A Visit to a Fairy Tale: Leading Western Fairy Tale Scholars Jack Zipes, Cristina Bacchilega, and Vanessa Joosen reply to a questionnaire by Detskie chteniia. Interviews were conducted by Marina Balina

Abstract

This material consists of interviews with leading  international scholars of the fairy tale genre. In answering questions about the particular features of the genre, traditional forms of fairy tale narrative, and new approaches to fairy tale texts, the scholars highlight various examples of the fairy tale’s place in contemporary literature and culture. In addition, the interviews touch on the topics of gender, ideology, and colonial and postcolonial practices as evinced in folkloric and literary fairy tales, and on contemporary adaptations of fairy tale stories and their place in our culture today.