Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook

by Alan Dundes

Alan Dundes continues his exploration of well-loved fairy tales with this casebook on one of the best-known of them Little Red Riding Hood.
Following versions of the tale by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, the essays by an international group of scholars provide an impressive cross-section of theoretical approaches.

Genres: Folklore, Nonfiction, Fairy Tales, Psychology

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Alan Dundes was a folklorist at the University of California, Berkeley. His work was said to have been central to establishing the study of folklore as an academic discipline. He wrote 12 books, both academic and popular, and edited or co-wrote two dozen more. One of his most notable articles was called "Seeing is Believing" in which he indicated that Americans value the sense of sight more than the other senses.

Reviews

[Paula Soper · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love fairy tales, check to see if Dundes has written a casebook for it. They are fascinating. Dundes gathers analyses on tales you thought you knew.

[Shayshkers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up to help think outside of the box for Little Red Riding Hood and that goal was achieved. Whilst I didn't agree with some aspects of the analysis, I can also say that it certainly opened my mind to other possibilities and lines of thought as well as introductions to other reading materials to continue down this path of learning.

[Boweavil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Alan Dundes has produced a collection of essays on an important topic which goes to prove that he is an unparalleled researcher. His even handed approach to the work of other scholars, especially those whom he does not agree with, is outstanding.

[Luna]

Also for my B. A. Thesis

[Bingustini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would say that I'm a fan of folktales, but I hardly have a background in folkloric analysis. Given that, there are some parts of this book that were over my head. That said, I found the extent to which a large portion of it felt like ramblings by people who have read a lot of Freud of surprising. To be clear, there are some really insightful essays here, including one measuring differences in motifs in a Chinese version of the tale. Nonetheless, Alan Dundes, the editor, is a psychoanalyst and gives psychological sorts of interpretation significant weight in this collection of essays.

Unfortunately, this mode of analyses seemed to me the least interesting, in part because it is most open to the analysts' whims. The psychologically-inclined essays, as well as a few others, could also get a little obtuse. Ultimately these essays try to sound academicky despite taking about children's stories, which at times is entertaining, but not really insightful. One author, comparing Little Red Riding Hood to a contemporary children's book, writes "Tootle reforms, and the story ends with Tootle mending his ways and indeed going to grow up to be a big steamliner."

Still, it was very interesting to learn about variations in the story across eras and regions. The essays concerned with variations also seemed strongest because there was much less assertion on the part of the authors. These variations exist, and while the authors provide some insight into their possible development and interpretation, most of the reporting is on observable characteristics of the stories themselves.

The essays I found most compelling were Delarue's "The Story of Grandmother," Eberhard's "The Story of Grandaunt Tiger," and Shavit's "The Concept of Childhood and Children's Folktales." The first two are worth reading simply because they reproduce alternative versions of the story. Given that Dundes decided to call this a "casebook," I expected more of that, more "cases" of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The book felt most successful when it was faithful to that label.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic college text for folkloric analysis of Little Red Riding Hood. The information in the book can also be used for more general analysis of other fairy tales. It's fairly accessible to the non-academic.

[Safa Qarayev]

I whant to read thees boo. But i have not many!

[Elizabeth Finnegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical details were good. The Freudian analysis lost me.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking at the dynamic interpretation of a well known tale