Back to Ölenberg: An Intertextual Dialogue between Fairy-Tale Retellings and the Sociohistorical Study of the Grimm Tales

This article uses the concept of intertextuality to explore a dynamics of textual borrowing and revision between fairy-tale retellings and sociohistorical criticism on the Brothers Grimm and their Kinder- und Hausmärchen. The discussion draws on a selection of retellings in English, German, and Dutch that playfully undermine the Grimms' authority as folktale collectors, as critics such as Heinz Rölleke, Ruth B. Bottigheimer, and Jack Zipes have done in academic discourse. In addition, she introduces retellings that draw on older versions from the first edition of the Grimm tales and the Ölenberg manuscript.