Over a year ago, I
attended an event hosted by the Monash Fairy Tale Salon for the Glen Eira
Festival. Not sure what to expect; the invitation mentioned cross dressing,
French Fairy Tales and cup cakes. The program promised music, mini lectures and
demonstrations and retellings of old tales.
As it happened, this
event turned out to be one of the most satisfying that I visited for the year.
As someone who takes old tales out of books and places them back on my tongue,
I hunger for crunchy, informed discussion and exposure to unfamiliar tales.
The organizer, Belinda
Calderone has now made the Monash Fairy Tale Salon more accessible by creating
a website where interested folk can connect from around the world. What follows
is a brief interview with Belinda.
Q. How did your
interest in Fairy Tales reveal itself to you?
My interest in fairy
tales definitely stems from my mother who read them to me almost every night
growing up. I’ve been enchanted by their magic ever since!
Q. Fairy tale, myth
and legend, parable how do you separate these genres for the purposes of your
group?
A tricky question! Though
these distinctions are never clear cut, I see myths as stories of superhuman
entities (like gods), legends as stories that are said to have taken place in
human history, and parables as allegorical narratives whose primary purpose is
to teach a moral. Though there are many exceptions, I see fairy tales as
fictional stories about ordinary humans who encounter secular magic in everyday
life.
Q. Why do we still
love these tales so full of violence, misogyny, and heteronormativity?
Speaking for myself, I
secretly love violent fairy tales! As for the misogyny and heteronormativity
embedded in many of them (particularly nineteenth century tales), I take them
as a product of their time. However, we at the Monash Fairy Tale Salon often
explore protofeminist fairy tales as well (such as those of seventeenth-century
French women).
Q. Does the group
explore tales from both the literary and oral traditions?
We primarily explore
tales from the literary tradition, which is why it’s been such a treat to
include oral performances in the two events we’ve run.
Q. Has the group
looked at the Australian Fairy Tales of Olga Cohn and Olga Ernst and others?
In our meetings on
Australian fairy tales this year we focused on colonial collectors of
Indigenous tales such as Katie Langloh Parker. But Olga Cohn and Olga Ernst
will go on the list!
Q. In what ways do you
think the Monash Fairy Tale Salon would be of interest to members of
Storytelling Australia (Vic)?
Given that we deal
with literary fairy tales and Storytelling Australia (Vic) deals with oral
storytelling, the two groups are a great balance for each other. Plus, we love
to involve your wonderful storytellers in our events.
Q. How do people
follow the discussion and keep up to date with future programs?
The best way is to
follow our blog to be alerted about new posts. We will also be sure to post
about any events that we organise in the future.
I encourage you to
check out the website and sign on for the newsletters. Please let your OS and
interstate colleagues know of this initiative.
posted by Jackie Kerin
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