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Revision as of 23:08, 25 February 2012
| Author | Bruno Bettelheim |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 1976 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 978-0140137279 |
| Dewey Decimal | 398.45 |
| LC Class | GR550 .B47 |
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales is a 1976 work by Bruno Bettelheim in which the author analyses fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychology.
In the book, Bettelheim discusses the emotional and symbolic importance of fairy tales for children, including traditional tales at one time considered too dark, such as those collected and published by the Brothers Grimm. Bettelheim suggested that traditional fairy tales, with the darkness of abandonment, death, witches, and injuries, allowed children to grapple with their fears in remote, symbolic terms. If they could read and interpret these fairy tales in their own way, he believed, they would get a greater sense of meaning and purpose. Bettelheim thought that by engaging with these socially evolved stories, children would go through emotional growth that would better prepare them for their own futures.
Structure and contents
The book is divided into two main sections. The first, "A Pocketful of Magic," outlines Bettelheim's thoughts on the value of fairy tales for children. The second part, "In Fairy Land," presents psychoanalytical readings of several popular fairy tales, specifically:
- Hansel and Gretel
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Snow White
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- The Sleeping Beauty
- Cinderella
- The "animal groom" cycle of fairy tales, including Beauty and the Beast, The Frog King and Bluebeard.
Awards
The book won the U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 1976 and the National Book Award in the category of Contemporary Thought in 1977.
In popular culture
The Uses of Enchantment has been cited as an influence in many subsequent works that utilise fairy tales in adult terms, including the 1986 Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods and the 2011 Catherine Hardwicke film Red Riding Hood.
The Uses of Enchantment has also been used as the title of a novel by Heidi Julavits and an Aria comic by Brian Holguin and Jay Anacleto.
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