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ODDLY MODERN FAIRY TALES

with Jack Zipes
Tuesdays, 11 am EST/8 am PST
November 3–December 8, 2020
 
Registration Status: OPEN
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Tour Cost: $10 per session, $50 for series
Ages: 15+

One afternoon in July 2018, while in the Lofoten Islands on a chamber music trip, my cousin Trond and I were discussing what other intriguing trips we might do. Trond thought for a while and then said, "Fairy tales. Go to sites of various fairy tales. – like Rapunzel's tower." I thought that was a fabulous idea, and I've been mulling it over for the last two years. 

 

I knew no one to lead us on the journey through fairyland. So, the other morning I just decided to google fairy tale experts and came across the name of Jack Zipes. I contacted his publicist Rachel Anderson, and in no time, Jack and I connected by email and phone. Within two hours, Jack had mailed me some books and compiled a short curriculum to introduce you once again to the value of fairy tales.

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Beginning November 3, and continuing for six weeks, Jack will take us on another Armchair Journey, not through castles and turrets, but on a more modern, recognizable path full of mean-spirited bullying; "saucy, angry and capricious" persons from late 19th century France; political tales for social equality; subversive German Dadaism; and Hungarian persona with transcendent powers. The series will end on a return to more familiar children's stories but retold to mesh into our reality. 

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Oddly Modern Fairy Tales is a series dedicated to publishing unusual literary fairy tales produced mainly during the first half of the twentieth century. International in scope, the series includes new translations, surprising and unexpected tales by well-known writers and artists, and uncanny stories by gifted yet neglected authors. Postmodern before their time, the tales in Oddly Modern Fairy Tales transformed the genre and still strike a chord. 

 

 

November 3–Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men: Political Fairy Tales of Édouard Laboulaye

 

November 10–Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned: Enchanted Stories in the French Decadent Tradition

 

November 17–Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales by Kurt Schwitters

 

November 24–The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales by Hermynia zur Mühlen

 

December 1–The Cloak of Dreams: Chinese FairyTales by Béla Balázs

 

December 8–Old Tales Told Again by Walter de la Mare

 

*Schedule is subject to change.

 

The books covered in this Artful Journeys series are from the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales and are available directly through Princeton University Press at a discount. Don't forget to include the Artful Journeys' promo code: ZIPES-FG for 30% off these titles and free shipping through 12/15/20.

 

Pursuant to interest, we will continue with another fairy tale series in January. Stay tuned!

Hosts

YOUR HOSTS

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Jack Zipes
Instructor & Guide

Jack Zipes, one of the world's leading authorities on fairy tales, is a retired Professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. He wrapped up his teaching career in 2008 and soon thereafter teamed up with Princeton University Press to release Oddly Modern Fairy Tales. The series, featuring unusual literary fairy tales produced mainly in the first half of the twentieth century, has given new life to ten fairy tale books. Jack's latest publications include Keedle the Great and All You've Ever Wanted to Know about Fascism; Yussuf the Ostrich; Johnny Breadless: A Pacifist Fairy Tale; Ernst Bloch, The Pugnacious Philosopher of Hope; The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men; and The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales. See his website for more information: https://jackzipes.com/

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Joan Hill
Owner, Host, & Director

Having dipped her toes in diverse careers, including leatherwork, medical research, and small business administration, you could say that Joan is a multitalented woman. Growing up in a family with supportive parents and three accomplished older siblings in the Hudson River Valley, New York, meant that Joan had a lot to live up to. However, she was always encouraged to do her best in whichever path(s) she chose.

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After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in German literature and afterward working in Hamburg, Germany for one year, Joan realized her great joy of traveling. Bringing together Joan’s life passions, including her lifelong love for music, her appreciation of art, and her fondness of Italy, she began Artful Journeys in 2009, when it was then known by the rather wordy moniker of Tuscany: A Journey For The Senses. Joan also has owned a bookkeeping business for architects and various small professional firms in New England since 1993, in which she is still active.

JOURNEY COST

Cost

  • Each session will cost $10, $50 for series

  • PayPal is preferred; however, we do take checks   

  • You will receive an email with the Zoom link to the lecture with instructions on how to login within 24 hours of presentation

To register for a session or the series, please click below:

A Zoom link will be provided by email within 24 hours of each meeting.

For details or questions, please click here to contact Joan Hill.
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