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发表于 2003-6-18 08:12:56
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RE:请问各位大侠，有没有看过什么灰姑娘型故事的论文或者著作，推荐吓
Cinderella
The Evolution of a Story:
An Examination of the Cultural
Significance of Oral History
By Tiffany Jensen
Cinderella
To most people, fairy tales are printed stories in books, well known in both content and form. To folklorists and other scholars of oral history, however, this is not the case. These scholars recognize that fairy tales as we know them are simply recorded versions of oral tales that have been recounted through generations and across national boundaries, and that each telling reflects the background and personality of the narrator. Such is certainly the case with the popular tale, Cinderella. As one of the oldest and best-known tales in the world, Cinderella has been diffused through countless cultures, and has been the subject of much scholarly study. By examining the diffusion, modification and meaning of the Cinderella story, it is possible to gain an understanding of oral narration as a whole.
Origins
The issue of origin in examining an oral tale is always complex and often poses unanswerable questions. In the case of Cinderella, this is certainly true. Versions of the story are present in Africa, Asia, Europe, India, North America, the Middle East and even Indonesia. The story has drawn scholarly interest for hundreds of years and is perhaps the best-studied tale in folklore's history (Dundes, 1982.) The modern American is probably most familiar with the version portrayed by Disney in the film Cinderella. This version is directly representative of the Charles Perrault version, recorded in 1697 and published in France under the title "Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passe," or "Tales of Times Past." This version was the first to appear in published form in Europe, and as such, is one of the best known. Another commonly known recorded version is the Brothers Grimm "Ashcenputtel," published in Germany in 1812. In the Brothers Grimm version the plot is similar, but in this case it is Cinderella's deceased mother, not a fairy godmother, who grants her wishes by means of helpful birds in a tree planted over the grave. They aid her in such tasks as recovering spilled lentils from the ashes, and they provide her with gold and silver finery and silk and glass slippers for the ball. When the Prince arrives at Cinderella's house with the slipper that he attained by smearing the palace steps with tar, her stepsisters deceptively insure its fit, one by cutting off her toe, the other by cutting of her heel. Both are betrayed by the little white bird nesting in Cinderella's tree, and Cinderella is uncovered as the true princess. At the wedding, the stepsister's eyes are plucked out by pigeons and their malice and treachery are punished by blindness (Dockray, 1997.)
Geographic Origins
In her study on folklore mapping, Anna Birgita Rooth traced the themes and motifs of over 1000 versions of the Cinderella story and mapped them geographically in order to identify clusters and common themes. Her study is one of relationships. Though it doesn't provide exact dates and areas to which we may assign the origin of Cinderella, it defines relationships between areas of the world and their folklore. The study concentrates on five different tradition areas (Far East, Near East, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Northern Europe). It identifies a uniformity of tradition within each area, and distinct differences between different areas.
This distribution also shows the relationship and intercommunication between the different regions, an important characteristic of oral history. She concludes that the Cinderella tale was passed from one area to another through a long and intimate connection between adjacent areas. This is significant because it refutes the popular belief that folktales are passed through travelers, pilgrims, merchants, etc. "Cinderella" is thus endowed with a greater sense of cultural significance, as it has evolved not through some chance mistelling of a story told by a strange traveler or merchant, but through a very slow and systematic diffusion from culture to culture.
Symbolic Origins
On an even more complex level lies the question of symbolic origins. Is the Cinderella story a symbolic explanation for a natural occurrence, such as sunrise or the coming of spring? Is its meaning religious or ritual in nature? Or is it the twisted retelling of an actual event? Many hypotheses have been put forth in this regard, but there is simply no way to prove such a hypothesis. Following is a summary of some of the prevalent theories regarding origins.
Explanation for Natural Events
One popular explanation suggests that the Cinderella myth was primitive man's metaphorical description of the rising and setting of the sun. Says J. Thackray Bunce in Fairy Tales: Their Origins and Meaning, "Cinderella, grey and dark and dull, is all neglected when she is away from the Sun, obscured by the envious Clouds, her sisters and by her stepmother, the Night. So she is Aurora, The Dawn, and the fairy Prince is the Morning Sun, ever pursuing her to claim her for his bride." Similar explanations can be traced back to mythological traditions about the Spring being released from the bonds of Winter, the Sun being rescued from the darkness of Night, the Dawn being brought back from the far west, and the Waters being set free from the prison of the Clouds.
Ritual/Religious
Another explanation for the symbolic origins of the Cinderella tale is related to the role of myth in ritual and religion. One such explanation deals with a Muslim women's ritual performed widely in Afghanistan and Iran. In this ceremony, called Ash-e Bibi Murad, a food offering (ash, or soup) is prepared by women as a petition to Bibi Fatimeh, "The Lady of Wishes." The narration of a Cinderella-type story is central in the ritual meal.
Retelling of Actual Event
Finally, the Cinderella tale is often seen as a retelling in story form of an actually occurring event. This literal historical approach is well represented by the suggestion that the Cinderella story is a representation of the imperial bride-show custom that took place in Byzantium, Russia and China in ancient times. The "bride-show custom" refers to a reported practice in which emperors or kings seeking a bride would command a number of eligible girls to be assembled from which they would choose the most desirable. We learn from the Vita Philareti that all girls in the Byzantium Empire had to submit to an examination by the royal commissioner for the brideshow of Constantine VI (Bourbolis in Dundes, 103.) Not only were face and stature examined, but "the sandal on the foot," reflective of the importance of the slipper in the Cinderella story.
In regards to the slipper, it is also notable to bring up the custom of foot-binding in China, present as early as the fifth or sixth century AD (Bourboulis in Dundes, 103.) The Chinese Cinderella, called "Sheh Hsien," as well as most versions of the Cinderella story, contain the element of a slipper, dainty enough to fit only the smallest and finest of feet. In this regard as well, the Cinderella story holds some credibility as being a folkloric retelling of a factual event.
Function of Folklore
Larger than the issue of origin, whether geographic or symbolic, is the insight that "Cinderella" offers into the function of folktales. We can see Cinderella as a reflection of the way in which folktales adapt to function within each individual culture. The instrumental value of the Cinderella story is easily apparent. In portraying first the behavior of the characters within the story, and subsequently portraying their reward or punishment, the story offers a fairly clear cut "moral" for the listener.
Another function of folklore in society is that of enculturation, particularly for children. By enculturate we mean to instill in an individual the values, beliefs and ways of life of a particular culture. Because of the recreational and expressive quality of stories, they offer a subtle and powerful way of introducing children to the ideas of right and wrong, and reward and punishment. They establish cultural norms and taboos in a manner that facilitates greater memory and retention in children. Stories are a vital part of children's play in almost any culture, and as such, function across the board in this manner.
Significance of Shift from Oral to Written History
As we identify and study the changes that have taken place in this popular tale, we see reflected the very face of oral narration. The way it lends itself to the teaching of values and molds itself to the society in which it is told. The way in which it imprints itself on the memory of a society and holds significance for the teller and listener alike. With the development of written systems for recording information, this has surely changed. No longer do the stories of the past hold the deep and intimate significance that they once did. They are merely printed stories in books, whimsical creations for children. With recording they become static - fixed in our minds and in history. They are no longer "our" stories. They belong to the realm of the "other" - to another time, another place or another people.
But as we have lost much in the way of significance, memory and cultural possession, we have gained much in the way of information. As the significance of oral history has deteriorated, our ability to harness and transfer information has increased tenfold. Written systems for passing information allow us to build upon the knowledge of others, and we are not limited to that which our memories can hold.
In this age of information and science, we have become a progressive, forgetful society. In such a society, the telling of stories loses its function as a significant cultural teaching device. Folktales function perhaps as a way of educating about the past, and they certainly express the paradigm of the individual who recorded the tale, but they no longer have that personal element that defines oral history. Such is the case with the Cinderella story. By studying the way in which this beloved tale has passed through generations and societies, we are able to regain a sense of the significance of oral history. We gain a glimpse into a past rich in myth, folklore and fairy tales, and thus identify the way in which writing systems have changed the face of folklore.
View the PowerPoint presentation / outline
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Three Versions of Cinderella
Perrault
A widowed gentleman with a kind young daughter (Cinderella) marries a proud and haughty woman with two likewise haughty daughters who mistreat Cinderella. When the local King's son throws a ball, Cinderella is told she is too dirty and sooty to attend, and subsequently is magically transformed by her godmother into the most beautiful and finely dressed princess at the ball, complete with pumpkin coach and rodent coachmen. She doesn't reveal her identity at the ball, and all, including the Prince, wonder who this mysterious beauty could be. The next day the incident is repeated, but this time Cinderella loses a glass slipper in the rush to beat the 12th stroke of the clock. The Prince travels the land in search of the maiden who fits the shoe, and though her sisters scoff her at, Cinderella tries the slipper on and her identity is revealed. Cinderella marries the prince and gracefully forgives her sisters and stepmother (Perrault in Dundes, 14).
Brothers Grimm
A widowed gentleman with a kind young daughter (Cinderella) marries a proud and haughty woman with two likewise haughty daughters who mistreat Cinderella. She often grieves at the foot of the tree under which her mother is buried, and the birds who live in the tree are her friends and companions. When the local King's son throws a ball, Cinderella is told she is too dirty and sooty to attend, and subsequently is given beautiful clothes and shoes by her bird friends. She doesn't reveal her identity at the ball, and all, including the Prince, wonder who this mysterious beauty could be. The next day the incident is repeated, but this time Cinderella loses a glass slipper in the rush to beat the 12th stroke of the clock. The Prince travels the land in search of the maiden who fits the shoe, and in an attempt to make the slipper fit, the first stepsister cuts off her toe. She is betrayed by the birds in the tree. The second sister repeats the same scene, but with her heel being cut off. Cinderella finally tries the slipper on, and since it fits, she marries the prince. At the wedding, her stepsister's eyes are plucked out by the birds (Grimm in Dunders, 10).
Ash-e Bibi Murad
A young girl kills her mother under the direction of her female teacher, and the teacher subsequently marries her father. A yellow cow appears in the stable, "in place of the murdered mother," and the girl is given the responsibility of caring for the cow. The stepmother begins to treat the girl cruelly, giving her little to eat and harsh work, and the cow takes pity on her and begins to perform various tasks for the girl, such as spinning cotton into thread. After a piece of the cotton falls into an old well, Cinderella goes in after it, and according to the cows instructions, treats the woman she meets in the well with much kindness and respect. As such, the woman blesses her with a moon and star in her brow and chin. In jealousy, the stepmother sends her own daughter down into the well, but her daughter treats the woman poorly and is rewarded with a donkey's penis on her forehead and a snake from her chin. Though they try repeatedly to cut the penis and snake off of her face, they simply grow back. The mother has the cow killed and subsequently the kind daughter buries its bones. The stepdaughter and mother are invited to a wedding in another city, and refuse to bring Cinderella along, but she is magically given fine clothes, gold shoes and a horse to ride, and she dazzles all the guests at the wedding. On the way home she accidentally drops one of her gold shoes into some water, and a few days later, a prince passes by and finds the shoe, demanding to marry its owner. It is discovered that the shoe fits the kind young heroine, and she marries the prince (Mills in Dundes, 183.)
View the Cinderella Evolution Chart
(pdf file)
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Bibliography
Bakshi, Mohini & Elizabeth Gauba. The Moody Peacock and other Indian Folktales. London: Studio Vista, 1974.
Bottigheimer, Ruth B. Fairy Tales and Society: Illusion, Allusion and Paradigm. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
Dockray, Tracy. Grimm's Grimmest. United States: The Arts Council, 1997.
Dolch, Edward & Marguerite. Regional French Folklore. Champaigne, Ill: Garrard Publishing Company, 1963.
Dundes, Alan (ed.). Cinderella: A Folklore Casebook. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1982.
Evans, E. Estyn. Irish Folk Ways. London: Routledge & Paul, 1957.
Gomme, George L. Folklore as an Historical Science. London: Methuem & Co, 1968.
Lindfors, Bernth. Forms of Folklore in Africa: narrative, poetic, gnomic, dramatic. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1977.
Muhawi, Ibrahim & Sharif Kanaana. Speak, Bird, Speak Again. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989.
Potter, Carole. Knock on Wood: An Encyclopedia of Superstition. Stamford, Conneticut: Longmeadow Press, 1991.
Thomas, Jeannie B. Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women and Serious Stories. Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1997.
Walker, Barbara G. Feminist Fairy Tales. San Fransisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.
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http://www.usu.edu/anthro/origins_of_writing/cinderella/
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