Legacy of Hans Christian Andersen if You

Legacy of Hans Christian Andersen

If you want children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read more fairy tales. Albert Einstein

Biographical Background- Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author who is best known for his children's stories, many of which have become archetypes of popular culture and, in the 20th century, made into iconoclastic films, musicals, and ballets. While he was concerned about his legacy, he need not have worried for his poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150 languages and even spurred a whole generation of children's names (Bredsdorff 1975).

Andersen did not start off as an author, instead he moved at age 14 to Copenhagen to become an actor. While he had a great voice, and was accepted into the Royal Danish Theater, once his voice changed he had to find other work. A fellow student at the theater told him that he should focus on his writing because he works were quite poetic. Although he first published in 1822, it was not until he was 24 that he published something that would begin his professional career. In 1835 he published the first installment of his Fairy Tales, with more following in 1836 and 1837. However, these did not sell well, and with the feelings of nationalism of the time, Andersen turned towards poetry and travelogues. By 1845 he had published three volumes of the Tales, which were slowly gaining popularity all over Europe, in particular after his meeting with Charles Dickens (Wullschlager 2002).

What is a Fairy Tale? A Fairy Tale is a type of short story or poem that usually features magical or folkloric characters like elves, gnomes, goblins, etc. Only a small number of the stories actually refer to the mythical Faerie. Usually, we can distinguish a Fairy Tale because of its strong sense of moral character and teaching of ethics and culture through entertainment. Legends, on the other hand, involve stories that are meant to be true. Fairy Tales likely began as oral tradition, and after generations were written down and then retold, often for as much of the delight of adults as for children. Fairy Tales have fantastic, talking animals who epitomize human stereotypes, "The Brass Pig raised himself gently, and the boy heard him say quite distinctly, 'Hold tight, little boy, for I am going to run'" (Andersen 1842). Interestingly, there is something quite powerful about the genre; it is global in its appeal, and we notice that the basic themes in many of the classical Fairy Tales are quite similar from culture to culture, even when geography or time separated the cultures. Fairy Tales continue to be an important part of modern culture, although all children's literature does not become a Fairy Tale (Heiner 2007).

The Importance of Myth and Archetype- - One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture -- regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe that there is perhaps more to myth and ritual than simple repetition of archetypal themes. In a sense then, Fairy Tales act in a similar manner as myth and legend -- the provide a way to find simple archetypes that are universal truths humans face; honesty, fidelity, love, honor, greed -- and explain why humans act the way they do in children's terms. Indeed, what better way to acculturate a child that have them understand the morality in The Little Mermaid, as opposed to a lecture on should or should not (Haase 2008). Even iconic Charles Dickens used the Fairy Tale to teach children of the world he imagined and to attack social and political structures he found offensive (Ostry 2002). Creatures that are small may manifest glorious traits, similarly, huge monsters may be cowards. For instance, in The Flea and the Professor, it was "the flea who was proud and famous" (Andersen, The Flea and the Professor 1873).