This course introduces students to the study of fairy tales as 
a means of learning about culture and society. Students will 
develop writing skills by reading, discussing and writing 
critically about fairy tales in short essays and they will 
learn to read fairy tales in the social and cultural context of 
Germany society since the 19th century. Students will learn 
about the didactic, social and political significances of fairy 
tales at this point in Germany's history. Students will also 
learn to respond critically to theories and interpretations of 
fairy tales from secondary literature.

In this course, students will begin by reading traditional folk 
fairy tales by the Grimm brothers in translation. The selection 
of folk fairy tales will include commonly known and less 
commonly known fairy tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Students 
will also read some secondary literature about the fairy tales 
and their psychological and cultural interpretations and we 
will view some representations of the fairy tales in film and 
in the TV series “Grimm.” The course will be organized in 
thematic units:

Folk Fairy Tales

Week 1 – stepchildren/stepmothers
•	Cinderella
•	Snow White

Week 2 – naïve girls and dangerous wolves
•	Little Red Cap (Grimm brothers)
•	Red Riding Hood (Charles Perrault)

Week 3 - the power of love and patience
•	Briar Rose
•	Rapunzel

Week 4 – siblings/team work
•	Hänsel and Gretel
•	Brother and Sister
•	The Town Musicians of Bremen

Week 5 – spinning/hard work
•	The Three Spinners
•	The Lazy Spinner
•	Rumpelstiltskin
•	Mother Holle

Week 5 – violent husbands
•	The Robber Bridegroom
•	Bluebeard

Weeks 6-7: secondary literature about folk fairy tales and film
Bruno Bettelheim: “Little Red Cap and the Pubertal Girl”
Jack Zipes: “’Little Red Riding Hood’ as Male Creation and 
Projection”; “Cross-Cultural Connections and the Contamination 
of the Classical Fairy Tale” Siegfried Neumann: “The Brothers 
Grimm as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales” Linda 
Worley: “The Horror! Gothic Horror Literature and Fairy Tales: 
The Case of ‘Der Räuberbräutigam” Film: “Red Riding 
Hood”; “Snow White”, “Hansel and Gretel”; “The Sorcerer’s 
Apprentice”; TV series: “Grimm” (selected episodes)  

Weeks 8-15: Students will also read several longer literary 
fairy tales that were inspired by the Grimm brothers and their 
narrative style. Literary fairy tales will include some or all 
of the following:
Ludwig Tieck: Eckbert the Fair
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: Undine
Clemens Brentano: The Tale of Honest Casper and Fair Annie
E.T.A. Hoffmann: The Golden Pot
Michael Ende: The Neverending Story

All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A 
Culture of Honesty,” the university’s academic honesty policy. 
Students are responsible for informing themselves about these 
standards before performing any academic work. The UGA Office 
of the Vice President for Instruction defines academic honesty 
as follows: “Academic honesty means performing all academic 
work without plagiarism, cheating, lying, tampering, stealing, 
receiving unauthorized or illegitimate assistance from any 
other person, or using any source of information that is not 
common knowledge.” More detailed information can be found at 
http://www.uga.edu/honesty/ahpd/culture_honesty.htm.