A qualitative comparative analysis of Grimm brothers' fairytales and Disney's animated movies based on the sociologic theory of Jack D. Zipes

摘要

American professor Jack David Zipes has developed a theory of memetics and cultural evolution and argues that there are between 50 and 75 fairytales that are capable of surviving cultural evolution, because they are relevant, repeatable and memorable. He calls this kind of fairytales fairytale memes which are connected between each other and by that successfully maintained and adjusted in different cultures. Some of them have become known as classical fairytales and are today presented in books and on shop shelves in different versions. The theoretical part of my thesis presents Zipes's sociological view on fairytales, where it is important to consider the social context of fairytales at the time of writing. The empirical part presents a qualitative comparative analysis of three fairytales (Frog King of Iron Henrich, Rapunzel, Snow White) by German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and their film adaptations by the American author Walt Elias Disney. The suitability of classical fairytales for children and the results of the questionnaire taken by kindergarten teachers on the familiarity with Grimm's and Disney's classical fairy-tale versions and the suitability of classical fairytales for children are analysed based on the technical literature.