| Synopsis: |
Robert Fedorchek gathers seventeen fairy and wonder tales by nine of Spain's most well-known nineteenth-century authors. The selections range from morality tales, to stories of enchantment, to evocations of wonder and the fantastic. The Translator's Preface establishes that although there were no brothers Grimm, no Charles Perrault, and no Hans Christian Andersen in nineteenth-century Spain, there were indeed fairy, folk, and wonder tales, 'stories of enchantment,' presently unknown in the English-speaking world. Alan Smith's introduction discusses stories of enchantment and fairy tales in the European tradition, takes up the morphology of cuento and relates it to other languages and cultures, and provides illuminative and thought-provoking commentary on the nine authors and the seventeen selected stories.These stories include: Fernan Caballero, 'The Wishes,' 'The Girl with Three Husbands,' 'Lovely-Flower'; Antonio de Trueba, 'The Adventures of a Tailor,' 'The King's Son-in-law'; Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, 'Beauty as Punishment'; Luis Coloma, SJ, 'Green Bird,' 'Perez the Mouse'; Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, 'Believe in God,' 'The Devil's Cross'; Pedro Antonio de Alarcon, 'Death's Friend'; Juan Valera, 'The Green Bird,' 'The Wizard'; 'The Princess and the Street Urchin'; and Leopoldo Alas, Clarin, 'My Funeral,' and 'Socrates' Rooster.' Fedorchek includes cultural, historical, and literary notes and references, a Select Bibliography which lists the editions used for the translations, and secondary sources for the nine authors, as well as general folklore. |