Fairy Tales and Our Society - Scholarship Essay Example

Fairy Tales and Our Society: Outline: This essay seeks to illustrate a relationship between fairytales and society or culture. Culture is a very big phenomenon and a lot about it can be learned from fairytales popular in a country among other media. It is common practice to form assumptions about cultures of other people on grounds of their TV dramas, books, or movies. Similarly, fairytales form an important medium of conveying information pertaining to cultural norms and values of a country. Discussion in this essay will seek to demonstrate that fairytales and societal ideals are two mediums or phenomena which are inextricably linked to one another to constitute a structure. Such structures enable people to investigate into human life and understand it. This means that fairytales should not be perceived as simple children’s bedtime stories. Rather, it should be acknowledged that there are always very important structures underlying everything that humans do like writing fairytales. Despite often mundane looking on the surface, many fairytales harbor very intricate patterns or structures. Investigation into these structures unleashes a wealth of cultural or societal information. The Arabian Nights is a very popular Middle Eastern fairytale collection which has several adaptations. This essay will establish cultural transformation of fairytales by comparing the original Middle Eastern collection with the Japanese versions. Cultural transformation will be demonstrated in order to prove relationship between fairytales and society. Most Japanese versions rely heavily on European texts related to fairytales in the Arabian Nights which is why many shared traits are found between them which will be explored. Essay: Some works of literature have amassed such critical acclaim and popularity that many cultural variations of the original version can be found around the globe. Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights is one such story collection in which Scheherazade tells 1001 stories to King Shahryar in order to not be executed. King Shahryar is tormented by unfaithfulness of his first wife and his way of coping with betrayal involves marrying a new virgin every night only to execute her the next morning. When his vizier runs out of virgins to provide to the king, Scheherazade offers herself and frames a conniving plot to sidetrack Shahryar from his atrocious acts. She begins the process of telling a new story every night to the king and beginning another so that the king’s interest would not get lost. Most tales narrated by Scheherazade to Sultan Shahryar are highly riveting and exuberant fairy tales. Story within a story can be found in the Arabian Nights as first Scheherazade narrates stories and then characters in some stories also begin telling other stories. “The Fisherman and the Jinni” is one such example of a story within a story which is essentially a fairy tale. Well into the story, the fisherman begins to tell another story called “The Vizier and the Sage Duban.” It is such fairy tales from the Arabian Nights which have had a staggering influence on different cultures around the world. Japanese culture is just one striking example of cultures deeply influenced by the Arabian Nights. Different Japanese versions of the same fairy tale collection which is actually based on the Middle Eastern culture signify how shrewdly those versions have been heavily Japanified in order to make these fairy tales gain popularity in Japan. This means that fairytales do not stay the same, rather they continue to be modernized (Bottigheimer 2014, p. 4). Following discussion seeks to demonstrate how Japanese writers have brought changes in the original Middle Eastern fairy tale collection to abide by their cultural norms. After a brief synopsis of one particular fairy tale told by characters in another fairy tale “The Fisherman and the Jinni”, following discussion will prove the cultural transformation of the Arabian Nights with respect to the fairy tale titled “The Vizier and the Sage Duban”. The Arabian Nights is a fairy tale collection from the Middle East region. This is why many sociocultural and religious themes of this particular region are found in these stories. Different characters and plots are structured in a way which tells a lot about the culture of Middle East. This culture has invoked such fascination in the world that a broad range of writers from other cultures have tried to inculcate the Arabian Nights into their cultures by subverting different themes in the original collection. Stories have been subverted by writers on different levels to align these fairy tales with their own cultures. Original fairy tales from the Arabian Nights did not quite manage to gain widespread success in many countries due to conflict in context of cultural themes, but modified translations became very influential. Such modified translations speak volumes about cultural transformation involved in the process. For example, interference of divine power is a recurrent theme in many stories of the Arabian Nights. In the vizier story, the prince only becomes able to free himself from the clutches of a ghuleh by interference of the divine power. He passionately prays to God seeking help and urging him to save his life and in response, God interferes and makes the Ghuleh let the prince go safe and sound. This divine interference is of utmost importance in the Middle Eastern society. Most people hailing from Middle East, in contrast to modernized western cultures, have a kind of faith in God which is deeply rooted and immobile. This interference of divine power is replaced with human intervention in western versions of the Arabian Nights which demonstrates the cultural transformation as people in western cultures have more faith in their own abilities than looking up to divine sources for help. Reworking of the text in accordance with cultural norms and values by other writers is common. Some versions expand on the original text, some attract criticism for inaccuracies, and some substitute original themes with new themes which are more culture-friendly. If Japanese imitations of the Nights are scrutinized, one cannot remain oblivious to the wealth of information related to Middle Eastern or Arabic culture brought by them to Japanese readers. Research claims that the Nights played a decisive role in shaping image of the Islamic society and Middle East. This image “influenced the Japanese view of the Middle East” (Yamanaka & Nishio 2006, p. xv). Despite subversions, Japanese versions helped to enlighten readers about cultural and religious values of a mystique region about which little was known before. The Nights did not become popular in Japan until a highly Japanified version was brought by Inoue Tsutomu in 1888. Before Tsutomu, Nagamine’s Arabiya monogatari failed to appeal public because of inability of the audience to relate to the title Arabiya (Yamanaka & Nishio 2006, p. 119). Tsutomu’s Zensekai ichidai kisho known in the west as The Most Curious Book in the Whole World Japanified many original religious and sociocultural themes of the fairy tales to align the book with Japanese culture. The cultural transformation of the book gave it instant success in the country and a foundation was laid for subsequent Japanese imitations. An investigation into these imitations illustrates a definite link between fairy tales popular in a country and the culture or society of that country. Before Japanification of the Nights, many elements from Arabian mythology like genies, magic lamps, and carpets etc. could not be integrated in modern Japanese fantasy. However, subversions brought to the story collection prove how a fairy tale becomes a cultural product which suggests that both fairy tales and cultures or societies are inextricably linked to one another. Because the Nights vision embedded in the Japanese mind is borrowed from European notions regarding the Islamic world, this European vision still plays a big role in shaping the Middle Eastern image that is prevalent in Japan. Modifications which illustrate cultural transformation were brought into the Nights in accordance with this vision. This cultural transformation of the Nights proves how this fairy tale collection left Middle East many hundreds of years ago to be regenerated in the Orientalist climate of Europe from where it travelled to other countries like Japan. Orientalism refers to Western or European portrayal of Orient people who hail from the east. This portrayal usually mocks the eastern people and their cultures. Orientalism explains how the west perceives the east. When cultural heritage of other people is portrayed not on basis of rationality but on basis of emotions, it does not remain hard to understand why Arab people are seen as exotic, backward, and even dangerous. Similarly, Ishi Dooban no kubi based on the Western version of the vizier story, “The Story of the Grecian King and the Physician Douban”, is an example of cultural transformation and orientalism (Yamanaka & Nishio 2006, p. 125). Both Ishi Dooban which is the Japanese version and borrows vision of the Islamic society from the Grecian king story which is the western version of the original vizier story replace some key themes and characters found in the original fairy tale. This substitution is done to subvert some key elements of the Middle Eastern culture which did not sit well with the Japanese society. Ishi Dooban no kubi or the Physician Douban’s Head is a critically acclaimed Japanese tale from 1910 written by Kinoshita Mokutaro. Kinoshita’s version is copied from Inoue’s book which again was reproduced from a western version of the Nights by Friedrich Gross (Yamanaka & Nishio 2006, p. 126). All three versions are interrelated and shed a lot of light on the cultural evolution or transformation of fairy tales. The English version of the vizier story illustrates how senseless and curt kings or rulers in the Islamic society happen to be. The king just ordered execution of his vizier upon receiving complaint from his son. No further inquiries were made into his crime. Same happens in case of Sage Duban also. According to the English text presented by Richard Burton, the Sage Duban says to the King, “Spare me so Allah may spare thee!” (Burton 2004, p. 32). This means that Arab people put a lot of faith in God and commonly use divine power as justification to be set free. Sage Duban pleads for his life on account of God meaning if he is spared cruelty, God will also forgive the king. Duban begs the king to fear God and let him go. But, the king just arrives and commands his people to execute Duban disregarding a history of loyalty. This rather curt portrayal of the king by Burton serves to spread this idea that Arab people though mystique and exotic on the outside are backward and even dangerous in real life. Since Japanese versions also rely on European notions of the Arab civilization, Japanese writers like Inoue and Kinoshita transform curt narrative of the English text into an even more elaborate description of the king’s unkindness (Yamanaka & Nishio 2006, p. 124). Structuralism in literary theory is of great importance and if it is applied on the Nights, its relevance to this fairytale collection cannot be denied. According to this approach, different phenomena of human life are interrelated and they cannot be understood without interpreting these interrelations first. It is these interrelations which form a structure. Culture or society is also a phenomenon which cannot be understood without scrutinizing its relationship to a larger structure first. Different literary texts can be found based on the same structure. Analyzing this structure can help to understand the relationship between literary works like fairytales and society. The structural mode of reasoning was first applied to the literary field by Claude Strauss. Strauss’s approach soon transformed into a literary movement which advocated this idea that human culture can be understood by means of a structure. This structure is always hidden in literary texts and has to be unmasked by researchers. A structuralist approach taken to literary texts like fairytales explores many activities inside the text to identify the deep structures which offer a wealth of information about a certain culture. Structuralist theorists in the literary field connect texts to a larger structure which can be based on a genre or a collection of recurrent patterns. It is claimed that there is always a structure inside a text. Finding this structure is the key to finding relationship between the said text and society. In light of the literary theory of structuralism, I argue that the Japanese authors or translators of the Nights did not give their readers something completely new or different because their works have almost the same structure which is found in the original Middle Eastern collection. Application of Strauss’s structuralism on the Japanese versions by writers like Inoue and Kinoshita reveals that they also have a system of recurrent patterns in them. These recurrent patterns are evident in the form of societal ideals integrated in the text which seem to reinforce the same old kind of beliefs and stereotypes in society. It is because the process of writing literary fairytales for children and adults illustrates “the process of writing as part of a social process” (Zipes 2007, p. 2) It is safe to assume that despite some variations, the Japanese versions do not happen to be a long way from home, the home being the original Arabian Nights fairytale collection. This is because these versions, both literary texts and films, also serve to maintain and protect the gender hierarchy. There is no denying this fact that fairytales undergo transition as they travel through different cultures, but the stereotypes which perpetuate social manipulation in different ways are found embedded in both the original Nights and the Japanese versions. This structure which promotes a system of recurrent patterns is evident in every adaptation of the Nights from children books to feature films. According to the approach of structuralism, human culture can be understood from its relationship to this structure embedded in fairytales. Analysis of this structure in the Japanese fairytales helps readers to become acknowledged with the Japanese culture or society. This analysis also proves a relationship between fairytales and society. In light of structuralism, it is learned that the practice of doing gender is not an innate disposition of the Arab culture alone. Rather, this quality is also inherent in the Japanese society. Doing gender is a structure found in the Japanese fairytales which has become a social construct and that can be witness in everyday life. Fairy tales are not only children’s stories. Their significance does not begin and end on children. Rather, there is a strong relationship between such tales and society. Fairytales tell men and women how they ought to behave. Fairytales’ representation of women is of special importance because of its potential to “become a more multifaceted discussion” (Haase 2004, p. 2). Women are typically portrayed as submissive creatures, while men are more dominant and active. Also, the protagonists in fairytales almost always happen to be women. For example, Scheherazade is a woman and the lead character in the Nights. The fisherman story is one story among a thousand others told by her to the Persian king in which another story begins related to the vizier and duban. Scheherazade’s character is characterized by submissive beauty as she is a beautiful young woman and also tells one story after another to save herself from the king’s violence or wrath. The king, on the other hand, is a dominant and violent man. So, the Nights on the whole and also the vizier story reflect our societal ideals which are not much different from those of Middle East. Research also claims that fairytale beliefs have remained pretty much constant despite change in literary fashions (Briggs 2002, p. ix). This is because despite some subversions and substitutions, the Japanese versions of the Arab fairytales also present Scheherazade as a woman of exotic beauty, but who lacks agency and tells stories for survival. It should be remembered that Middle Eastern people are often portrayed in western literature as exotic, but dangerous people. The vizier story and other fairytales in the Nights reinforce patriarchal ideals which tell of the relationship of the stories with the society in which they are created. Fairy tales, though appearing very simple on the surface, actually share a very complex and deep-rooted relationship with society. Japanese versions of the Nights also reinforce this idea in the Japanese society that a woman’s youthfulness “is her most important asset” (Lieberman cited in Neikirk n.d., p. 38). Modern adaptations of fairytales like the vizier story among other stories from the Nights aim to change “the world in a meaningful way (Tatar 2014, p. 217). However, how can such modernized versions be expected to change the world in a meaningful manner when they make use of the same old ideals more or less. The Japanese translations of the vizier story and the Nights also serve to maintain the gender hierarchy at least. It is pretty obvious how not one character in the vizier story is female. Every character is male. Only Scheherazade who is actually telling the story is a woman which is something very typical. Every character which lacks agency in all of Scheherazade’s stories happens to be a woman. In contrast, roles which have power to affect their lives in varying degrees are given to men. The role of Sage Duban or the physician Douban is intentionally given to a male character in all Japanese versions. A female could have also played this part, but this would have been against societal ideals of the Japanese society or the Arab society. This is why it is safe to assume that like the original Arab version, each version in Japan is also laced with very discreet forms of social manipulation. This illustrates the relationship between fairytales and society. Research also confirms the relationship between fairytales and society claiming that fairytales have never affected children exclusively. Rather, they are very “effective means of exercising power over women and maintaining gender inequality” (Neikirk n.d., p. 38). Varying effects of fairytales on society are also evident from the roles assigned to males and females in dramas and movies. For example, one Japanese movie is worth-mentioning here which is directed by Eiichi Yamamoto and titled “A Thousand and One Nights.” The film is based on a fairytale and is a reflection of Japanese societal ideals. This is because Aladdin is presented as a dominant man who likes to travel as wished by him. The woman he falls in love with is not a regular woman with some degree of independence, rather she co-incidentally happens to be a very exotic-looking slave who is dependent on Aladdin for a better life. Such gendered effects of fairytales are seen everywhere in society. Concluding, cultural systems of a particular country can be analyzed with the help of veiled structures which are found in literary texts like fairytales. There is a definite relationship between fairytales and out society. This is because effects of fairytales are present everywhere in society. These effects operate on different levels to define our culture. The kind of role played by fairytales is quite complex as its influence on different aspects of human life and the society in which we live goes much deeper than children. Cultural transformation of stories is also inevitable which forms an important structure. Identification of such structures in fairytales helps to understand culture or society of a country. Structures found in the Japanese versions of the Nights demonstrate both cultural transformation of these fairytales and a system of recurrent patterns. This is because different fairytales like the vizier story written by the Japanese writers reinforce gendered social expectations. Same gendered social expectations can be found in the Middle Eastern fairytale collection also. References: Bottigheimer, RB 1986, Fairy Tales and Society: Illusion, Allusion, and Paradigm, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. Briggs, KM 2002, The Fairies in Tradition and Literature, Psychology Press. Burton, R 2004, The Arabian Nights, Digireads.com Publishing. Zipes, J 2006, Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion. Routledge, New York. Haase, D 2004, Fairy Tales and Feminism: New Approaches, Wayne State University Press, Michigan. Neikirk, AJ., “…Happily Ever After” (or What Fairytales Teach Girls About Being Women), viewed 09 April 2015, Read More