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Literature and Theatre

Dark Fairy Tales

Course Times & Enrolment

This course is currently unavailable.

Course Summary

Long before they were sanitised by Disney and others, traditional fairy tales were dark and dangerous journeys into forbidden corners of the human psyche. We'll explore that rich folk heritage, along with later variations by Hans Andersen, Oscar Wilde, E T A Hoffmann, Angela Carter, Isak Dinesen, Tanith Lee and many more.

Course Details

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous knowledge is required. Previous students on this course will enjoy returning to study the new titles.

Content of Course

This course is a journey through the darkly magical world of fairy tales from their roots in ancient mythology to their literary flowering in the 19th century to their Modernist and Post-Modernist reinvention by in our own era. Are they the cute fables that Disney would have us believe? Or are they primal narratives that speak to our darkest and most dangerous impulses? As we seek and answer to these questions, we’ll explore all the traditional favourites along with authors such as Hans Christian Andersen, Nathaniel Hawthorne, George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, Isak Dinesen, Angela Carter and Tanith Lee.  

Teaching method(s)

Lecture and discussion.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course student will be able to:

  • Identify literary techniques and devices in a variety of texts.

  • Analyse and evaluate syntax, figurative language and narrative mechanisms.

  • Discuss the relationship between a fantastical narrative and the social context in which it is told.

  • Assess the extent to which fairy tales engage with the ways a society thinks about itself, its hopes, and its anxieties.

  • Compare and contrast fairytales from different cultures and different periods.

Sources

Core Readings

Students are advised to wait until the course has been confirmed to run before purchasing any of the recommended books.

  • Carter, A. (1995) The Bloody Chamber. London: Vintage
  • Dinesen, I. (2005) Seven Gothic Tales. London: Penguin Books
  • Tatar, M. (2017) The Classic Fairy Tales. New York and London: Norton Critical Editions
  • Lee, T (2001) White as Snow. New York: Tor Books

     

Class Handouts

Extra short stories will be provided as handouts, weblinks and/or PDFs.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.