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Home , Allerleirauh, Rapunzel, The Golden Bird, The Six Swans

German/LACS 233: Fairytales in the German Tradition

Tuesday/Thursday 1:30-2:45 Seabury Hall S205

Julia Goesser Assaiante Seabury Hall 102 860-297-4221 Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 9-11, or by appointment

Course description: Welcome! In this seminar we will be investigating fairytales, their popular mythos and their longevity across various cultural and historical spectrums. At the end of the semester you will have command over the origins of many popular fairytales and be able to discuss them critically in regard to their role in our society today. Our work this semester will be inter-disciplinary, with literary, sociological- historical, psychoanalytic, folklorist, structuralist and feminist approaches informing our encounter with fairytales. While we will focus primarily on the German fairytale tradition, in particular, the fairytales collected by the Brothers , we will also read fairytales from other cultural and historical contexts, including contemporary .

Course requirements and grading: in order to receive a passing grade in this course you must have regular class attendance, regular and thoughtful class participation, and turn in all assignments on time. This is a seminar, not a lecture-course, which means that we will all be working together on the material. There will be a total of three unannounced (but open note) quizzes throughout the semester, one in-class midterm exam, two five-page essays and one eight-page final essay assignment. With these essays I hope to gauge your critical engagement with the material, as well as helping you hone your critical writing skills. Your final grade breaks down as follows: Quizzes 15% Midterm 15% 2- 5 page essays (15% each) 30% 1 8 page essay 20% Participation 20%

House Rules:

~Class attendance is mandatory. An unexcused absence (one that takes me by surprise and is not properly documented according to the College policy outlined in the Student Handbook) will lower your overall course grade by a third of a letter grade (i.e. a B becomes a B-). Absences for religious or athletic reasons must be cleared with me within the first two weeks of the semester, please consult the Student Handbook for the official College policy regarding such (and all other) absences. ~Bring with you all the material required for each class: the reading, any books, papers, handouts, notebook, pens, etc. NB- many readings for this course will be posted on Moodle, which means that you can access them electronically (on a laptop or table, NOT a cell phone), also in class. Please refrain from accessing any other on-line destinations during class time- our time together is short and we need to work in an intense and focused way. Please note that otherwise our classroom will be an electronics free zone. ~Complete your assignments on time. Late assignments without my approval ahead of time will not be accepted. You are responsible for all assignments on the syllabus and Moodle. ~Do the assigned reading before coming to class, even if you are not certain we will discuss it. ~Penalties at Trinity for cheating or plagiarizing are severe and can include suspension or expulsion. For the final paper in this class, be knowledgeable of the Modern Language Association style of citation (MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Ed. Joseph Gibaldi. Trinity Library Call #: LB2369.G53 1999). ~ Trinity College is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have approval for academic accommodations, please share your accommodation letter during the first two weeks of the semester or a minimum of 10 days prior to needing your accommodations. You may choose to email me a PDF copy of your letter. If you do so, please copy [email protected] on the email and be sure to meet with me privately to discuss implementation of your accommodations.

If you do not have a letter, but have a disability requiring academic accommodations, or have questions about applying for accommodations, please contact Lori Clapis, Coordinator of Accessibility Resources at 860-297-4025 or at [email protected].

Tentative Class Schedule

Perhaps the most famous…. Tuesday, January 21st- Introduction, “Little Red Cap” () Thursday, January 23rd- , “Little Red Riding Hood,” Robert Darnton, “Peasants Tell Tales,” Rudolf Schenda, “Telling Tales-Spreading Tales,” Marina Warner, “The Old Wives’ Tale.” (all on Moodle) Tuesday, January 28th- Grimm, Prefaces I and II, Jack Zipes, “Once There were Two Brothers Named Grimm.” (also ’s Preface to the KuHM) Thursday, January 30th- Angela Carter, “In the Company of ,” Tanith Lee, “Wolfland,” (also brief writing workshop) Tuesday, February 4th- Karen Rower, “Feminism and Fairytales,” and “To Spin a Yarn: the Female Voice in Folklore and Fairytale,” Zohar Shavit, “The Concept of Childhood and Childrens’ Folktales” Boys as heroes and the get punished Thursday, February 6h- Grimm “Frau Trude,” “,” “Robber Bridegroom” (43, 50, 40), Maria Tatar, “Teaching Them a Lesson- the Pedagogy of Fear in Tales.” FIRST ESSAY DUE BEFORE START OF CLASS Tuesday, February 11th- Grimm “White Snake,” “The Table, Ass and Stick,” “Iron Hans,” “,” “The Golden ,” “The Youth Who Went Forth,” “Brier Rose,” and “.” (17, 36, 136, 52, 57) The Violence of Fairytales Thursday, February 13th- Grimm, “,” “The Juniper Tree,” “,” “The Maiden Without Hands,” “,” “Cinderelle” (12,47,65,31,15,21)- Yeh-hsien, (Chinese version) Maria Tatar, “Sex and Violence: the Hard Core of Fairytales” Tuesday, February 18th- Grimm, “Fitcher’s Bird” (46), Perrault, “Bluebeard,” Margaret Atwood, “Bleabeard’s Egg.” Thursday, February 20th- NO CLASS TRINITY DAYS

Enter the Animals Tuesday, February 25th- Grimm, “The Frog-King,” “Rumpelstilskin,” The Six ,” “,” “Snow-White and Rose Red.” (1,55,49,25,161) Thursday, February 27tht- Apuleius, “Cupid and Psyche,” Madame de Beaumont, “,” Maria Tatar, “Beauties and Beasts: From Blind Obedience to Love at First Sight.” Tuesday, March 3rdh- Disney Studios, Beauty and the Beast, Angela Carter, “The Tiger’s Bride.”

Enchantment and Psychoanalysis Thursday, March 5th- Propp, excerpts from Morphology of the Folktale, Bettelheim, excerpts from The Uses of Enchantment, Levi-Strauss, “The Structural Study of Myth” Tuesday, March 10th- Freud, “The Occurrence in Dreams of Material in Fairytales,” and excerpts from “The Interpretation of Dreams” Thursday, March 12th- IN CLASS MIDTERM Tuesday, March 17th- Thursday, March 19th- NO CLASSES SPRING BREAK

Fairytales and Prejudice Tuesday, March 24th- GE Lessing, Nathan the Wise – The Enlightenment- Kant? Thursday, March 26th – Finish Nathan the Wise, Grimm, “The Good Bargain,” The Clear Sun Will Bring it to Light,” “The Jew in Thorns” (7,115,110) Spiegelman, Maus I Tuesday, March 31st- Spiegelman, Maus I Thursday, April 2rd- Spiegelman, Maus I, II (make sure to begin reading The Nutcracker early enough) Tuesday, April 7th- Spiegelman, Maus I,II and Sendak/Grimm Dear Milli

Fairytales as Literature (and in literature)

Thursday, April 9th - Modern fairytales, Romantic style- ETA Hoffmann, The Nutcracker Tuesday, April 14th- HC Andersen, “The Little Mermaid,” Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Undine ESSAY TWO DUE BEFORE CLASS VIA EMAIL Fairytales on Stage and Screen

Thursday, April 16th- Disney Studios, The Little Mermaid, Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” Tuesday, April 21st- HC Andersen, “The Snow Queen,” The Frozen phenomenon and Maleficent, Disney Studios, , Snow White - student led session on the films

Reinventing Fairytales

Thursday, April 23th – Michael Cunningham, “A Wild ,” “Dis. Enchant.” “Crazy Old Lady,” HC Andersen, “” Jeana Jorgensen, “Masculinity and Men’s Bodies in Fairytales” Tuesday, April 28th- Nikita Gill, Fierce Fairytales, Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in This One Wednesday, April 29th- last day of classes- review – final paper workshop

FINAL PAPER DUE THURSDAY, MAY 7Th- via email as PDF or WORD file, no exceptions