The Brothers Grimm & their critics : folktales and the quest for meaning /

Kamenetsky (Central Michigan Univ.) is the author of Children's Literature in Hitler's Germany (CH, Nov'84) and also a talented illustrator. This new book is, to date, the most comprehensive study in English of the Grimms and their m"archen, and it is very likely the best. Believing the brothers' aims and methods to have been misunderstood, Kamenetsky emphasizes their internationalism, their lack of dogmatism, their ties to the Romantic movement (especially their devotion to the ideal of Naturpoesie), and the relationship between Jacob's research on language and their ideas about the origin of the tales. A staunch anti-debunker, she bases her assertions on the Grimms' own notes and commentary, which she claims have been generally overlooked. Among recent critics whose work she describes and judges defective are Bottigheimer, Dundes, John M. Ellis, and Zipes. She herself never quite defines a key term, "the core" (die Sache) of the tale. Proofreading and editing flirt with disaster, and the volume is physically not attractive, but it is essential and sometimes exciting reading. Exhaustive bibliography. Highly recommended for all libraries. M. Ury; University of California, Davis