The
top 10 fairytales
From
Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber, Marina Warner picks
her favourite fairytales
The Guardian:
10.08.2014 by Marina Warner
 |
Consolatory
fantasies or wise counsel? Materialist lies or emancipatory dreams? Popular
trash or the fundamental structure of imaginative literature? Fairytales still
provoke vigorous argument. Advocates point to the way they ignite the
imagination and spark hopes of liberty. Detractors attack their suspect
artistic quality and their damaging social and moral effects. Both take up
their positions on ethical grounds, because fairytales continue to dominate
family entertainment in books and other media. They matter because young minds
and the shaping of values are at stake. Yet what they mean and what effects
they have remain open questions.
A ferocious
tale of family strife, cannibalism, magic and restoration, it crystallises the
stark character of the Grimms’ collection (interestingly, it was collected and
written down by the great romantic dreamer-artist of spooky children, Philipp
Otto Runge).
Andersen can be
mawkish and morally mean, but this story is as near-perfect a fairytale as can
be: the boy Kai, in frozen thrall to a cruel, enchanting mother figure, is
saved by the loyalty and courage of Gerda.
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