If you ask me “What’s the best thing about fairy tales?” my brain will combust. But in this very moment, I’ll say one of the best things is that there are so many forgotten or “undiscovered” tales to enjoy. In an effort to bring some forgotten folklorists to the forefront, fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes (my nerdiest old man crush) and Princeton University Press came together for a new-ish series called Oddly Modern Fairy Tales. Each volume concentrates on a writer or movement in fairy tale history whose works were lost, or never “got their due.” Many collections feature tales translated into English for the first time, and each opens with a marvelous introduction to the subject by the volume’s editor.
I have several of these books in my collection:
- The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales features works by Hermynia Zur Mühlen, an Austrian woman who abandoned her upper-class family to become a teacher and a writer for the people. Among her comrades she was known as “The Red Countess,” but she would have been the first to tell you to eat the rich. Her fairy tales are plainly written to offer children a fairy tale world in which workers rights and social justice are the morals. Horses unionize, druids instruct orphans on income inequality, and domestic tools become the magical tools of the oppressed. The tales are also whimsical and charming.
- Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men is a collection of tales by French politician Édouard Laboulaye, a man usually known for his idea to give America a giant copper liberated lady. Laboulaye was passionate about seeing the ideas of American democracy instituted in the tumultuous French empire. He was a passionate advocate of women’s rights, an absolute abolitionist, and an ally to the Jewish community (something exceedingly rare in much Western Europe folklore tradition). He used his knowledge of folklore to put those ideas into fairy tales, both to skirt the criticism and censorship at risk during the French Empire, but also because he fervently believed that fairy tales taught children how to be better people. He is my other nerdy old man crush. Well, nerdy dead man crush.
- Lastly (on my bookshelf), The Dragon Daughter and Other Lin Lan Fairy Tales is a collection of Chinese folk and fairy tales that were published by the Lin Lan conglomerate in the early 20th century. At this time, China had taken some interest in European culture and wanted to establish their nation’s folklore like the Grimms had done for Germany. Lin Lan collectively published over a thousand folktales. This volume collects 42 of them. This is a very fun anthology. The tales are unique and humorous, divided into sections on romance, ghost stories, and more.
I am very excited to add more of the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales series to my bookshelf!
