Reinventing Fantasy: The Reception of Fairy Tales

Abstract

The fairy tales are a cultural legacy continuing to have a powerful enchantment. The story became traditional not by being created but by being retold over the centuries and accepted in changing environments. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, fairy tales are still thriving and have diverse forms of narrative representations. Mainstream cinema today even shows great interest in producing fairy-tale films that seek to hold the attention of a global market with innovative and spectacular adaptations. This paper takes historical retrospect to survey dominant shifts in the reception of fairy tales, in particular the shift in a unique art form and narrative formula. From the féerie, Georges Méliès, Walt Disney, Angela Carter, and the twenty-first-century postmodern hybridity, the findings suggest that the representation of fairy tales shows a certain attitude towards the story, which reflects an aspect of cultural values, beliefs, and viewer preferences in the reception of fairy tales. Findings from this study also indicate that fairy-tale transmission is a feedback loop rolling around with tradition and innovation, taking on a meaning of their own.