One of the things that interested me from the narrative lecture was the work of Vladimir Propp. I have always enjoyed folk and fairy tales. So my interest was piqued at the mention of an analysis of the narrative structure of Russian folktale. Propp was a Russian critic who in 1920 decided to study the components that made up Russian folktales. Character that remained constant were the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and the princesses father. And between these characters certain situations always occur and are key to the plot such as the struggle between hero and villain followed by the villain being overcome and the hero being recognised and rewarded with a kingdom and/or a princess. And a happily ever after but often a moral lesson is also learnt.
One of Pienkowski’s silhouette fairy tale illustrations. picture from : http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2008/dec/19/booksforchildrenandteenagers#/?picture=340934959&index=4
Two of my favourite folktales books are “The Amber Mountain and other folk tales” by Agnes Szudek, illustrated by Jan Pienkowski, who is better known for his work with Helen Nicoll on children’s favourite Meg and Mog, and “The Wise Doll” by Hiawyn Oram and illustrated by Ruth Brown. The former being a collection of folktales from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Germany. Some the story’s are familiar as they have been retold such as ” The Amber Mountain”. You may also know this story as “The Seven Brother” or “The Six Swans” or “The Twelve Wild Ducks” or “Udea and her Seven Brothers” or “The Wild Swans” or “The Twelve Brothers”. At the core its a story about a daughter trying to save her brothers of varying numbers.
Illustration for The Swan princes by Anne Anderson. picture from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Swan_Princes_-_Anne_Anderson.jpg
Some versions include the sewing of shirts, seven years of silence, infanticide by jealous Queen mothers, two daughters named Rosy red and Snow white who sound very familiar, cannibals, various forms of execution, treacherous aunts, moon people, princesses, peasant girls and evil flying toe nails. Some are rather gruesome, with beheadings, burnings, disfigurements and quite a bit of blood-letting and blood smearing. I think the original fairy tales that are a little bit more grisly have more merit that the watered down versions that are told to children now. Even the big bad wolf doesn’t die in little red ridding hood anymore. Some hero’s have to kill their villain, in cinema and literature we are returning to dark fairy tales. For example I was never a big superman fan, I’d only seen the squeaky clean ‘kid’ version so was adamant about seeing the Man of Steel reboot. I was pleasantly surprised but the death of the antagonist was very violent and emotionally fraught. Superman (the hero) doesn’t want to kill Zod (the villain) but he has no other choice. Something as permanent as a death of a character in a story line should be a resolution of the conflict and disorder but also define the hero’s morality. One example where I felt robbed of this resolution was in Thor: the Dark World. SPOILER ALERT do not read if you don’t want to know what happens at the end, concerning Loki and Thor, look away now.
So Loki dies, but he has redeemed himself and aided his brother and has been honourable. And though this was sad, the upset relationship that Thor and Loki shared through the first film and the Avengers movie was finally at rest. But no, the joy of the money spinning franchise that is the Marvel superhero movies the last two seconds of the film and the story were ruined for me at least. For once Thor has told his Father of Loki’s redemption and Thor leaves to be with his mortal love. Odin shape shifts into a smirking Loki. I am sure Vladimir Propp would not approve or would he? Do characters like Loki inhabit both the villain and false hero role. Though it feels very much like Marvel money grabbing for more films because people will pay to see Tom Hiddleston as Loki the lovable and hateable trickster of Norse mythology.
The Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram and Ruth Brown.
picture from : http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-525-45947-7
But I digress. My other book is “The Wise Doll” by Hiawyn Oram and illustrated by Ruth Brown. It a retelling of the Vasilia the Beautiful. Which included the Baba Yaga, who is a key character in many a tale. This retelling is very much for younger audience so emits some of the original stories more complex aspects but is still very gruesome and scary in places. One particular illustration of Baba Yaga her eyes glowing orange like hot coals still freaks me out, this book used to really scare me when I was younger. But I still wanted it read to me and I still read it. Baba Yaga is a villain and a tester of people. That’s what she’s there for, a good scare the book tells us. Sometimes we need to be scared. Like hiding behind the couch from the monsters on doctor who, or fearing that certain page in the children’s book where you really see the villain for the first time.
Illustration from Vasilisa the Beautiful by Ivan Bilibin. picture from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vasilisa.jpg
Fairy tales will always be retold, whether it be in cinema with superhero’s, or in children’s books with classic tales. They will or they should retain the key points that Propp analysed and if the don’t do they still have any constructive effect on us. As they say the moral of the story is that fairy tales are ingrained in our minds and our society and if they are tainted where does that leave us. Manically holding on to a wish of a sugar sweet happy ending or the complete opposite, humbugging our way though life without any belief or want of redemption.
Also just to point out I did really enjoy the second Thor movie, it was far better than the first and Tom Hiddleston is great as Loki. Just wish Marvel would, and this goes for many other comic book/ superhero franchises, would just let some characters die… permanently.
References and Links to webpages that helped me write this post :
Here is a link to a vimeo video of somebody ready “The Wise Doll” :http://vimeo.com/10822274
Szudek, A. (1976) The Amber Mountain, and Other Stories. Hutchinson.
Oram, H. (1997) The Wise Doll. Andersen Press Ltd.
All of the above links were accessed on the 19.11.2013.
robynglendinning 
