In reading a chapter on ‘contamination’ I had to keep reminding myself that in this context contamination was not a negative. It is an important topic, though, and although once it’s brought to our attention it makes perfect sense, it is not something readily touched on by most casual fairy tale readers.
It is impossible to find a fairy tale or historical event that has come down through the years that has not been contaminated. This is due to the oral tradition that was the only way of sharing stories, history and events, for so long. The oralists who originally spoke these stories must have added their own touches, flavors or editing based on the topic and the audience. Zipes’ acknowledges the Grimms awareness of this on page 103. “The Grimms recognized this process of narrative transformation carried on by human agents that dates back to ancient times…”
One of the most interesting pieces of information came at the beginning of the chapter. It is interesting not only for the historical content, but also because of the contemporary application. When speaking of the effect of the fairy tales post-WWII, Zipes says: “Moreover, they asserted that the tales had given German children a false impression of the world that had made them susceptible to lies and irrationality.” (Page 100). This reminded me of the arguments that music such as Marilyn Manson or Kurt Cobain perform(ed) can actually cause young people to commit crimes or attempt suicide. I personally don’t believe that the lyrical content of a song can be the sole cause of an individual to contemplate a crime or death, but it is noteworthy that this thought pattern came full circle from another era 60 years prior.
I found Zipes’ attitude much more palatable in this chapter than in the chapter we read previous. I felt that he had said all he had to say in the first three pages and didn’t need the remaining 16 to make his point, but he does seem to like “hearing” (seeing?) himself speak. What do you all think?
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I agree with you, I also had to keep in mind that "contamination" as described in this chapter is not a negative thing. We go through life for the most part thinking of it in negative form, but just as Zipes points out just like a flu immunization, you need a little bit of "contamination" to stay strong and withstand the test of time.
Your point about The Grimms brothers was a good representation of their awareness for the need of contamination, their realized that through people and years stories and ideas are contaminated. In response to your contemporary application I also agree that a song or a story is probably not responsible for a crime, however I do think that children need to be old enough to understand and be educated when it comes to the ideas of that song so they can make educated judgments and decisions.
I don't think there is much doubt that Zipes goes a little overboard in getting his points across, I basically knew the point and understood his arguments after the first paragraph....he is definitely a little too wordy.
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