Prerequisite(s): GERM 112. This course examines the oral roots and multimedia afterlife of German fairy tales documented by the Brothers Grimm in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Depending on the instructor’s background, folk tales from different national traditions can be added to the curriculum. Core fairy tale themes and motifs will be discussed, as will later treatments of the narrative material, and theoretical approaches to understanding fairy tales from structuralist, psychoanalytical, feminist, and poststructuralist perspectives. After in-depth analysis of the Grimm fairy tales, the course explores Romantic literary fairy tales by Ludwig Tieck and E.T.A. Hoffmann, as well as twentieth-century appropriations of the fairy tales. Concluding discussions will engage with the pressing question of how contemporary individuals can mobilize these multiform cultural tales to help establish new social roles and identities. Taught in English. Students registering for GERM 226 will do assignments in German; for students in GRIN 226, all assignments are in English. Satisfies Great Works and Influences GenEd requirement; satisfies SEEDS Literary and Artistic Analysis student learning outcome in alignment with Diversity and Intercultural Competency value.