Children’s readings in the 21st century: which place for the Grimm’s tales?

Abstract

In this paper we intend to reflect on the impact of the Grimm Brothers’ tales on contemporary society children’s imagination. The analysis results from the data collected from children attending primary education during the academic year 2011-2012. We analyse the representations of the characters’ social roles in terms of gender and power in some tales’ social relationships, questioning the established dynamics, trying to understand how children of the 21st century react to behaviour patterns and to the magic that exist in these tales.

Keywords

• Contos tradicionais
• Desenvolvimento moral e social
• Papéis sociais e de género
• Folktales
• Moral and social development
• Gender and social roles