Kimberly J. Lau Wonderful Ghosts: Race and Development of European Fairy Tales (2024) traced the historical and cultural concepts of race in classic fairy tale collections from four European countries, analyzing Giambattista Basile’s story within story (Italy, 1634–36), Mary Catherine Onois fairy tales (France, 1697), Jacob and William Green Children’s and Family Stories (Germany, 1812-57), and Andrew and Nora Long’s Colorful fairy tale book (Britain, 1812-57). The book argues that race has been an integral part of the evolution of fairy tales since their development, but that discussion of this has been largely ignored.
wonderful ghost Acknowledge the diverse racial representations in visual interpretations, adaptations, and performances of these stories—which were originally oral—but focus on the printed versions. There is much to appreciate about this book. Traditionally, scholarship surrounding fairy tales has centered on “whiteness.” This book breaks that down and highlights people of color. It shows us very clearly that from the beginning, the worlds of these fairy tales were always ethnocentric. “That they are white is not an accident,” Liu writes, “but is intentional.” Whites dominate the genre by racially labeling people of color as “others,” even in the way they are named . For example, in “Two Small Pizzas,” story within storyOne of the evil characters is named “Lucia,” one of the two or three most common names given to enslaved women in pre-modern Italy, which had become a common name for them by Basil’s time.
The book demonstrates that racial beliefs not only played a crucial role in the emergence of the genre, but also influenced its adaptation and reinvention over time and across different cultures and languages. The depiction of the eponymous character in various editions of The Jew among the Thorns, edited by Wilhelm Grimm, became increasingly anti-Semitic, from 1815, when he first appeared as an “old” Jew, to 1839, when he remained Wearing a “long goatee” will have an evil character. See these foundational texts in new ways and interact with them in ways that go beyond the familiar, ghost It promises to change the way we think about the genre and our interactions with it, no matter how disturbing it may be.
A key element in disentangling the systemic presence of race from the fabrication of these stories is to focus on the sociopolitical context in which they develop. The book tells how the exploration of Europe was woven into the cultural imagination of these stories—and indeed, Donoir was a travel writer. in earlier versions green fairy tale bookThe only non-European stories included in the book come from China, which during the Victorian era was considered a “civilized” country. In later editions, stories from Armenia, Aboriginal Australian and Bantu South African cultures, and elsewhere, were added, reflecting missionary and imperial contacts. Liu thus shows how the paradoxical universalization of European fairy tales—which sought to collapse stories outside Western Europe and absorb them into its own imaginative perspective—reflected real-world empire-building. Liu argues that these texts justified and normalized systems of power and privilege under European imperialist expansion. Decolonizing the genre means proving that it’s impossible to “think fairy tales without thinking about race.”
ghost raises some important questions about gender politics that go beyond its intended scope. An integral part of the circulation of these stories is the exchange of experiences—who tells them and where they tell them is as important as the plot. For example, the book mentions the obsession among intellectual women in mid-17th-century Paris with retelling folktales in their salons. Spin tubeThe spinning room was also where unmarried women gathered during the winter to spin yarn for their dowries or engage in other crafts. In fact, spinning is a common theme throughout many Grimm fairy tales—often referred to as “spinning tales”—symbolizing women’s desire for social productivity and social progress. While further research into the intersection of space, race, and gender may stem from some foundational work ghost put into place, this book opens our eyes to the almost invisible but crucial racial aspects of familiar fables, folktales, and fantasies that have unknowingly influenced us for centuries.
Wonderful Ghosts: Race and Development of European Fairy Tales (2024) by Kimberly J. Lau, published by Wayne State University Press and available online and in bookstores.
