Tuesday's dinner and lecture with Dr. Tatar was enlightening in many ways.
I walked into this night excited, as Dr. Tatar was the one fairy tale expert that I was truly interested in, as the rest had come off as somewhat boring. Dr. Tatar's writings were easy to read and easy to understand, and I was eager to meet the woman behind the books.
I enjoyed Dr. Tatar's lecture, as it brought up certain aspects of fairy tales that I have never considered before. The topic of beauty vs. horror was not something that had really crossed my mind. I found myself nodding along to her when she started talking about Donkeyskin, and the light associated with the character that represented her beauty. Although, when reading the fairy tales, I had assumed that the gold, silver, and light had some significance, I never connected them with beauty.
Another interesting part of Dr. Tatar's lecture was the discussion of the fairy tale (I can't remember the name) in which the girl dances around in ruby slippers until her feet become bloodied. Her feet are chopped off for her sin, and the shoes (with the feet in them) run away. Truth be told, if someone looked at me as Dr. Tatar relayed the story, they probably would have seen a look of disgust on my face. This story perfectly represented the "horror" of fairy tales.
Although Dr. Tatar's lecture was indeed a very interesting topic, I was not entirely sure what the point to the lecture was. I felt that it ended just like an essay without a conclusion. I had all of these thoughts and ideas from her presentation, but I had no idea what they had to do with each other.
Regardless, Dr. Tatar's lecture was very interesting, and I was particularly delighted to learn that she did not carry the same distaste for Disney films as Jack Zipes, or other fairy tale authorities do. I was very glad to have this opportunity with Dr. Tatar.
Horror and Fairy Tales:
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Guest Speaker and Jewish Folktales!!!
This week I learned about Jewish folktales in class, and heard a guest speaker presentation by Dr. Mani Goldman.
The tales we read included "A Dispute in Sign Languages," "The Rabbi and the Inquisitor," "Chelm Justice," "The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam," and "It Could Always Be Worse." My personal favorite was "The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam," because it had the most detail, and was, to me, the most interesting. The sorcerer reminded me of a typical cartoon villain, nefarious and comically evil. Rabbi Adam was an easy character to root for, and his "battle" with the sorcerer was clever, especially when he took the apple off of the tree, destroying the sorcerer. "Chelm Justice" was another interesting folktale, carrying a big message, but disguising it with humor. In it, a town judge decides that instead of punishing the lone town cobbler with death when he killed a customer, he'd kill a roofer instead, since there are two in the town. From Dr. Mani Goldman's lecture, I discovered that these light-hearted tales were a way of keeping things calm and unconcerned in the wake of Jewish persecution.
Dr. Mani Goldman's guest lecture was enlightening in many regards. I did a project at the end of my senior year in which a group of us had to research a religion. My group studied Judaism, and I went into this week thinking that I knew a lot about it. Dr. Goldman's lecture proved me wrong, as I learned many things I didn't before. He discussed the Torah, or the 5 Books of Moses, in depth. He told us about the Midrash, or interpretive literature, an offshoot of the Torah. We also learned about the Talmud, a book in which rabbis wrote down stories and law, or Aggadah, gathered from the Torah. Perhaps the largest part of his lecture was the focus on the source of the Ten Commandments. As I am not a religious person, this story was news to me. According to the Torah, Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai and returned to the village only to see children worshipping a golden calf. He smashes the tablets in anger and returns to Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments once more. In the Midrash, the rabbis speculate what he saw upon his return, and decided that he had seen the children piecing the tablets back together in order to read them.
This lecture and these stories we read allowed me more familiarity with Jewish tradition. I learned a lot about the Torah and Talmud as well as the culture of Jewish people.
Just Because I Want To:
The tales we read included "A Dispute in Sign Languages," "The Rabbi and the Inquisitor," "Chelm Justice," "The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam," and "It Could Always Be Worse." My personal favorite was "The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam," because it had the most detail, and was, to me, the most interesting. The sorcerer reminded me of a typical cartoon villain, nefarious and comically evil. Rabbi Adam was an easy character to root for, and his "battle" with the sorcerer was clever, especially when he took the apple off of the tree, destroying the sorcerer. "Chelm Justice" was another interesting folktale, carrying a big message, but disguising it with humor. In it, a town judge decides that instead of punishing the lone town cobbler with death when he killed a customer, he'd kill a roofer instead, since there are two in the town. From Dr. Mani Goldman's lecture, I discovered that these light-hearted tales were a way of keeping things calm and unconcerned in the wake of Jewish persecution.
Dr. Mani Goldman's guest lecture was enlightening in many regards. I did a project at the end of my senior year in which a group of us had to research a religion. My group studied Judaism, and I went into this week thinking that I knew a lot about it. Dr. Goldman's lecture proved me wrong, as I learned many things I didn't before. He discussed the Torah, or the 5 Books of Moses, in depth. He told us about the Midrash, or interpretive literature, an offshoot of the Torah. We also learned about the Talmud, a book in which rabbis wrote down stories and law, or Aggadah, gathered from the Torah. Perhaps the largest part of his lecture was the focus on the source of the Ten Commandments. As I am not a religious person, this story was news to me. According to the Torah, Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai and returned to the village only to see children worshipping a golden calf. He smashes the tablets in anger and returns to Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments once more. In the Midrash, the rabbis speculate what he saw upon his return, and decided that he had seen the children piecing the tablets back together in order to read them.
This lecture and these stories we read allowed me more familiarity with Jewish tradition. I learned a lot about the Torah and Talmud as well as the culture of Jewish people.
Just Because I Want To:
Monday, November 2, 2009
Another Guest Speaker!
Dr. Ochieng' K’Olewe's lecture on "Folk and Fairy Tale Traditions from Kenya" was undoubtedly my favorite guest lecture thus far. Dr. K'Olewe gave us examples of traditional Kenyan stories and storytelling techniques. When he turned the lights off, I was a little flustered, as I have never listened to a story be told in the dark before. This darkness, however, allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story, and actually picture what was happening.
My favorite story was the tale of the man and the lizard. The lizard stole the man's salt and the village elders decided it should be split in two. Then the man claims the lizard for himself, and the lizard is "split" in half. The tale gave a fun explanation for the reason the tails sometimes fall off of lizards.
I greatly enjoyed Dr. K'Olewe's song portion of the lecture. Although I may not have understood a lick of Kiswahili, I got into the song, enjoying myself.
What I found particularly fascinating about Dr. K'Olewe's lecture was the importance of riddles in Kenya. I've never given much thought to riddles myself, other then that they can be somewhat frustrating, but the knowledge that they have such an integral part of everyday life is amazing to me.
Dr. K'Olewe's lecture allowed me a little bit of insight into Kenyan culture, one that I can't help but notice is much different from mine. To be quite honest, stories have never been that big a part of my life. I never really considered the fact that they would be important to others, especially other cultures.
As I said before, this lecture was definitely my favorite. I didn't feel as if I was learning, but walking away from it, I realized that what he had taught us stuck with me. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this lecture.
My favorite story was the tale of the man and the lizard. The lizard stole the man's salt and the village elders decided it should be split in two. Then the man claims the lizard for himself, and the lizard is "split" in half. The tale gave a fun explanation for the reason the tails sometimes fall off of lizards.
I greatly enjoyed Dr. K'Olewe's song portion of the lecture. Although I may not have understood a lick of Kiswahili, I got into the song, enjoying myself.
What I found particularly fascinating about Dr. K'Olewe's lecture was the importance of riddles in Kenya. I've never given much thought to riddles myself, other then that they can be somewhat frustrating, but the knowledge that they have such an integral part of everyday life is amazing to me.
Dr. K'Olewe's lecture allowed me a little bit of insight into Kenyan culture, one that I can't help but notice is much different from mine. To be quite honest, stories have never been that big a part of my life. I never really considered the fact that they would be important to others, especially other cultures.
As I said before, this lecture was definitely my favorite. I didn't feel as if I was learning, but walking away from it, I realized that what he had taught us stuck with me. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this lecture.
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