When we think of tellers and recorders of fairy tales, our mind naturally turns to Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault or, of course, the Grimm Brothers. And yet, the 17th century French writer who actually coined the term ‘conte de fee’, or fairytale, when she published her major collection of them in 1697 goes largely unremembered - sidelined perhaps because of her gender at a time when such prominence amongst women was sadly much more rare.
That writer, who compiled the original collection in the French language, was Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, known more colloquially as Madame d’Aulnoy. Her work is not often found in English-language volumes, but is rather sidelined to one or two translated stories being put into anthologies alongside other writers.
But in April of this year, Princetown University Press released a new English collection of Madame d’Aulnoy’s tales, beautifully visualised by Natalie Frank and translated by the eminent Professor Jack Zipes. The book, called The Island of Happiness features a new translation of The Tale of Mira, one of d’Aulnoy’s earlier stories in which the beautiful protagonist kills any man who falls in love with her, before herself falling for a man who is indifferent to her.
In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, guest interviewer Hilary Wilson speaks to the eminent Professor Jack Zipes, translator of D'Aulnoy's works and expert on the literary fairy tale. on the life of Madame D'Aulnoy.
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Episode 51 - HAPPY NEW YEAR
Episode 50 - PERCHTEN
Episode 49 - IN COMES I ...
Episode 48 - LORE OF THE LOCKS
Episode 47 - TALES OF THE LANTERN
Episode 46 - HUSH LITTLE BABY
Episode 45 - AN INTRODUCTION TO NORSE MYTHOLOGY
Episode 44 - GRIND THE CORN
Episode 43 - WOMEN AND FAIRIES AT WORK
Episode 42 - A LIVERPOOL CUNNING MAN AND HIS MAGICAL MANUAL
Episode 41 - WITCH BOTTLES
Episode 40 - FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW
Episode 39 - CRAVING SUPERNATURAL CREATURES
Episode 38 - MIRROR MIRROR
Episode 37 - ALIEN BIG CATS
Episode 36 - INVESTIGATING GHOSTS: THE ROLE OF FOLKLORE
Episode 35 - THE TRUTH ABOUT HANSEL AND GRETEL
Episode 34 - THE CURSE OF THE CRYING BOY
Episode 33 - GEF! THE EXTRA SPECIAL TALKING MONGOOSE
Episode 32 - SPINDLE, SHUTTLE AND NEEDLE
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