SCAND 232: Hans Christian Andersen and the Fairy Tale (5 credits, A&H)
Joint listed with CLIT 252A: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Genres, and
GLITS 252A: Introduction to Global Literatures: Literary Genres Across Time and Place
Professor: Marianne Stecher-Hansen (marianne@uw.edu)
office: 305Z Raitt Hall; office hours: Wednesdays 2:30pm – 5:00pm or by appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Ian Gwin, PhD-Student (iangwin@uw.edu).
office: 305S Raitt Office; office hours: M - W 3:00 - 4:00 or by appointment.
Department of Scandinavian Studies, 318 Raitt Hall (mailboxes)
Fairy Tales and Cultural Politics - "The Emperor's New Clothes": This course explores the fairy tale genre in a wide range of cultural, historical and political contexts, while also focusing on the celebrated tales of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875). In Spring quarter 2025, we will consider how the fairy tale has "made sense of the world" over the centuries in difficult and often chaotic political climates. H. C. Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes" (1837), a parable about a vain and ineffectual ruler surrounded by loyal courtiers, is a text based on ancient and modern folk-tale variants; it exemplifies the theme of the class.
The quarter begins with an investigation of globally recognized fairy tales, such as “The Little Red Riding Hood,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Snow White,” and “Cinderella.” The course materials engage various critical and theoretical approaches to interpreting fairy tales. We will investigate the origins and authorship of the folk fairy tale and the variants of some of the most ancient and well-known tales; for example, a Cinderella tale from ancient China (“Yeh-shen”) will be studied alongside modern variants attributed to Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. We’ll also explore the Grimms’ version of “Snow White” in relation to Disney’s cinematic production (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” 1937) and the new adaptation released this spring 2025.
In the second half of the quarter, we engage a closer study of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in relation to contemporary concerns, interpretations, and adaptations. How do Hans Christian Andersen’s tales reinvent the idea of the child and the entire concept of children’s literature in the 19th century? Is the child the subject of the fairy tale or the audience for the fairy tale? We'll delve into readings of tales, such as “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” "The Wicked Prince," “The Snow Queen,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Red Shoes,” “The Shadow” and “The Little Match Girl” and consider the historical and cultural contexts of the original tales as well as contemporary adaptations. This course is an opportunity to study fairy tales in relation to literary history, social-economic contexts, and cultural politics and to examine the continued relevancy and popularity of Andersen’s celebrated tales and fairy tales in general.
Required Books to purchase (University Bookstore):
- Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales, trans. Tiina Nunnally (Penguin, 2004). ISBN: 0 14 30.3952 0
- Maria Tatar, ed., The Classic Fairy Tales. Second Norton Critical Edition (Norton, 2017). ISBN: 0-393-97277-1
Student Learning Objectives:
- To practice the skill of daily “deep reading” (i.e. 30 minutes of uninterrupted reading of printed text – ideally, without electronic devices present; highlighting with pen or pencil).
- To exercise critical thinking and critical writing in order to address topics in the arts, culture, literature, and politics.
- To acquire knowledge in order to identify genres (the fairy tale, the folk tale) as well as various narrative forms.
- To improve skills for discussing and writing about literary texts and other media.
- To optimize educational opportunities and inclusive community building at UW.
Evaluation: Grades will be based on two exams (including objective and essay questions), two short essays, regular online "discussions” on Canvas, and in-person contributions to class discussions.
20% 4 Online 'Discussions' (ca. 150 words each; worth 5+ points each)
20% Short, peer-reviewed essay #1 (max. 750 words) due 20 April.
20% Short, peer-reviewed essay #2 (max. 750 words) due 25 May.
10% Midterm quiz (multiple-choice/short answer); ca. 30 minutes (Mon 5 May)
30% Final Test (multiple-choice/short essay); ca. 90 minutes (Wed 4 June)
Writing Assignments: SCAND 232 is not a W (Writing) course, although student writing is important. Ad Hoc W (Writing) credit is not available for this course. As needed, please make a “writing appointment” with the Odegaard Writing and Research Center for help with your short essays: https://depts.washington.edu/owrc
Additional Resources: H.C. Andersen’s Fairy Tales:
- The entire collection H.C. Andersen's tales and stories, translated by John Irons, is available here: https://hcams.andersen.sdu.dk/exist/apps/andersen-irons/index.html (Note: this is not the translation required for this course). We will refer to a few these tales on this site.
- Although the course does not require a research paper, here is a research guide for online sources and relevant scholarship on H.C. Andersen: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/hca
AI generated writing, Plagiarism, and Academic Misconduct: https://www.washington.edu/cssc/facultystaff/academic-misconduct Please review documents on Academic Misconduct (WAC 478-121-107) and other materials in the first course Module. The assignments in this class have been designed to challenge you to develop creativity, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills. Using AI technology will limit your capacity to develop these skills and to meet the learning goals of this course.
Religious Accommodations Policy: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (/students/religious-accommodations-request/).”
Reading and Lecture Schedule: Spring 2025
Please find the lecture schedule and reading assignment for each class meeting at the bottom of the Syllabus page on Canvas. The assigned reading in the required books is marked as follows:
You will find the additional reading assignments posted in the weekly Modules in Canvas!!
Enjoy the fairy tale journey!
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Preliminary Reading and Lecture Schedule: Spring 2025 (subject to minor changes)
Assigned Reading to be read in advance of class.
FT = Fairy Tales by H.C. Andersen, translated by Tiina Nunnally.
CFT = The Classic Fairy Tales, ed. Maria Tatar.
Week #1: Introduction – Fairy Tales and Cultural Politics
Mon 31 March
Read FT: HCA, “The Little Match Girl”
Read: Short biography of HC Andersen (Canvas)
READ: CFT (Classic Fairy Tales): Maria Tatar “Introduction: Hans Christian Andersen” (278-283);
Wed 2 April:
Read FT: HCA, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (1837)
Read: “The Invisible Cloth” (Spain) and “The Invisible Silk Robe” (Sri Lanka) (ATU 1630)
Read: HCA, “The Wicked Prince” (1840)
Week #2: Fairy tales for Children? – “The Little Red Riding Hood” and “Hansel and Gretel”
Mon 7 April
READ (CFT): “Introduction, Little Red Riding Hood (5 – 14); “The Story of Grandmother” (14 – 16); Charles Perrault, “Little Red Riding Hood” and Brothers Grimm, “Little Red Cap” (16 – 21).
READ (CFT): Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (414 – 420) [first part of article].
READ (on Canvas): Shavit, “The Concept of Childhood – The case of Little Red Riding Hood” (317 – 323).
Wed 9 April
READ CFT: Grimm brothers, “Hansel and Gretel” (236 – 241);
READ CFT: Donald Haase, “Yours, mine, or ours? Perrault, The Brothers Grimm, and Ownership of Fairy Tales” (435 – 46).
READ (on Canvas): Danish folk-tale, “The Pancake House.”
EXTRA READ (CFT): "Fulano de Tal and His Children (242-244)
Online Discussion #1 (Canvas)
Week #3: Cinderella tales – Ancient and Modern
Mon 14 April
READ CFT: “Introduction: Cinderella” (139-145); Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” (148-153);
READ (on Canvas): Charles Perrault, Cinderillla, or The Little Glass Slipper.”
READ (CFT): Hans-Jorg Uther, from "The Types of International folk tales" (491-497)
Wed 16April
READ CFT: Charles Perrault, “Donkey-skin” (154-162).
READ CFT: “Yeh-hsien” (146- 148) and “Lin Lan” [Cinderella] (171-175);
Optional READ (on Canvas): Jameson, “Cinderella in China.”
READ: Karlis Skalbe, “Cinderella” (Latvian version) [Canvas]
WATCH (in-class): Walt Disney flip clips: “Cinderella” (1950) and clips from contemporary cinematic adaptations.
Essay #1 DUE (Sunday April 20th Midnight)
Week #4: From “Snow White” to Cultural Politics of Disney’s “Snow White 2025”
Mon 21 April
READ CFT: “Introduction: Snow White” (84 – 92); Grimm, “Snow White” (95 -102);
READ CFT: Susan Gubar & Sandra Gilbert, “Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother” (387 – 393).
READ (once again): “The Emperor’s New Clothes”-- a Political tale?
Wed 23 April
READ CFT: Jack Zipes: “Casting the Commodity Spell with Snow White,” (427 – 435) and Maria Warner, “The Old Wives’ Tale” (405 – 414).
WATCH clips: Walt Disney animation, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937). Disney’s Live-Action “Snow White” (2025)
Online Discussion #2
Week #5 From Folktales to Literary Tales – Fairy Tale Authorship
Mon 28 April
Guest-lecture by Ian Gwin
READ (CFT): Aarne, Thompson "Types of the Folktale." p. 491 -497.
READ (CFT): Vladimir Propp, "From Folklore and Literature" p. 498 – 502, and "Morphology of the Folktale," 502 -507.
READ (on Canvas): H.C. Andersen, “Clod Hans – An Old Folktale Retold” and READ (on Canvas): Asbjornsen & Moe, “The Princess who always had to have the Last World.
Wed 30 April.
READ: H.C. Andersen, “The Corpse…A Folk Tale from Fuen” (1830) [HCA website]
READ (FT): H.C. Andersen, "The Traveling Companion,"(1835)
READ (on Canvas): Asbjornsen & Moe, "The Companion.”
Midterm study guide and review questions
Week #6 The Mermaid Cycle
Mon 5 May
READ (on Canvas): Mermaid story from Danish/Scandinavian folktales (?).
READ (FT): H.C. Andersen, “The Little Mermaid”
READ (on Canvas): Jens Andersen, “The Men of Romanticism"
Midterm QUIZ. (ca. 30 min in class)
Wed 7 May
Guest-lecture Ian Gwin
READ (on Canvas): Oscar Wilde, “The Fisherman and his Soul.”
READ (on Canvas): Karlis Skalbe, “Varava of the Sea” and Anni Swan, “The Secret of the Waves”
Online Discussion #3
Week #7 – Tales of Romanticism, ‘the Other’ and Death
Mon 12 May
READ (FT): Andersen, “The Nightingale” and “The Snow Queen.”
Wed 14 May
READ (FT): Andersen, “The Snow Queen” and “The Story of a Mother”
Week #8 – “Thing-tales" and the Agency of Things.
Mon 19 May
READ (FT) “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” and “The Collar”
Wed 21 May
READ (Canvas): “The Pen and Inkwell,” “The Two Maidens,” “The Darning Needle”
READ: (FT): Andersen, “The Red Shoes”
Online discussion #4
Week #9: Gothic and “Uncanny” in H.C. Andersen
DUE: Essay #2 (Sunday, May 25 by midnight)
Mon 26 May
Memorial Day holiday – no class
Wed 28 May
READ (CFT): Andersen, “The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf" and “The Red Shoes”
READ (FT): Andersen, “The Shadow”
Week #10: Looking Glass into the Future: Andersen’s ‘Science Fiction’
Mon 2 June
READ (FT): “The Wood Nymph”
READ (On Canvas): “In a Thousand Years’ Time" & "H.C. Orsted and Science"
Wed 4 June
12:30 pm Final Test (in person, in class), ca. 90 minutes. Bring laptop. Course Evaluations.
Happy Summer break!