Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint as a Kunstmärchen
A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint is a Kunstmärchen for a number of reasons. First of all, the story takes place in the Orient and in class it was discussed that Kunstmärchen often have an element of exoticism. Also, Wackenroder writes: “Stories of childhood and antiquity from this region [the Orient] are replete with strange signs and enigmas that the mind, though it thinks itself smart, has yet to fathom.” This reflects Romantic ideas—ideas that were a reaction to values seen throughout the Enlightenment. A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint is a critique of reason, in general. The story also has many supernatural elements: the wheel of time, the transformation of homes into supernatural palaces, the naked saint’s transformation and journey into the sky, etc.
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For some reason when I was writing my post I didn't think about using the Orient as a form of exoticism -- but you're definitely right. That is a Romantic element of the Kuntsmarchen.
ReplyDeleteRomanticism is an element I had never really thought of with regards to fairy tales. I also like how you compared the romantic ideas of the time as a reaction to Enlightenment. This is something which I was not aware of and feel it adds to the genre of fairy tales overall
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