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Dissertation Information for Ellen A. Greever

NAME:
- Ellen A. Greever

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA) (1995)

ADVISORS:
- Susan Steinfirst

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Edward G. Holley
- Mary Ann Brown
- Barbara Marie Wildemuth
- Terry Zug

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Fractured fairy tales: Parody in literary fairy tales for children

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe and understand parody in literary fairy tales for children. Recently, an increasing number of texts that parody traditional fairy tales have been published. These texts, especially those apparently for young children who may not know the traditional tales, raise interesting questions about their functions and potential audiences.

Reviews published between 1970 and 1991 were used to identify parodies of nine well known fairy tales published for children and young people. A content analysis of the 57 texts identified was conducted to answer six research questions: (1) What aspects of these texts are humorous?; (2) What aspects of these texts are parodic?; (3) What background knowledge does the reader need beyond the text to "get the joke" or understand the parody?; (4) What is the audience of the text?; (5) To what extent is the humor dependent on, or independent of, the parody?; and (6) Are there any common purposes in the parodies?.

Results of the content analysis indicated that there were trends apparent in the texts. The majority were both humorous and parodic, with the humor most often appearing in incident and style aspects and the parody most often appearing in plot aspects. A wide range of background knowledge was necessary to appreciate the texts fully. This background ranged from the tales being parodied to a variety of popular culture references and satirical references to modern life. The texts were for a wide range of audiences, a very few for preschool-aged children, the majority for children in the elementary grades (ages 6-11), and a limited number for older youth. Statistically, there was a strong relationship between the humor identified as dependent on the parody and the parody, and a strong inverse relationship between the independent humor and the parody. Functions identified ranged from amusement to moral tales to satire and literary criticism.

The study was limited by the number of texts and types of texts included. The artificial nature of the analysis in breaking the texts into isolated units is not reflective of the way people read.

MPACT Scores for Ellen A. Greever

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:20:30

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