THE REPRESENTATION OF NON-HUMAN ENTITIES IN JACOB AND WILHELM GRIMM’S COMPLETE GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES

Abstract

The Fairy tale belongs to genre of traditional folklore. In the 19th century, the canon of fairy tale was broadened by research studies of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. As every other story, fairy tale consists of a story that ends with a specific message to its readers. Yet, unlike other stories, the fairy tale consists of animals and objects who provide moral lessons to the society. The purpose of this study was to investigate the notion of representation of non-human entities in selected fairy tales in Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales which was written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The research pursued the question of representation of non-human entities as it emerges in selected fairy tales in Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The non- human entities have been represented by objects and animals. The study used thematic analysis to analyze the selected fairy tales. Five fairy tales were selected of which the main characters of the story are non-human beings. They are, “Cat and Mouse in Partnership”, “The Fisherman and His Wife”, “The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage”, “The wedding of Mrs. Fox” and “Herr Korbes.” The findings revealed that performance of non- human entities in fairy tales is more powerful than performance of human beings. The nature is synonymous to non-human entities in fairy tales. The nature teaches moral lessons to the human beings. The representation of the weaker entity of the society has been surpassed by the dominant entity. Instead of celebrating the superiority of the human beings, the degradation of the human beings has been pointed out through the intervention of non-human entities. The nature and the controversial marital status of human beings are represented by the non-human entities. The study celebrates the ability of nature to guide humans in better ways. In addition, common social factors are addressed such as the activation of the bad luck which is empowered by nature. Bad luck has been acted upon with the integration of the nature.