Should Ernst’s works (or any oral or literary fairy tales) be reprinted, revised or modified to meet the needs and preferences of a twenty-first century audience? We know the re-working of fairy tales is common. When the Brothers Grimm published their first volume of Kinder- und Hausmärchen[Children and Household Tales](Grimm, 1812) containing eighty-six numbered and collected fairy and folktales they could not have foreseen the variety of adaptations of the tales two hundred years later. Hundreds of versions in different languages, audio books, cartoons, anime, horror and interactive worlds now exist.
It could be argued that Grimm’s Fairy Tales should not enjoy continuing popularity in an era where the riddle of Rumpelstiltskin’s name could be easily solved using a search engine (Gollob, 2012) but they continue to be adapted for our era. In 2012, in readiness for the two hundredyear anniversary of the publication of the Grimm’s first collection, a number of new films appeared to re-tell classic fairy tale versions with a contemporary twist: Snow White and The Huntsman (Sanders, 2012) and Mirror Mirror (Singh, 2012)offered different interpretations on the Snow White fairy tale while Hansel and Gretel and the Witchhunters (Wirkola, 2013) moves enchantingly into the horror genre. One television series,Once Upon a Time (Kitsis, 2011)is loosely based on fairy tales. Can fairy tales can be reworked or modified to meet a new generation of readers while still keeping the integrity of the base story?
The suggestion by Hart (1950) that, ‘books flourish when they answer a need and die when they do not’ (285) intimates that it is the market or the readers who decide whether a book is resurrected. Dot and the Kangaroo(Pedley, 1899) an early Australian fantasy, published five years before Ernst’s Fairy Tales from the Land of the Wattle,has been re-printed and translated into many languages. The original story has been produced in book and digitised form, animated and filmed with a spin-off series created (Richards, 1988:56). Consider also the fairy tales of Tarella Quin (also wrote under Quin Daskein) whose fairy tale books were reprinted numerous times. Quin[2]published her first fairy tale, Gum Tree Browniein 1907[3]with enlargements and variations appearing with regularity in 1918, 1925, 1934 and 1983. The actuality was that Quin’s publishers were still in business during these periods allowing for the opportunity for these books to be re-published.
Consideration of the changing perceptions of what was considered appropriate for a new audience was taken into account when Gum Tree Browniewas republished. The title was changed to reflect the omission of the story that gave the book its name. It was entitled The Other Side of Nowhere: Fairy Stories of the Never Never (Quin-Daskein, 1983). It is given an Australian flavour with the reference to the ‘Never Never’. Two stories that did not suit the coeval socio-cultural world were omitted. Cruelty and death were evidently not seen as suitable topics for children’s books or at least in the manner portrayed for children in the 1980s.
In the first story that is omitted, from the 1983 edition is ‘Gum Tree Brownie. ’ a brownie is captured and taken hostage in a cruel and capricious manner. The distress of the brownie is discernible and blatant. In the second tale ‘Exit to Faerieland,’ the ‘supposed’ author of the fairy tales in the book is met by all his creations and as he is old (and it is inferred he is about to die) is taken with them back to fairyland. A tale about the death of a child or person was common in many children’s books written in 1900s in an era of high child mortality and perhaps, the suggestion that a friend could be thought of living on in fairyland was comforting.
Discussing the digitisation of Hans Christian Andersen’s works Posdam (2006) questions whether Andersen would have embraced the technology as ‘spreading the availability’ (142) and encouraged a new readership or preferred an audience to whom only the original was available. While many of the stories are dated by social attitudes and norms, some like The Fire Elves(16-9),have historical significance in the description of fire fighting methods of the early twentieth century. The story evokes the fear felt by the community, illustrates fire fighting methods and community spirit when a fire begins. Ernst tells us that, ‘soon men gathered from all parts, armed with wet bags with bags and sallied forth to meet their common enemy’ (Ernst, 1904:18).
The virtual portal Grimmlandhas original content. Boris Becker and other famous people tell us what their favourite fairy talesare. The Twitter community has taken up Grimms’ Fairy Tales for a new remixof the tales. Also an animation competition Grimm Animatedby young people.
Also published as Quin Daskein
later enlarged Gum Tree Brownie and Other Faerie Folk of the Never-NeverMelbourne, Victoria: George Robertson, later The Other Side of Nowhere: Fairy Stories of the Never Never First published in 1918
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