Food For Thought: Fantasy Worlds and Depression

On the slant, but this caught my eye this evening: Does Watching "Avatar" Lead to Depression? by Deborah Huso

Hundreds of fans of James Cameron's hit film "Avatar," which has raked in $1.4 billion, are reporting symptoms of depression as well as suicidal thoughts after seeing the movie. The film is set in the future when the Earth's resources have been depleted and a corporation is looking to mine the natural resources of a planet called, Pandora, which is portrayed as a world of beauty, with inhabitants that are close to nature and all creatures are connected. Many attribute their depression to the fact that the utopian world shown in the movie is unattainable here on earth and makes life seem meaningless.

and more...

Crazy as it may sound at first, feeling blue after engaging in some form of escapism, whether it's an especially touching movie or a great book, isn't unusual. But if it's impacting your ability to function, you could be taking escapism to the extreme. Escapism on that level can be a symptom of all kinds of problems from anxiety disorder to clinical depression.

“If a person has such an inordinate attraction to fantasy material and is prevented access to it, frustration, stress, anxiety or depression might possibly result,” said Frank Farley, Ph.D., a professor of educational psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. “Modeling or identifying with media depictions is not unknown,” he added. “Yet most people make the distinction of reality versus fantasy.”

So does that make Avatar a new fairy tale in the pop culture sense, the one in which the label 'fairy tale' implies idyllic, perfect existence? Just do a news search to see how overused the term is in articles about romances and weddings, sports and politics.

Of course, except for the usual happy endings, we know that the real fairy tales are anything but idyllic, but rather violent and scary with only the hope of a happily ever after ending. It's always fun to compare the public perception versus the reality of what's in the tales, at least the earlier versions before they were made safer for the nursery.

Also applicable since so many of us fairy tale enthusiasts are also lovers of fantasy and science fiction in general. Although I admit I haven't seen Avatar yet and am not really very interested in it despite several rather enthusiastic endorsements from friends. My loss, I know, but I have become insanely picky about movies of late.

Edited: Noticed a few minutes after posting that this is my 350th post. Chugging right along...

Arabian Nights and Marina Warner

I'm a few days behind on this--playing catch up after being sick--but here's Do the tales of the Arabian Nights have resonance for audiences today? Marina Warner warms to the RSC's production of Arabian Nights by Marina Warner, found at The Guardian. (The best newspaper for fairy tale related articles. Someone there shares our interests!)

Here's a passage from the article, but you have to click through to read it all:

The first translation of One Thousand and One Nights into English, under the title Arabian Nights' Entertainments, instantly sparked a craze when it appeared at the beginning of the 18th century, and set the tone for the stories' successful entrance into the history of drama and performance. The first Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp was performed at Drury Lane in London in the 1780s, with designs by Philippe de Loutherbourg, the artist who a few years before had created a fabulous Oriental mise-en-scène for William Beckford's 21st birthday party, which combined séance, orgy, gothic ruins and private theatricals. This inspired Beckford's original Arabian Nights fantasy, the novel Vathek, which is bathed, like the party, in what he recalled was "a strange, necromantic light". Since those days of heady dreams, shows such as Aladdin or Ali Baba have taken an ever more, and more rudely, comic turn. Their bawdy rough-and-tumble does reflect a strain of the multilayered Nights stories; but it's still the case that the traditional panto gives a false sense of the stories, missing the riches of their poetry, enchanted atmosphere, protean originality and endlessly ingenious narrative logic.

The book's earliest readers in France belonged to a courtly world that hardly distinguished between performance and ordinary round, so stylised and ornamented was the royal day at Versailles or in noblemen and women's hotels particuliers, where the first exclamations of delight greeted the fantastic tales of One Thousand and One Nights. But very quickly, the book's storytelling devices were taken over by other voices placed at different, dissenting angles to power: Elizabeth Inchbald and Frances Sheridan put on Oriental disguise to satirise sexual hypocrisy and social conventions; Voltaire, Addison and Swift also found they could use the mode to mock and attack their targets. In the theatre especially, the sheer abundance of the plots of the Nights opened up possibilities: the book presented magical twists and turns that intrinsically lent themselves to high-spirited performance and to technical experiment. The history of the Nights on the stage is consequently intertwined with some brilliant early stagecraft for transformation scenes, flying machines, conjuring illusions, innovatory limelight and other effects (in Islington in the 1890s, the genies in Aladdin were called after the new gases, Paraffin, Benzoline and Colza).

And once again, if you haven't read From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers by Marina Warner, well, you really must.

Hans Christian Andersen: An Outsider's Tale

Found a nice article about HCA which draws primarily from the biography Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller by Jackie Wullschlager. (And in building this link I discovered that the paperback is currently 58% off cover price at $8.90 on Amazon. Don't know for how long, but that's a great price on a new book.)

Read the entire article at: Hans Christian Andersen: An outsider's tale by Bruce Emond.

The world's most famous storyteller - his fascinating tales were favorite bedtime reading for the children of his era in the 19th century, and more recently have been given the Disney treatment for millions more around the world - lived a life that was not so much a fairy-tale, replete with a neat, all-ends-tied-up ending, but a saga of struggles, loneliness and the quest to find himself.

Most of those who read his stories know little about Andersen the man, save for him being Danish (there was a schmaltzy Hollywood biopic many years ago starring Danny Kaye) or, perhaps, for the younger generation, the oft-repeated intriguing rumor that he had homosexual tendencies in a time when it was still a love that dared not speak its name.

There have been few biographies of Andersen written in English, the most comprehensive written by journalist Jackie Wullschlager in 2000. Drawing on Andersen's own memoirs, his personal papers and contemporary accounts from his lifetime, Wullschlager portrays a brilliant man who was driven to succeed despite being riddled by neurosis and a complicated array of emotions - oversensitive, proud and quick to take offense - that sometimes worked against him.

New tower in the Emirates — Nakheel Tower

The latest design attempting to breach the dizzying heights of the Burj Dubai has been revealed as the multibillion dollar Nakheel Tower. Designed by the developments wing of major investment company Nakheel, the tower will be more than a kilometre high, covering a space of around 270 hectares, and will become home to around 55,000 people, a workplace for 45,000, and is hoped will attract millions of visitors each year. 09 more images and video after the break...

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South Side Gayathri Jayaram

Gayathri Jayram 06 more images after a break...

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Ashley Greene - Heading to Aroma Cafe for lunch

 Ashley was spotted filling up a parking meter before meeting a friend for lunch at Aroma Cafe 05 Jan 2010. Next she’s at the gas station, talking on the phone. And then she’s walking with her hair pulled back! I’m glad to see Ashley in the oversized sunglasses. 10 more images after a break...

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Pictures we never seen before

Pictures we never seen before, 34 more images after a break...

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Paper Dolls: Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack

Nathan Hale has created a series of paper dolls to promote the release of Calamity Jack. (See last week's post about the book.) He had previously done this for Rapunzel's Revenge, too, so there are several wonderfully designed paper dolls available for FREE that make me want to print them and get out the colored pencils. If only I had the time...


Jack and Rapunzel are both provided with three costume changes each.



These are available in full size on Nathan Hale's blog. Also download Rapunzel's Revenge Paper Dolls for the previous versions. This is a pdf file.


These make a fun activity for the snowbound, too...


And can I just say I really love that this Rapunzel is a redhead?

Journals Week: Fabula

Fabula: Journal of Folktale Studies is somewhat less accessible for the armchair enthusiast and student when compared to Marvels & Tales because it publishes articles in several languages: German, English, and French. I read English and can read French pretty well, but my German is almost nonexistent (ironic considering my very German name, I know).

However, this is my second favorite journal for fairy tale specific studies after Marvels & Tales, thanks to content that focuses on the folklore of European and European influenced countries, my primary focus of study. They also on occasion have special issues, such as Dec 2008: Volume 49, Number 3-4, which was devoted to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Aims & Scope:

Fabula is a medium of discussion for issues of all kinds which are of interest to international folk narrative research. The journal contains eight divisions: Articles, Minor Contributions, Research Reports and Conference Reports, News, Projects and Queries, Reviews, Bibliographical Notes, and Books Received. Principal themes of the article section are the study of popular narrative traditions in their various forms (fairy tales, legends, jokes and anecdotes, exempla, fables, ballads, etc.), the interrelationship between oral and literary traditions as well as the contemporary genres. Interest focuses on Europe and overseas countries which are influenced by European civilization, but still, there is quite a number of contributions from other culture areas.

Founded by Kurt Ranke and first published in 1958, this journal has been around for several years and has printed several wonderful articles. The positive is that issues are available online for perusing. The negative is that they don't come free and are cost prohibitive to many students and armchair enthusiasts. You can access the articles online as PDFs for 24 hours for $40 each. Makes the annual subscription of about $250 for two issues sound like a bargain. (That price is approximate to the Euro conversion and the rates offered through Amazon subscriptions as of the writing of this post.)

Here is a list of the volumes with links to their tables of contents from Reference Global. So these are usually out of necessity limited to those with free access through academic institutions, something I myself don't have at this time. To help in research (or to torture those of us without further access) the site also has abstracts for the articles, available in all three languages regardless of the article's language.

The journal is also abstracted and indexed in Academic OneFile (Gale/Cengage Learning); Arts and Humanities Citation Index; and Current Contents / Arts and Humanities.

I myself wish I had the full Snow White issue as well as some articles from other volumes...

Reminder: Please read Call for Contributions: Graduate Programs Information and send me an email if you have a contribution.

Video Games: Storybook Workshop

As happens too often around here, I'm a little late on this one since it was released this past November. However, here it is!

Storybook Workshop is a new game for the Wii aimed at the preschool set. First, here's a trailer from Konami, the maker:



And further product information from Amazon:

Synopsis

Including 16 famous children's fairy tales, Storybook Workshop offers plenty of make-believe fun. Reminisce on your own childhood story time as you read well-known favorites such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling and The Golden Goose. Read in your own voice, or use the Magic Voice feature to change your voice to sound like characters from the stories. You can also sing along to four classic children's songs and record them, so boys and girls can listen to the performances on their own.

Key Game Features:

Features 16 children's fairy tales to listen to or perform, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, The Town Musicians of Bremen, Be Kind to the Earth, The Boy Who Went to the North Wind, The Little Match Girl, The Happy Prince, The Giant Turnip, A Glove and Hats for the Jizos, Three Wishes, The Star Money, The Elves and the Shoemaker, and The Golden Goose

Serves as an interactive book with fairy tales from around the world written by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Aesop and other famous authors

Play mini games and sing along to four classic children's songs

Record readings as well as the songs you perform in Singalong mode

Change your voice to match that of a fairy tale character with the Magic Voice feature

Earn rewards the more you read, such as the ability to feature your Mii in select stories

Virtual sticker pad helps track progress

So far, the reviews are limited and mixed. I think, as always, this type of game depends on the players using it and what they expect from it. As a tool for interacting with children with stories, it should be somewhat satisfactory. (Although I prefer an actual book myself!) As a tool for teaching literacy, not so much, which some parents seemed to think it would do. After all, the game is actually aimed at the pre-reading set.

I find the game interesting and would love to try it with a child, but am not going to buy it to test it. I have some of my own ideas about what would make a great fairy tale video game after all of the reading I've done this past year. And I am not a gamer although I admit the Wii has gotten me to play more than any other previous system. Current favorites: Just Dance and Wii Sports Resort...

Journals Week: Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies

The past several weeks I have focused on many fun things, lighthearted posts on toys, puzzles, picture books and other fairy tale related items. However, school is resuming for several of you--and I still subconsciously block the calendar in semesters myself--so I also want to include the academic side of things in this blog.

This week I plan to highlight a few print journals that focus on fairy tales and folklore, great resources for student paper writing or just general interest reading if you happen to be me.

If your primary interest is specifically fairy tales, then Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies is the most important print journal for you to know about. Here's a description and history, lifted completely from the official website for the journal.

Marvels & Tales (ISSN: 1521-4281) was founded in 1987 by Jacques Barchilon at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Originally known as Merveilles & contes, the journal expressed its role as an international forum for folktale and fairy-tale scholarship through its various aliases: Wunder & Märchen, Maravillas & Cuentos, Meraviglie & Racconti, and Marvels & Tales. In 1997, the journal moved to Wayne State University Press and took the definitive title Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies.

From the start, Marvels & Tales has served as a central forum for the multidisciplinary study of fairy tales. In its pages, contributors from around the globe have published studies, texts, and translations of fairy-tales from Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. The Editorial Policy of Marvels & Tales encourages scholarship that introduces new areas of fairy-tale scholarship, as well as research that considers the traditional fairy-tale canon from new perspectives.

The journal's special issues have been particularly popular and have focused on topics such as "Beauty and the Beast," "The Romantic Tale," "Charles Perrault," "Marriage Tests and Marriage Quest in African Oral Literature," "The Italian Tale," and "Angela Carter and the Literary Märchen."

The editorial board for Marvels & Tales is a veritable Who's Who in academic fairy tale studies, including Jack Zipes, Marina Warner, Maria Tatar, Donald Haase and many others. (If you do not recognize these names, you should also research their works, too.)

Each issue usually includes several articles, translations of tales, and reviews of recently published literature (nonfiction). While articles about European fairy tales are represented in most issues, the scope is worldwide and offers insight into more obscure tales from other parts of the globe, too. You can see the table of contents for a recent issue here.

The journal is published twice a year and the subscription rate is very reasonable for an academic journal, especially if you are a student.

Marvels & Tales is available on Project MUSE if you are affiliated with an institution that provides access.

Reminder: Please read Call for Contributions: Graduate Programs Information and send me an email if you have a contribution.