Hans Christian Andersen course WEEK 2

Week 2 of the Hans Christian Andersen course via Future learn and the Hans Christian Andersen centre. Fascinating and addictive with all the conversations going on. The HCA centre has provided fabulous resources, so much reading available I want to just gorge myself on it all. Restraint, Spike, restraint.

Paper cut by Hans Christian Andersen  Cat no. 27569 from HCA Centre

This week, we got into some real study. Looking at analysis models like the actantial model of which I had never come across before and some more familiar ones like Propp's morphology. The tales we looked at this week were 'The Blue Light' and 'The Tinderbox'. 'The Blue Light' you can find in the Grimm's collection and 'The Tinderbox' is HCA adaption or retelling. The images that have stayed with me since childhood from The 'Tinderbox' are those dogs with the big eyes!

There is a lot of discussion which is fantastic, I've met new people and found familiar voices in the world of fairytale. Hi Gypsy, Nike and Louisa.

MOAR!

The Tinderbox. Retold by Stephen Mitchell with illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline

Vladimir Propp and the Morphology of the folk Tale

A huge simplification of Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the folk tale.

In Morphology of the Folk Tale Propp deconstructed Russian stories to describe 31 plot elements or functions, e.g. The hero leaves home, the hero is tested, The hero acquires the use of a magical agent.  Propp’s structural analysis, builds a formulae to read and recognise components in each tale. For example, citing a story about a Tsar, three daughters and a dragon, Propp describes an act of kidnapping thus: β³ð1A1B1CH1-I1 K4W°. The entire tale is a much longer set of symbols, the tale is condensed but patterns and similarities between stories are much easier to identify.

and here is a link of a slightly longer and more comprehensive explanation.