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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Computational Analysis Of The Body In European Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen
Computational Analysis Of The Body In European Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen
Jeana Jorgensen
This article explores how digital humanities research methods can be used to analyze the representations of gendered bodies in European fairy tales, a flexible and pervasive genre that has influenced Western children's education and acquisition of gender identity for centuries. By blending the theoretical and methodological concerns of folkloristics, gender studies, and large-scale scientific research, this article demonstrates the utility of cross-disciplinary collaboration in asking traditional questions of traditional materials with new methods. To facilitate this research, a hand-coded database listing every reference to a body or body part in the 233 fairy tales was created. Analysis revealed strong indications …
The Black And The White Bride: Dualism, Gender, And Bodies In European Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen
The Black And The White Bride: Dualism, Gender, And Bodies In European Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen
Jeana Jorgensen
Fairy tales are one of the most important folklore genres in Western culture, spanning literary and oral cultures, folk and elite cultures, and print and mass media forms. As Jack Zipes observes: ‘The cultural evolution of the fairy tale is closely bound historically to all kinds of storytelling and different civilizing processes that have undergirded the formation of nation-states.’143 Studying fairy tales thus opens a window onto European history and cultures, ideologies, and aesthetics.
Understanding ‘The Body’ In Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen
Understanding ‘The Body’ In Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen
Jeana Jorgensen
Computational analysis and feminist theory generally aren’t the first things that come to mind in association with fairy tales. This unlikely pairing, however, can lead to important insights regarding how cultures understand and represent themselves. For example, by looking at how characters are described in European fairy tales, we’ve been able to show how Western culture tends to bias the younger generation, especially the men. While that result probably won’t shock anyone more than passingly familiar with the Western world, the method of reaching these results allows us to look at cultural biases in a new light. Our study and …