| Today fairy tales are typically associated with children, and it is true that they have been created for this young target audience for around three centuries, albeit by adult authors. But what happens when children overcome the role of mere listeners and write their own magical tales? In this thesis I analyze selected fairy tales written by German children ages 9 to 13 and published in the book Es war einmal -- Kinder schreiben Marchen after a writing competition conducted in 2006. I explore parallels between the children's works and the Grimms' classics and also point to the influence of Disney and popular culture. While the young authors obviously follow in the Grimms' footsteps, they also deviate from the well-known tales in certain ways. Whereas the differences in their works can be explained by both current social ideologies and in the context of the children's age and different perception of the world, the distinct parallels to fairy tale classics draw attention to the children's unchanged and endless fascination with this genre. |
