Decolonizing Folklore? Diversifying the Fairy Tale Curriculum

Abstract

This article describes strategies that the author employed to make a general education course titled "Fairy Tales and Folklore" more diverse and inclusive. Students read primary texts and secondary articles as part of ongoing debates, then form their own arguments within the debate, thus coming to understand how fairy tales are embedded within open and ongoing critical discussions about contemporary culture. Further, students analyze a classic work of Native American literature that, like the Grimm Brothers' Kinder-und Hausmärchen, employs folklore within a project of cultural nationalism, but with very different implications due to systems of power and oppression that emerge at the intersection of folklore and colonization. Finally, students create new tales out of their own experiences. Through analysis of diverse texts, debate, and creative writing that emphasize the role of storytelling as resistance, the course described here takes first steps toward turning the fairy-tale classroom into a space of empowerment.

A viewpoint on folklore education: providing students freedom and empowerment

“…Some research promote critical perception in the importance of folklore in teaching culture, critical thinking, and language skills in reading, speaking, and writing [32]- [37]. Another studies idealize the perspective of the student's own culture in its syllabus design and curriculum in an effort to improve learning in the classroom and student achievement [38]- [43]. The utilization of folklore studies within pedagogy is currently advancing with the integration of art and contemporary media to increase the learning outcomes [44]- [54].…”