It pleasingly falls into place in the history of literary theory (structuralism as a better way of understanding literary form than pure historical reconstructions), and is as detailed as you'd expect. I wouldn't mind that so much - all of Brother Grimms' do, too, though you may need the right edition - and of course he uses Alexander Afanasyev's - if I could find a translation that bothered to give me the numbers.)īut the break down into the abstract functions and characters and other elements is fascinating, with some colorful details about the possibilities.moreĮxtremely 'important,' brilliant, dry as dust structuralism. (All the Russian tales are identified by number. Note that familiarity with tales, especially Russian ones, helps a lot to recognize what he's talking about. If you're not merely interested in fairy tales but also variants and things like that, you are very likely to like it. I wouldn't mind that so much - all of Brother Grimms' do, too, though you may need the right edition - and of course he uses Alexander Afanasyev's - if I could find a transl An incredibly academic analysis of fairy tales. Because of that, and as much as his work is valued, I think a more careful and clearer explanation would have helped his cause.moreĪn incredibly academic analysis of fairy tales. Creating visual aids is always difficult, and I think he was on the right track, but Propp could have been much more careful in setting up and explaining his system of nomenclature. And more often than not, some symbols would appear in the narrative sequences without explanation, and others would disappear without explanation.
Using his categories (letters and symbols) to identify specific events in sequences, I attempted to follow - step by step - the structures of his examples by referencing his explications of each element. Now the other half:Īs much as I enjoyed Propp's perceptiveness and ability to dig below the surface words to identify the relationships between the core structural elements of fairy tales, I was a bit disappointed in his apparatus for demonstrating these structures. The influence of the work is still felt today. His work is valuable because it triggered a new understanding and method of categorization that allowed for a more "scientific" and systematic approach to studying fairy tale narratives than earlier studies had accomplished. Slipping below the surface words in this manner, he discovered a remarkable consistency between Russian fairy tales and the underlying structures organizing the narratives.
Rather than attempting to categorize fairy tales according to their characters or themes ("theme" being a term which he avoids because of the subjective nature of identifying a theme and the differing definitions attached to it), he identifies tales according to the dramatic functions of the characters and actions involved. Rather than attempting to categorize fairy tales according to their characters or themes ("theme" being a term which he avoids because of the subjective nature of identifying a theme and the differing definitions attached to it), he identifies tales according to the dramatic functions Propp's foundational work on the structure of fairy tales is impressive, and it's a wonder that his work didn't find its way into English literary circles sooner than it did (it didn't show up for several decades). Propp's foundational work on the structure of fairy tales is impressive, and it's a wonder that his work didn't find its way into English literary circles sooner than it did (it didn't show up for several decades).