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Reprinting, Revising or Remodeling?

Should Ernst’s works (or any oral or literary fairy tales)  be reprinted, revised or modified to meet the needs and preferences of a twenty-first century audience? We know t he re-working of fairy tales is common. When the Brothers Grimm published their first volume of   Kinder- und Hausmärchen [ Children and Household Tales ](Grimm, 1812) containing eighty-six numbered and collected fairy and folktales they could not have foreseen the variety of adaptations of the tales two hundred years later.     Hundreds of versions in different languages, audio books, cartoons, anime, horror and interactive worlds  now exist.   It could be argued that Grimm’s Fairy Tales should not enjoy continuing popularity in an era where the riddle of Rumpelstiltskin’s name could be easily solved using a search engine (Gollob, 2012) but they continue to be adapted for our era. In 2012, in readiness for the two hundred year anniversary of the publication of the Grimm’s first collection, a number of new fil

Reprinting early Australian fairy tales.

Should we reprint them? Or does their appeal remain fixed in the era they were written? Hart (1950) made the point that, ‘books flourish when they answer a need and die when they do not’ (285) and it is worth considering for example the fairytales of Tarella Quin whose fairy tale books were reprinted numerous times. Quin (aka Quin Daskein), published her first fairy tale,  Gum Tree Brownie  in 1907[1] with enlargements and variations appearing with regularity in 1918, 1925, 1934 and 1983. Her publisher was still publishing one hundred years after her first book which allowed the opportunity for re-publishing it.  It was believed that public taste indicated this book could become popular again. However, when Gum Tree Brownie was republished as  The Other Side of Nowhere: Fairy Stories of the Never Never  (1983) two stories that did not suit the current socio-cultural environment were omitted. Cruelty and death are not seen as suitable topics for children’s books today - or at least

Translating my Australian fairy tale presentation for a German audience

Ein Kohl-Palmen Hüte und ein Peitsche (stockwhip) als Zauberstab: Australische Märchen. A cabbage tree hat and a stock whip wand. As my German is improving I have been working to translate the slides from my recent Australian fairy tale conference powerpoint into German. This is difficult when translating quotes as the language used is 'old'.  Here is an example: … should this story be favourable (sic) received by the little folks for whom it is written it is the Author’s intention to publish a series of Tales, so that the merry children of the fair South may revel in dreams of their own Fairy Lore.   Sarah Anne Charlotte Roland (pseud. Gumsucker*) 1870 Sollte die Geschichte gerne durch die Leutenlein für die sie geschrieben ist gelesen werden, Absicht ist zu veröffentlichen viele Geschichte, so dass die fröhlichen Kinder können Märchen schwelgen in Träumen ihrer.  * slang for a Victorian colonist

Ooroomolia. An Australian Fairy Story by David Cameron.1878

When I discovered this Australian fairy tale it brought back memories of my own childhood Christmases in the 60s and how accurately he had described my family Christmas afternoons. Game playing  for those who hadn't eaten too much , usually Rounders for we were a family of girls, my dad creeping off for an afternoon nap, and the heat of the day. We were always given a book for Christmas and I would find somewhere to curl up and read or perhaps we would watch a Christmas movie. Though celebrating the 'bush ethos' in the description of Harry Smith who has abandoned city life to become a farmer this narrative also recognises that his 'hard working wife' works equally hard and along side him contributing an equal share as they struggle to build a farm from the surrounding bush. His wife is not named but the acknowledgement of her contribution recognises that  t he Bush not only shaped the traits of the men who settled but expected the women who joined th

Early Australian Fairy Tales excerpts as presented at The Australian Fairy Tales Society Conference

AND why not fairies in Australia? Why should not our innumerable ferny glades, romantic valleys, mountainous passes, and lonesome glens, be peopled with fays and elves? Why should not Robin Goodfellow be found sitting jauntily astride the gorgeous waratah, or chasing the laughing jackass from its favourite bough? But all in good time. In the generations yet to come, unless the State schools make the little ones too learned, we shall have Australian fairy tales, stories in which goblin, kangaroos and emus, graceful sprites, and bearded magicians, will be found on every Fairyland in Australia. (1880, December 18, Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier, p. 3) Excerpts presented at The Australian Fairy Tales Society Conference, 2016 KING DUNCE. Australian Fairy Tales by Atha Westbury  https://archive.org/details/australianfairyt00westiala                               Noel Biffin, son of a tinsmith, wants to be a king , and neglects his schoolwor