Utopiantransformation and the desire for a better lif
I agree but I think these desires come from past perceptions of the world and what it "used to be" rather than some imaginary made up world in someone's mind or a world that is preached to us by society.
Forsure, entertainment and instruction were always part ot their function,but they were designed to communicate ideas about natural instincts,social relations, normative behavior, character types, sexual roles, andpower politics
I struggle with seeing that the intent of fairy tale writers is to push an agenda or a certain ideal. Instead, I think most of the authors portrayed certain situations that they and most people considered good because they wanted their audience to enjoy and be able to relate to their story. For example, in the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty, I don't really get the impression that the writers/directors are trying to portray women as weak. Rather, I feel as though they are trying to emphasize the power of love and how it is greater than some spell or magic. The reason I think the woman is put under the spell rather than a man is because people traditionally see women as more submissive than men so it would appeal better to the audience.
I did not pay enough attention to humanagency in discussing the means by which fairy tales are transmitted andthe importance of inferential and intentional transformation.
Or why certain fairy tales intrigue us due to our past experiences/values/ethics
Are writersof fairy tales unethical and irresponsible when they create false happyendings and delude us into believing that harmony is possible in ourrapidly changing postmodern globalized war-torn world?
No, I think it is good for people to realize that the world we live in is flawed. However, I hate when they constantly drone and mope over that, complaining about the way things are. Showing people different societies, albeit fake societies, helps them realize what it is they enjoy about our world and what it is they would want to change.
it appearsto me that he was much too rash in dismissing the genre as too rigidto adapt itself to the changing conditions of reality and unsuitable as agenre to be able to reflect critically upon the social and material tensionsthat constitute our beleaguered modern and postmodern sensibilities.
I agree with this claim and think that while society and science may suppress the ability for us to imagine fairy tales, I think they have a much larger impact that just speaking to our imagination. Instead, they speak to what we believe as people and to what we want in life. While fairy tales may often occur in mythical lands with mythical creatures, I think the reason they appeal so much to people is because they portray a world that is less stressful and more like the world they knew in their childhood, not because people necessarily want to ride on unicorns.
hey alert us to dangeroussituations, instruct us, guide us, give us counsel, and reveal what mighthappen if we take advantage of helpful instruments or agents, or whatmight happen if we do no
They invoke our survival instincts without putting us in actual danger. In a way that kind of reminds me of bungee jumping. You are given the illusion that you are falling to your death but you are not. Your body feels the same release and submission as it would if it were actually dying but the best part is you get to live.
Likthe selfish gene, a fairy tale as meme is concerned with its own pe -petuation and will adapt to changes and conflicts in the environmentCoined by fairy tales, we insist that the fairy tale act:conflicts through conventionalized language and codes that
I feel like the author neglects speaking about the impact of personal experience on story perception. While they talk about social conflicts or movements, I think that childhood experiences with your family and friends determine more how your form you ideals and, because fairy tales are often tailored to appeal to these ideals/fantasies, perceive fairy tales.
or example, "Little Red Riding Hood" has becomea meme that has stuck in people's minds since at least the seventeenthcentury and has replicated and propagated itself throughout the world
Memetics just seems like it is trying to be something advanced and different when it is just explaining how all information spreads. The same process described here can be applied to any other form of subjective information. I wouldn't consider the spread of stereotypes or scientific theories to be subjects of memetics though.
it. s! ^RI 'L an°ther lndlvidual's brain that willtrait is its caDarir u USan c^more contends that a meme's majorV to be imitated and to replicate itself
The way that the meme is described here makes me perceive it more as a virus than as a DNA molecule.
We know that there were many different kinds of storytelling thatexisted thousands of years ago in antiquity, and they gave birth to typesof "wonder" tales that prefigured the literary fairy tales.
I feel like the Bible (and other religious texts) should be mentioned in this text and in the course alongside fairy tales because the method in which many of the Old Testament biblical stories developed was through oral telling. In addition, many of the Biblical stories include many similar aspects to fairy tales (such as the story of Adam and Eve).