THE BROTHERS GRIMM
G'day folks,
All of us at some stage in our lives have probably read something from these two guys.
During 19th century two German brothers made a
name for themselves for writing folklores. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became
famous as Brothers Grimm for their contribution to traditional folk tales. They
had diversified interest in the world of academia as they worked as cultural
researchers, linguists, lexicographers, folklore collectors and writers.
The older
brother, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, was born in 1785 and Wilhelm Carl Grimm a
year later. They grew up in Hanau, Germany and were raised by parents, Dorothea
Grimm and a jurist father, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm. The untimely death of their
father in 1796 plagued the family with financial difficulties. The two brothers
tried to support their family before leaving Steinau.
They received
their education from the prestigious Friedrichsgymnasium when they moved to
Kassel which was financed by their aunt. Later The Brothers Grimm pursued a law
degree at the University of Marburg after completing graduation. Here they
were treated as inferiors just as they were in their previous school. They were
not even admitted at first for their low social standing. Status quo was
severely maintained and they suffered exclusion from social and extracurricular
activities. However, negligence forced them to strive for recognition and they
put in extra effort in their studies. A renewed interest in history and
philology, inspired by their law professor, made them pursue medieval German
literature.
Jacob was
appointed as secretary at a royal library in Kassel and was later joined by his
brother. At a German Romantic, Clemens Brentano’s request the brothers began to
rigorously research folk tales with a special focus on village oral folklores.
Eventually, they compiled their research in a book named Kinder-und Hausmärchen
(Children’s and Household Tales). The first volume was published in 1812
followed by the second one in 1815. These volumes now recognized as Grimms’ Fairy Tales include
the famous stories of Hansel
and Gretel, Cinderella,
The Golden Goose, Little Red
Riding Hood and Snow
White. The stories in these volumes are fusion of several different
accounts of the same stories. Their sources even include non-German influences,
for instance, Briar Rose
is inspired by a French writer, Charles Perrault’s version of The Sleeping Beauty.
The Brothers Grimm left behind legacy of folk
stories, novellas and legends. Unlike the modern version of the fairytales, the
first volume of Grimms’ Fairy
Tales was actually grim, violent and highly unsuited for children.
They were suggested to remove the violent and disturbing content from the book
but they choose not comply because they believed these tales were reflective of
their inherent culture. Tales like Hansel
and Gretel and Little
Red Riding Hood were considered didactic in nature as their culture
educated obedience through fear.
While Grimm
Brothers attained employment at the University of Göttingen, they devoted their
time to research in mythology. Jacob made a valuable addition to German
literature with his Deutsche
Mythologie (German Mythology) published in 1835. Wilhelm edited the
third volume of Kinder- und
Hausmärchen. Later they were removed from their posts at University
of Göttingen for protesting against changes made in the constitution. They
moved to Berlin in 1840 where they were appointed as lecturers at the Royal
Academy of Science. The Brothers Grimm also occupied themselves as linguists.
The years to come brought them the biggest project of compilation of a
comprehensive dictionary in German. Before its completion Wilhelm passed away.
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Amazing collection. I wonder how many of our stories will still be read in a hundred year's time.
I'm ...
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