Sound Recordings, Kent

Description

Recordings of children made at four Kent schools, and adults attending Further Education institutions and a Young Wives' Group. In each case, the informants discuss ten fairy tales, selected by the collector; what they like and dislike about them, and how they remember the tales.


The first recording was made at Deanwood Infants' School in Gillingham; three boys confirm the responses they gave to the collector's questionnaire, regarding 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (chopping down the beanstalk), [unidentified] and 'Beauty and the Beast' (the Prince); [collector announcement re. microphone placement and sound quality, children's names]; interview with more children continues with discussion of 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf), 'Beauty and the Beast', [ 'The Frog Prince']; [inaudible response]; 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf), 'Goldilocks'.


[Collector announcement; children recorded at Fairview Infants' School, Rainham]; discussion of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (going up the beanstalk, the Giant), 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Cinderella' (the ugly sisters), 'Goldilocks' (the bears), 'Snow White' (the poisoning), 'Rapunzel' (the Prince), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf, Red Riding Hood's basket), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (Jack and the Giant), 'Cinderella' (the Ball, fairy godmother, the glass slipper).


[Collector announcement; children recorded at Fairview Junior School, Rainham]; discussion of 'Cinderella' and 'Snow White' (treatment of the main characters); 'Rapunzel'; comments on 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Snow White' (the poisoning), 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'The Frog Prince' (the marriage), 'Goldilocks' (using different voices), 'The Frog Prince' (soppy, frogs, love story, what the frog wants), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (babyish, the wolf and the grandmother), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (Jack the thief), 'Cinderella' (stupid, the fairy godmother), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (Jack's age, top of the beanstalk, the Giant's age and appearance, Jack's mother), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf); [collector announcement].


Pupils [?of Napier Road Secondary School, Gillingham] discuss 'Beauty and the Beast' (getting involved in the story, Beauty's age, dislike of stories with boys in), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'Little Red Riding Hood' (boring), 'Beauty and the Beast' (magic, age of Beauty), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (different endings, Red Riding Hood's age), 'Cinderella' (rags to riches), 'Sleeping Beauty' (dresses, the wicked fairy, age on waking, Cinderella's age), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf, her age), 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Snow White' (the poisoning, suspense), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (the Giant, Jack's age, Giant's age), 'The Frog Prince' (versions of), 'Beauty and the Beast' (the Beast, ages of Beauty and Beast), 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'The Frog Prince' (story for 5-8 age group, age of Princess), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (the bean's growth, Jack's age, the beanstalk), 'Snow White' (for girls), 'Goldilocks' (boring and slow), 'Snow White' (the dwarfs, the witch, Snow White's age, the
dwarfs' ages), 'Little Red Riding Hood'. [Tr. 4]


Interviews with adults, in which they describe what they like and dislike about a selection of fairy tales. The recordings were made at Sittingbourne College of Education, Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education, Gillingham Adult Literacy Group and Walderslade Church Young Wives' Group. [Collector announcement (informant group references, e.g. F8, included throughout)]; [Group F6] choice of favourite tale (happy endings); [F8] 'Rumpelstiltskin' (happy ending), 'The Frog Prince' (dislike of kissing a frog, no basis in truth, frogs/toads; [M8] 'Goldilocks' (the bears and repetition, her character), 'The Frog Prince' (unfamiliar, revulsion at frogs); [M8] 'Cinderella' (sympathy, happy ending), 'Sleeping Beauty' (less reality, less familiar story); [F6] 'Rumpelstiltskin' (knowledge of story as a child, story's atmosphere); [F7] 'Snow White' (the dwarfs, the film, happy ending), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf, versions, the woods); [F7] 'Sleeping Beauty' (telling the story to
daughters), 'Rapunzel' (cutting off of hair); [F7] 'Cinderella'; [F7] 'Snow White' (unhappy story compared to Cinderella, the wicked stepmother), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (the wolf); [F6] 'Goldilocks' (nothing frightening, son's love of the story), 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (no depth to the story); [F8] 'Cinderella' (perfect love story), 'Goldilocks' (repetitious and boring, stories enjoyed by informant's children); [F6] 'Cinderella' (fortune, romance, daughter's love of the story), 'Rumpelstiltskin' (not heard as a child, agony of the mother, the impossible task); [F5] 'Rapunzel' (hair, efforts of the Prince), 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Cinderella' (romantic ending, romance, the Prince), 'Little Red Riding Hood' (versions, gruesome ending), 'Snow White' (dwarfs, children's reactions to the story), 'Beauty and the Beast' (ugliness of the Beast); [F8] 'Beauty and the Beast' (identifying with Beauty, the Beast, strong grown up girl figures in fairy tales), 'Cinderella' (family life); [F8]

e Beast (reflection of life, hidden goodness of character), Goldilocks (no particular message); [M8] Sleeping Beauty (romantic), Jack and the Beanstalk (story of overcoming a situation); [M7] Goldilocks (son's love of the story), Little Red Riding Hood (comically nasty); [M7] reference to pantomimes, Little Red Riding Hood (the wolf); [M7] Snow White (no violence), Sleeping Beauty (mushy and far-fetched); [M5] Jack and the Beanstalk (the bean, story structure), Snow White (dwarfs, cartoon) [collector announcement: end of Gillingham Adult Education Centre interviews]; [M6] Jack and the Beanstalk (imaginative and exciting, especially for boys), Snow White (romantic, popular), Snow White (film, dwarfs), Cinderella (fantasy, success of good people, happy ending, Cinderella's age), Jack and the Beanstalk (different interpretations/versions), Snow White (good and evil), The Frog Prince (no relevance to life); [M7] Cinderella, Snow White (witch as frightening figure, seeing film as a child, age of
Cinderella and Snow White); [M5] Jack and the Beanstalk (far-fetched, Jack's age, Giant's age), Rumpelstiltskin (too far-fetched, forgetting of the promise re. the baby), Jack and the Beanstalk (different from other fairy tales, the Giant, Jack's age, Giant's age, the mother), Goldilocks (too silly, the bears), Jack and the Beanstalk (climbing); [collector announcement: end of adult interviews]. [Tr. 1]

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Related material

Ruth Ross-Glass's Ph.D. thesis (Leeds, 1982), 'A Study of the Implicit Metaphors in Selected Fairy Tales and Their Use in Modern Literature and the Media' ( LAVC/SRP/1/007). Volume 2 contains transcripts of the taped interviews.

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