697 Race in European Fairy Tales (with Kimberly Lau) | My Last Book with Rolf Hellebust

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Anyone digging into fairy tales soon discovers that there's more to these stories of magic and wonder than meets the eye. Often thought of as stories for children, the narratives can be shockingly violent, and they sometimes deliver messages or "morals" at odds with modern sensibilities. In this episode, Jacke talks to Kimberly Liu about her book Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale, which reveals the historical racial context that profoundly influenced these ubiquitous stories. PLUS Rolf Hellebust (How Russian Literature Became Great) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Additional listening: 604 How Russian Literature Became Great (with Rolf Hellebust) 531 Fairy Tales (with Jack Zipes) 377 The Brothers Grimm The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio.
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0:38.2	T's and Cs apply.
0:39.5	Hello, there's something ineluctibly compelling about fairy tales.
0:44.1	Einstein loved them and believed they held the key to education.
0:49.9	Fairy tales crop up all over the world.
0:52.6	Adults telling them as bedtime stories, handing them down from generation to generation,
0:57.9	although, as Tolkien and others have argued, to think about them as childish or suitable only for children, is a mistake.
1:06.1	They've also been used by authorities of various types and in various ways.
1:10.8	Moral instruction,
1:12.2	societal norm setting, othering, defining heroes and villains, creating a national or tribal
1:19.9	identity, setting in place what we value in men and women, boys and girls. On the podcast today,
1:27.2	we talk about fairy tales with a scholar who
1:30.2	focused on European fairy tales in particular, seeing how they morphed and changed, and how
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