauty. Nobility. Honor. Love. Courage. Redemption. = Vengeance.

Wish-fulfillment. Magic.

These=20 slippery ideals compose fairy tales, making the fairy tale a remarkably=20 resilient form of storytelling. As such, fairy tales have proven to be = an=20 excellent means to seed and question the ideologies that infuse and = inform the=20 political as everyday event. =20

This=20 course proposes the subversive potential of fairy tales, questioning how = fairy=20 tales have shaped our lives and how we in turn might reshape fairy = tales. We will address a number of = issues in=20 contemporary culture, specifically postmodernism, the politics of age, = race,=20 class, sexuality, gender, and power. =20 We will begin with a survey of multicultural and historical = variations of=20 fairy tales, augmenting our literary readings with cultural and literary = critiques; all to interrogate the means by which fairy tales make and/or = disrupt=20 our places within culture.

Illuminations=20 required by royal decree:

Barker,=20 Clive, Weave World.=20 Pocket Books: New =20 York,=20 1987.

Butler,=20 Octavia. The Sower=92s = Parable. Warner Books. =20 Reprint 1998.

McGuire,=20 Gregory and Smith, Douglas: Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked = Witch of=20 the West. Harper Collins. Reprint=20 1996.

Tartar,=20 Maria. The Classic = Fairy Tales:=20 Texts, Criticism. = Norton, 1998.

Tepper,=20 Sherri S. Beauty. Doubleday.=20 1991.

The=20 class Grimoire includes selections from:=20

Bacchilega,=20 Cristina. Postmodern = Fairy=20 Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies; Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment; Carter, = Angela. The=20 Fall=20 River=20 Axe Murders;=20 Eco, Umberto.=20 Travels in Hyper Reality; Lippi-Green, = Rosina. English with an Accent: = Language,=20 Ideology, and Discrimination in the=20 United=20 States; Tartar,=20 Maria. Off with their=20 Heads! Fairy Tales and = the Culture=20 of Childhood; Zipes, Jack. = Fairy Tales as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale; Zipes, = Jack.=20 Don't Bet on the Prince.

Of=20 spells and incantations: Course Projects =20

You=92re=20 the Alchemist (Four Response Papers): During=20 the second week of the quarter, you will select four readings for which = you will=20 prepare a 1-2 page response paper. =20 You are asked to open the following class discussion with = questions about=20 the reading.

Response=20 papers are informal, but not casual, writing assignments designed to = solicit=20 your initial impressions and observations of an assigned text. To this = extent,=20 you are free to write on whatever topic/s pulled from the reading that = you are=20 interested in and have insight into.

Although=20 response papers do not require a thesis statement, every paragraph = should be=20 organized around a topic sentence and include textual/ critical evidence = to=20 support the presented argument; if you include critical information, = please cite=20 your sources according to MLA format. =20 Otherwise, response papers should be no less than a page in = length,=20 single-spaced. Correct = grammar and=20 syntax, and a thorough proofreading are also required. =

Mapping=20 the Enchanted=20 Forest=20 (A Final Paper): = Each=20 student will produce a final paper of 6 to 8 pages, double-spaced, on a topic related to the scope of this class. You may narrate the = connections and=20 disconnections you have encountered this quarter, follow the lead of our = theorists and analyze a fairy tale according to your areas of interest, = or=20 rewrite a fairy tale, rescripting it for our era. If your idea does not fall in = line with=20 these, please see me and we=92ll talk about your project. =

Phases=20 of the Moon:

Week=20 1

Definitions,=20 Historical Contexts, A Genealogy of = Fairy Tales=20

Fairy=20 Tales from Around the World

Tartar:=20 Selections from The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, = Criticism.

Bettelheim:=20 Selections from The Uses of=20 Enchantment.

Week=20 2

Postmodernism=20 and the Wreckage of Certainty

Bacchilega:=20 Selections from Postmodern Fairy = Tales

Zipes:=20 Selections from Don't Bet on the=20 Prince.

Week=20 3

Postmodern=20 Cultures of Childhood: the Hyperreal

Video=20 Clips from Disney Films

Ecco:=20 Selections from Travels in Hyper = Reality

Tartar:=20 Off with their Heads!

Week=20 4

The=20 Question of Beauty

Carter,=20 Angela. The = Fall=20 River=20 Axe Murders.

Tepper,=20 Sherri S. Beauty.

Zipes:=20 Selections from Fairy Tales as Myth, Myth as Fairy=20 Tale.

Week=20 5

The=20 Role of Horror

Barker,=20 Clive, Weave World.

Tartar:=20 Selections from The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts,=20 Criticism

Week=20 6

The=20 Imagination as Cultural Interrogation

Barker:=20 con=92t

Tartar:=20 Selections from The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts,=20 Criticism

Week=20 7

Race,=20 Class, Gender, Sexuality, and Power

Lippi-Green:=20 Teaching Children to Discriminate

Butler,=20 Octavia. The = Sower=92s=20 Parable.

Week=20 8

Race,=20 Class, Gender, Sexuality, and Power

McGuire=20 and Smith, Wicked

Tartar:=20 Selections from The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts,=20 Criticism.

Week=20 9

Bringing=20 it all together: catch-up and revisiting key=20 concepts

Week=20 10

Wrapping=20 Up: Student presentations of final paper=20 topics