Views of the fairy tale: Yesterday and today

The fairy tale is a parable of reality presented in a specific way. It is a coded statement about basic principles of the human world and the permanen t order. The constant questioning of basic values in the twentieth century revived interest in the fairy tale or, better said, the quality of the fair y-tale, among younger and older reader. The Czech literary theorist and cri tic Frantisek Tencik wrote about the young reader's need for self-realizati on and argued that if literature intended for him or her did not provide th is, the reader would turn to literature for adults. His observation, it tur ns out, holds equally true for the attitude of adults to children's literat ure, particularly the fairy tale. The fairy tale can also be a place to thi nk about moral principles. The fairy tale has much to offer to adults, sinc e, arguably, it defends eternal values. The fairy tale is therefore not as detached from reality as is generally thought; it simply comments on realit y in its own way. In European culture the final victory of good is perceive d as perfectly realistic. In an environment where longing for the victory o f good is a dream rather than a conviction, however, it is quite natural to see the fairy tale as non-reality. There are therefore only two factors (a part from its entertaining nature) that can save the fairy tale for its rea ders: firstly, the fairy tale is part of the cultural heritage and general education; secondly, it contains poetry. The fantasy nature of a fairy-tale world is not a defining feature of the fairy tale. The fact that the fairy tale can also be a direct reflection of reality and deal with topical issu es is demonstrated both by specific adaptations of folk fairy tales, and, a bove all, by the artificial fairy tale. Concerning the treatment of folklor e subject-matter, there are good reasons to stay as close to the original a s possible. It is, for example, a way to preserve literary treasures. And y et, there is no reason why a classic fairy tale should be fossilized exactl y in the form it is generally known today, nor why the original, anonymous, fairy-tale theme should not be adapted and modified, nor even why the auth or cannot act as the folk narrator of old. The life of the fairy tale resid es in its flexibility. It must, however, always distinguish between good an d evil, for its subject matter is meant to inspire the reader to goodness.