The uses of enchantment : the meaning and importance of fairy tales / Bruno Bettelheim.
Publisher: New York : Vintage, 2010Description: 328, xi p. ; 21 cm001: 43935ISBN: 9780307739636 (pbk.) :Subject(s): Fairy tales -- History and criticism | Psychoanalysis and folklore | Children -- Books and reading -- Psychological aspects | Child psychology | Folklore and children | Customs and FolkloreDDC classification: 398.2 BET LOC classification: GR550 | .B47 2010Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
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Short Term Loan | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 398.2 BET (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Checked out | 13/10/2022 | 113615 |
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394.3 SIL Bikini | 397 FRA Gypsies | 398 REA Folklore myths & legends of Britain | 398.2 BET The uses of enchantment : the meaning and importance of fairy tales / | 398.2 CHI Chinese folktales | 398.2 DUP The mythology book. | 398.2 PRO Morphology of the folktale / |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Winner of the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award
"A charming book about enchantment, a profound book about fairy tales."--John Updike, The New York Times Book Review
Bruno Bettelheim was one of the great child psychologists of the twentieth century and perhaps none of his books has been more influential than this revelatory study of fairy tales and their universal importance in understanding childhood development.
Analyzing a wide range of traditional stories, from the tales of Sindbad to "The Three Little Pigs," "Hansel and Gretel," and "The Sleeping Beauty," Bettelheim shows how the fantastical, sometimes cruel, but always deeply significant narrative strands of the classic fairy tales can aid in our greatest human task, that of finding meaning for one's life.
Originally published: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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Kirkus Book Review
For more than 25 years Bruno Bettelheim has shared his original observations on child development in numerous books and articles. This book (parts of which appeared in The New Yorker) imaginatively explores the importance of fairy tales in the young child's life and the deeper meanings of some of the better-known stories. Fairy tales are essential for children because they acknowledge that good and evil are attractive, that struggle is a crucial part of human existence, that there are advantages to moral behavior. They give assurance that any person--however weak or small--can overcome obstacles and find satisfaction in the effort. By simplifying situations and characters, fairy tales speak directly to the emotional and psychological core of the child. Repeatedly Bettelheim Finds deep psychological significance in seemingly random details: e.g., two brothers as one person with conflicting desires, or a giant undone by a simpleton's cunning. Seeing that story-problems can be resolved enables a child to act out his own inner conflicts through a fantasy life structured and enriched by literary analogy. Bettelheim looks closely at seven of the more famous stories (Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.) and at some of the tales featuring transformations. As always, he writes with authority and a profound respect for children. An invaluable reference for those involved with children and their literature. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.There are no comments on this title.