Value

Stories document values or boundaries of a certain people, social context, or political time.

"The books' knowingness goes beyond intertextuality; their preoccupation, for example with levels of knowledge and surveillance, reflects very accurately the world of their readers" (Hunt 35).

(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/sep/06/neil-gaiman-and-chris-riddell-on-why-we-need-libraries-an-essay-in-pictures)

(Source:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/the-perfect-wizard-by-jane-yolen/)

Fantasy teaches us about others.

"Anderson writes more self-portraits than Rembrandt ever painted."

- a Danish critic

In a picture book biography of Hans Christian Anderson, The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Anderson, Yolen matches quotes from Anderson's stories that mirror aspects of his life.

 

Source:

(https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Grimm-Two-Lives-Legacy/dp/0618055991)

Fantasy preserves cultures.  Grimm brothers began collecting stories to preserve German culture in times of war. From their biography, The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy, Donald R. Hettinga writes,

"The the brothers' search for German folktales was more than an attempt to forget what was going on around them. 'Without a doubt,' Wilhelm said, 'the world events and our need for peace in scholarship contributed to the awakening of his long-forgotten literature.'  They 'didn't only seek comfort in the past,' however, but 'hoped naturally that this direction could contribute to the return of a different time.'  They collected the fairy tales because they hoped the stories would help remind their countrymen of what it meant to be German."

I have found reworked fairy tales interesting for the new perspectives they imagine.

Wicked vs Wizard of Oz

The Nutcracker vs The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

The Three Little Pigs vs The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Rapunzel vs Zel

The original stories seem so authoritative and objective, until you read another perspective.

(Source:

https://www.bustle.com/articles/68595-7-parts-of-the-grimms-brothers-rapunzel-that-will-shock-you-or-at-least-strike-you)

"In contrasdistinction to the Brothers Grimm's different versions of the tale, readers are potentially positioned to, at least, understand the motives of a woman who makes a bargain with the devils to procure the daughter she so needed." (Crew 82).

(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/sep/06/neil-gaiman-and-chris-riddell-on-why-we-need-libraries-an-essay-in-pictures)

Works Cited:

Yolen, Jane. The perfect wizard: Hans Christian Anderson. New York: Dutton Children's Books. 2004.

Hettinga, Donald. The Brothers Grimm: two lives, one legacy. New York: Clarion Books. 2001.

Hunt, P. Introduction. In. P. Hunt & M. Lenz (Eds.), Alternative worlds in fantasy fiction. New York: Continuum. 2001.

Crew, H. Spinning new tales from traditional texts: Donna Jo Napoli and the rewriting of fairy tale. Reading Research Quarterly, 38, 546-551. 2002.