"The Brothers Grimm as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales" by Siegfried Neumann
Summarized by Molli Eckart
Siegfried Neumann explores the many different aspects of
Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s journey of collecting, editing, and publishing German
folktales. Neumann begins by explaining
the brothers’ reasons for collecting the folk tales. He also discusses the life long process of
publishing and editing the many editions until they reached their seventh and
final edition in 1857. The Grimm brothers’ work provides a base source for all
fairy tale research and Kinder- und Hausmärchen
is “even to this day the book of
German fairy tales” (34).
One of Neumann’s topics discusses is how the brothers went about editing the tales they had collected. In the beginning, Wilhelm and Jacob wanted to present the tales as close to the oral tradition as possible; therefore, they published several versions of the same tale in order to show the differences between them. However, due to issues that prevented the first edition from being successful, the brothers took on a new system of picking and editing the tales. Their second edition contained more tales from the aristocratic circle and established an “ideal fairy-tale form” (28). Their first success was in 1825 with the publishing of the Small Edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen which was geared more toward children. This edition revealed the success of different style of editing that the brothers took on. The Grimm Brothers moved away from the traditional vulgar stories of oral tradition and began selecting tales that were easier for children to understand and contained “literary principles” (32). Neumann’ description of Wilhelm’s revision process revealed his determination to produce a perfect edition. Neumann also brings light to the responses of critics surrounding Wilhelm’s revision to the tales: criticizing the “loss of the fairy tales simplicity, or by welcoming the poetic enrichment” (30) that Wilhelm had edited into the fairy tales.
Another aspect discussed by Neumann was that tales that are very popular among today’s generation, such as “Cinderella”, “Brier Rose”, and “Snow White”, were all mainly collected by the Grimm brothers from young women of the bourgeoisie and aristocratic classes. All of these are tales that show a young girl’s life being fulfilled through the love of a prince. In contrast to the tales of the higher social classes, many German tales in the Grimm’s collection show the oppression of the peasants and the voice of the lower classes.
Although Neumann includes the criticism that Jacob and Wilhelm received for embellishing the tales, he states that the brothers did the best they could for the time period they lived in. They kept up with the demand of the aesthetically oriented attitude toward fairy tales and in the beginning were able to record oral tales very well without the accessibility of tape recording. The Grimm brother’s collection proved more successful than others due to the diversity of their tales it provided and many story tellers today strive to stay as close to the Grimms’ published version as possible.
One of Neumann’s topics discusses is how the brothers went about editing the tales they had collected. In the beginning, Wilhelm and Jacob wanted to present the tales as close to the oral tradition as possible; therefore, they published several versions of the same tale in order to show the differences between them. However, due to issues that prevented the first edition from being successful, the brothers took on a new system of picking and editing the tales. Their second edition contained more tales from the aristocratic circle and established an “ideal fairy-tale form” (28). Their first success was in 1825 with the publishing of the Small Edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen which was geared more toward children. This edition revealed the success of different style of editing that the brothers took on. The Grimm Brothers moved away from the traditional vulgar stories of oral tradition and began selecting tales that were easier for children to understand and contained “literary principles” (32). Neumann’ description of Wilhelm’s revision process revealed his determination to produce a perfect edition. Neumann also brings light to the responses of critics surrounding Wilhelm’s revision to the tales: criticizing the “loss of the fairy tales simplicity, or by welcoming the poetic enrichment” (30) that Wilhelm had edited into the fairy tales.
Another aspect discussed by Neumann was that tales that are very popular among today’s generation, such as “Cinderella”, “Brier Rose”, and “Snow White”, were all mainly collected by the Grimm brothers from young women of the bourgeoisie and aristocratic classes. All of these are tales that show a young girl’s life being fulfilled through the love of a prince. In contrast to the tales of the higher social classes, many German tales in the Grimm’s collection show the oppression of the peasants and the voice of the lower classes.
Although Neumann includes the criticism that Jacob and Wilhelm received for embellishing the tales, he states that the brothers did the best they could for the time period they lived in. They kept up with the demand of the aesthetically oriented attitude toward fairy tales and in the beginning were able to record oral tales very well without the accessibility of tape recording. The Grimm brother’s collection proved more successful than others due to the diversity of their tales it provided and many story tellers today strive to stay as close to the Grimms’ published version as possible.
Work Cited
Neumann, Siegfried. “The Brothers Grimm as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales.” The Reception of Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions. Ed. Donald Haase. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993. 24-40. Print.
Neumann, Siegfried. “The Brothers Grimm as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales.” The Reception of Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions. Ed. Donald Haase. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993. 24-40. Print.