MTU Cork Library Catalogue

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Breaking the magic spell : radical theories of folk and fairy tales / Jack Zipes.

By: Zipes, Jack David.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : Routledge, 1992Description: xix, 201 p. ; 23 cm. + pbk.ISBN: 0415907195.Subject(s): Tales -- History and criticism | Fairy tales -- History and criticismDDC classification: 398.21094
Contents:
Once there was a time: An introduction to the history and ideology of folk and fairy tales -- Might makes right - The politics of folk and fairy tales -- The revolutionary rise of the romantic fairy tale in Germany -- The instrumentalization of fantasy: Fairy tales, the culture industry and mass media -- The Utopian function of fairy tales and fantasy: Ernst Bloch the marxist and J.R.R. Tolkien the catholic -- On the use and abuse of folk and fairy tales with children: Bruno Bettelheim's moralistic magic wand.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU Bishopstown Library Store Item 398.21094 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00016188
General Lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 398.21094 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00016189
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This text explores, in both historical and critical contexts, the evolution of folk tales and fairy tales, their influence on popular beliefs, the politics behind them and their incorporation in mass media culture today. It focuses particularly on socio-historical forces which have changed the function of fairy tales since the 1700s.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-195) and index.

Once there was a time: An introduction to the history and ideology of folk and fairy tales -- Might makes right - The politics of folk and fairy tales -- The revolutionary rise of the romantic fairy tale in Germany -- The instrumentalization of fantasy: Fairy tales, the culture industry and mass media -- The Utopian function of fairy tales and fantasy: Ernst Bloch the marxist and J.R.R. Tolkien the catholic -- On the use and abuse of folk and fairy tales with children: Bruno Bettelheim's moralistic magic wand.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Originally published in 1979, Breaking the Magic Spell was one of Jack Zipes's early forays into fairy tale analysis. The Choice reviewer (CH, Jun'80) unfairly took Zipes to task for a "dreary style of argumentation," for his Marxist analysis, and for his critique of Bruno Bettelheim, and deemed the book "a marginal choice" for libraries. Twenty-three years later, Zipes (Univ. of Minnesota), the author or editor of more than 30 books in the field, is recognized as its foremost scholar. This reissue is most welcome: Zipes has scrupulously integrated insights from the wealth of work on fairy tales since 1979, and revised much of the prose. He has also added a new chapter on taking children's literature seriously, with a focus on the intertextual use made of fairy tales by such writers as J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Francesca Lia Block, Donna Jo Napoli, and William Steig. This chapter reflects the work that Zipes has done with children themselves in community contexts in Minneapolis in recent years. All libraries should acquire this new edition of one of the most influential texts in the field. E. R. Baer Gustavus Adolphus College
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