Märchen in den südslawischen Literaturen (review)

Fairy tales – the classic genre of children’s literature? The present volume does not view fairy tales within these rigid limits, but understands them as a transgeneric phenomenon. It analyzes literature for adults as well as for children and uses the fairy tale to compare different South Slavic cultures. (See N. Avramovka’s contribution on fairy tales as the chronotopos of the Balkans).

The contributors look at fairy tales from Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, and include a little side trip to Russia. They unfold a vast panorama linked to the term “fairy tale” and illustrate how the influence of fairy tales lasts well into postmodernity. Fairytales provide the structural, stylistic, or motivic reference to countless quotes and adaptations, parodies and paraphrases. For example, consider the introductory essay by D. Burghardt, among others. It becomes apparent how strongly the fairy tale informs other literary genres and how many different functions it can assume. While some of the essays trace fairy tale elements in the work of individual authors and focus on the fairy tale as an art form, others highlight its oral tradition and address its status as folklore and national literature. M. Hameršak resituates the fairy tale within the context of children’s literature by asking how fairy tales influenced and inspired 19th-century Croatian children’s literature and analyzing the underlying concepts of childhood. Through its broad, but nuanced scope, this volume opens up new perspectives on the fairy tale and liberates it from its status as an allegedly “simple” narrative form limited to specific literary genres.