The purpose of this study was to explore preschool- and primary school teachers’ perceptions of fairytales, why they use fairytales and what thoughts they have about the impact of fairytales on children’s reading and writing development. We interviewed seven teachers and three preschool teachers in northern Sweden to find out how work with fairytales is carried out in preschool and primary school. We also interviewed twelve pupils who were seven and eight years old to find out what they thought of fairytales in primary school. The result showed that preschool- and primary school teachers had a positive attitude towards fairytales and the opportunities provided by fairytales. The preschool- and primary school teachers in this study used fairytales to stimulate the imagination and the language development of the children. Fairytales were believed to create engagement and emotions within the children. To stimulate reading and writing among the children many teachers let the children write their own fairytales, pointing out the structure of a typical fairytale before the students start writing. Preschool teachers used fairytales to introduce the children to written language, since not all children were familiar with written language. This study shows that fairytales were used in different ways among the teachers and the preschool teachers and that the pupils enjoyed working with fairytales

Although Rapunzel criticism habitually concerns literary fairytales, this thesis contributes to the field a sustained examination of the feminist and patriarchal uses to which Rapunzel has been put, with close attention to the range of media, forms, and styles into which ‗Rapunzel‘ has been adapted, from 1970 onwards. It argues that each adaptation appropriates ‗Rapunzel‘ to repeat or disturb gender ideologies, and also extends or contracts the scope of the fairytale and its feminism. Underpinned by memetics, selective adaptation and fairytale theories, and Adrienne Rich‘s concept of ‗re-vision‘, individual chapters focus upon redrawing the boundaries of what makes a (feminist) Rapunzel adaptation a (feminist) Rapunzel adaptation. The thesis also examines the difficult question of why Rapunzel motifs or ‗memes‘ have persisted and whether this is due to the power of cultural ideologies or to certain universal human urges to which ‗Rapunzel‘ ostensibly appeals. As what is meant by feminism changes from the 1970s through to the present day, the selected works are considered in terms of terms of second- and third-wave feminism and postfeminism. Chapter 1 (the Introduction) establishes the approach and rationale. Chapter 2 examines the Grimm ‗Rapunzel‘ variants of 1812 and 1857 as a prelude to examining the ideological uses to which Rapunzel is put post-1970. Chapter 3 focuses on how four feminist poets subject the memes and morals of ‗Rapunzel‘ to different feminist revisions, and thereby challenge the patriarchal meanings invested by the Grimms. Chapter 4 extends this work by examining a feminist moral fable, two complex short stories, a psychological novella, and a graphic novel, in order to draw contrasts between celebratory and darker, more disturbing ‗post-fairytale‘ feminist Rapunzels. Demonstrating the many genres and media into which feminist Rapunzels have been translated, several adapters use the tale on behalf of various kinds of individualism and subjectivisation, and suggest a movement toward greater psychological complexity and interiority in their treatment of Rapunzel memes. Chapter 5 focuses on how Rapunzel memes translate to screen in the feminist reworking Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair (1978) and the postfeminist adaptations Barbie as Rapunzel (2002), Shrek the Third (2007), and Disney‘s Tangled (2010) and Into the Woods (2014). Chapter 6, the final chapter, further extends the analysis by examining Rapunzel‘s general prevalence in the cultural imagination, namely in adverts and on television. By assembling and giving fresh analyses of rare and well-known Rapunzel tales, the chapters critique the gender essentialism in fairytales and reinstate Rapunzel as key to fairytale debate. This research has led to the conclusion that post-1970s Rapunzels exemplify how fairytales appropriate or discard memes in accordance with the possibilities of genre and medium, as well as with the changing face of feminism over the last four decades.

Oscar Wilde’s fairytales have been read to children for more than a century. Nevertheless, since the time of their publication in 1888 and 1891, the target audience of The Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates have been the concern of critics. Delving into the context behind the rich and colourful imagery, one can find implications of homosexuality, the Paterian aesthetic and religious connotations. According to Carol Tattersall, The Happy Prince and Other Tales successfully mislead the public that it is innocent of any intention to undermine established standards of living or writing. Tattersall’s argument is based on comparing the first collection to Wilde’s second, A House of Pomegranates, which was perceived as “offensive and immoral” (136). On the other hand, William Butler Yeats states in his introduction to The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde that overall the reviewers of The Happy Prince and Other Tales were hostile because of Wilde’s aesthetic views (ixxvi). But Yeats overlooks the fact that Wilde was very pleased and proud, dashing notes to friends and reviewers and signing copies to many people (Tattersall 129). In general, the reception of Wilde’s first collection was more positive than that of the second because it was milder and more subtle in its controversial themes.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T11:06:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ANA CRISTINA ALVES DOS SANTOS.pdf: 1051636 bytes, checksum: aec35bdefe80c0ec3c284c01cf386cd6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-31 / Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo acerca da origem da literatura infantil e da evolução dos contos de fadas com o objetivo de apresentar suas variações, realizadas no seu processo histórico literário. Empregar-se-á uma abordagem histórica que se justifica pela crescente importância e necessidade de conhecer melhor esse modo narrativo, desde a antiguidade até os dias atuais. A metodologia empregada é a pesquisa bibliográfica, de natureza qualitativa. Quanto ao meio de investigação, trata-se de uma pesquisa descritivo-explicativa, uma vez que a temática em estudo é uma manifestação artística. O método adotado é o dedutivo, pois parte da premissa de que os contos de fadas infantis, a princípio, preenchem função moralizante, porque são formadores da consciência da criança leitora e, posteriormente, adquirem conteúdo humorístico em detrimento do teor moral. Discutir-se-á a narrativa em estudo assim como o espaço em que se encontra a presença de mitos, símbolos e imagens mágicas.

Esta dissertação possui como temática a literatura infantil que circula na escola, especialmente, analisando edições populares adaptadas de contos de fadas. Dentre as coleções encontradas nos acervos investigados em duas escolas municipais – educação infantil e ensino fundamental - de um município da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre/RS, destacou-se a presença de determinadas séries com publicações de textos adaptados muito sucintos e com pouco cuidado editorial, preferencialmente, de “contos de fadas”, ao lado dos acervos oficiais distribuídos às escolas pelo Ministério de Educação (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC). A partir desta constatação, meu objetivo, nesta dissertação, foi o de analisar criticamente adaptações de textos considerados “clássicos da literatura infantil”, encontrados nas escolas, realizando um cotejo com os "originais" [ou versões mais conhecidas], identificando as modificações e verificando, de maneira geral, os critérios que presidiram suas modificações. Considerando que estas coleções integram o circuito pedagógico nas instituições, realizei uma análise das adaptações de dez clássicos: “O Patinho Feio”, “João e o Pé de Feijão”, “Branca de Neve”, “A Bela e a Fera”, “A Bela Adormecida”, “Cinderela”, “Chapeuzinho Vermelho”, “João e Maria”, “Os Três Porquinhos” e “O Pequeno Polegar”, tomando como referência alguns estudos sobre contos de fadas e sobre adaptação (CADEMARTORI, CECCANTINI, HUTCHEON, CARVALHO, SHAVIT, entre outros). A análise das edições adaptadas, considerando tanto o projeto gráfico dos livros quanto as permanências e modificações dos textos, em relação às obras mais tradicionais, nos permitiu evidenciar o limitado potencial literário destas obras, uma vez que não privilegiam a riqueza das narrativas originais, tampouco sustentam a recepção destas histórias pelo leitor. Tornou-se evidente que a publicação de adaptações constitui uma estratégia do mercado editorial para o largo consumo de livros que possam “ensinar algo” para as crianças. Neste sentido, a investigação é produtiva, à medida que coloca em xeque o conceito de “literatura infantil” ou “livros para crianças” no circuito escolar. / This paper focuses on children’s literature in the school, particularly analysing popular issues of fairytales. Among works found in collections investigated in two municipal children’s and primary schools in the city of Porto Alegre (RS), the presence of particular series published from very brief and poorly edited texts, especially, about ‘fairytales’, as well as official collections the Ministry of Education (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC) distributed to schools. Thus my aim was to analyse critically adaptations of texts considered as ‘children’s literature classics’ found in schools, by comparing them with ‘originals’ (or more popular versions), identifying changes and generally verifying criteria for such changes. Considering that these collections follow pedagogical paths in institutions, I make an analysis of adaptations from ten classics: The Ugly Duckling, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Thumb. Here we have drawn to some studies about fairytales and adaptations such as Cademartori, Ceccantini, Hutcheon, Carvalho, Shavit, among others. Analysing these adapted works, by considering both books’ graphic part and attachment or change of traditional, allow us to show that these works have limited literary potential, once they do not favour the richness of the original narratives nor sustain the readers’ reception of these stories, which shows that publication of adaptations constitutes a strategy of the publishing market for the large consumption of books that may ‘teach something’ for children. In this perspective, the investigation is useful as it challenges the concept of ‘children’s literature’ or ‘children’s books’.

This thesis examines Andrew Lang’s Fairy Book series (1889-1910) as a material and cultural commodity, thereby re-evaluating neglected or overlooked aspects of its significance as a printed collection of fairy tales. First, it defines the publishing context for fairy-tale collections printed in Britain prior to the publication of The Blue Fairy Book in 1889. As such, Chapter One addresses pervasive claims that Lang’s series systematically revived a waning interest in fairy tales. The chapter first offers context for Lang’s series by providing a bibliographic history of the classic fairy tales – most of which are included in The Blue Fairy Book – in English from 1691 to 1889. It then focuses specifically on the decade of the 1880s to examine types of fairy-tale collections that were available in print prior to the series’ first volume and suggests that the fairy tale as a publishing phenomenon was more prominent in the late nineteenth century than has been assumed. Chapter Two seeks to establish how the diverse literary, cultural, and intellectual course of Lang’s career made him particularly suitable to edit a collection of fairy tales. His academic interests in literature as well as his ongoing study of fairy tales influenced his editorial strategies for The Blue Fairy Book, which then provided a model for the remainder of the series. Chapter Three examines the phenomenon of the “literary series” through an exploration of paratextual elements, such as Longmans’ production, branding, and marketing strategies as well as Henry J. Ford’s book illustrations and designs. The seasonal context in which the books were published provides a further framework for situating Lang’s series within the history of publishing fairy tales in Britain. Chapter Four considers the series’ printings and sales numbers, along with themes that are present throughout the published reception of the series. While Longmans capitalizes on Lang’s name in their branding strategies, in the popular press Lang’s name became synonymous with fairy-tale narratives. Furthermore, the series’ immediate reception challenges more recent scholarly positions regarding the very significant group of translators who contributed towards the series. Finally, Chapter Five recognizes the colonial context of the period and positions interest in fairy tales within the wider nineteenth-century phenomenon of collecting objects and narratives from across the Empire. It further demonstrates how narratives of race and colonialism influenced both text and illustration in the Fairy Books. The conclusion consists of a brief overview of Fairy Book editions that have been produced from 1910 to the present. Not only did the series achieve immediate popularity during its initial publication, but it has also remained in print for over a century. Through an exploration of the series as a material, publishing phenomenon, and by attending closely to presentational devices, this thesis re-examines the cultural significance of Lang’s Fairy Books.

Esta Dissertação de Mestrado propõese a analisar os “novos contos de fadas” com vistas a examinar as representações de infâncias e de relações de gênero e sexualidade, presentes nestes artefatos da nossa cultura. Neste trabalho, se reconhecem os contos de fadas contemporâneos como “novos contos de fadas”, colocando-os em suspeição, a partir do estudo realizado acerca de sua produtividade como texto cultural. A seleção dos livros é diversificada e nela se procurou escolher livros indicados à faixa etária das séries iniciais ou anos iniciais (610 anos) do Ensino Fundamental, publicados a partir da década de 90, os quais apresentam histórias de diferentes autores, publicadas por editoras distintas; de uma mesma coleção; de autores/as estrangeiros/as (obras traduzidas) e nacionais. A metodologia utilizada é a da interpretação textual, tanto em relação às narrativas quanto às ilustrações. Para isso, esta pesquisa conta com o referencial teórico dos Estudos Culturais em Educação, dos Estudos sobre Narrativas e dos relativos ao Gênero e à Sexualidade, em uma perspectiva pósmoderna e pósestruturalista. Questões relevantes deste estudo são: como os sujeitos infantis são representados por diferentes discursos, entre eles, os que “povoam” os livros infantis? Quais modelos de ser menino e menina, ou ser homem e mulher nos são ensinados através dos “novos contos de fadas”? A dissertação está organizada em seis capítulos. Neles são apresentados: a trajetória da pesquisadora, bem como a escolha e justificativa do tema de pesquisa; a história da literatura infantil, destacando conceitos importantes para o estudo, como os de conto, contos de fadas e “novos contos de fadas”; a história das infâncias; a história dos estudos de gênero e sexualidade; as conclusões do estudo. Articuladas às histórias de infâncias e à história dos estudos de gênero e sexualidade, estão as análises dos “novos contos de fadas” e suas representações de modos de ser criança e modos de viver a feminilidade e a masculinidade. Concluise com esta pesquisa que os “novos contos de fadas” ensinam sobre diferentes modos de ser criança. Com base nos autores estudados, percebemse representadas nas histórias as infâncias: desrealizadas e hiperrealizadas, protegida, parcialmente protegida, desprotegida, marginalizada, pública; chegando a representar as múltiplas infâncias da contemporaneidade, ou seja, aquelas constituídas por múltiplos discursos. Este corpus de textos analisados mostra uma criança saudável, feliz, sapeca, criativa, esperta, inteligente, dinâmica, corajosa, mas também, às vezes, uma criança ingênua e frágil, precisando da proteção adulta. As múltiplas infâncias dos “novos contos de fadas” são representadas por crianças que brincam, ficam tristes, mostramse sonhadoras, ciumentas, lidam com a morte, freqüentam a escola, enfim, representam os modos de ser e viver na contemporaneidade. Concluise, também, que os “novos contos de fadas” ensinam que não há um jeito único, nem mais verdadeiro, de ser homem e de ser mulher e que se podem experimentar vários modos de viver a sexualidade no diaadia. Algumas histórias não operam muitas transgressões de gênero e outras rompem com os discursos hegemônicos em torno da sexualidade, ao repensar “novos padrões”. / This master’s dissertation has proposed to analyse ‘new fairytales’ to examine representations of children and gender and sexuality relations, found at these artefacts of our culture. In this work, one has acknowledged the contemporary fairytales as ‘new fairytales’, suspecting of them, from the study conducted about its productivity as cultural text. Book selection is varied, and one has sought to choose books proper for the age range of early school years (six to 10 years old) in the primary school, published from the 1990s on, which feature different authors’ tales in different publishing companies; in a same collection; by foreign male and female authors (domestic and translated works). The methodology used has been that of textual interpretation, whether regarding narratives and illustrations. In support of this, the research has relied on the theoretical referential of the Cultural Studies in Education, Studies on Narratives and Gender and Sexuality, in a postmodern and poststructuralist perspective. The following are relevant questions of this study: how infantsubjects are depicted in different discourses among them, those who ‘inhabit’ the children’ books? What patterns of being a boy and being a girl, or being a man or a woman are taught through ‘our fairytales’? The dissertation is organized in five chapters. In them are: the research path and choice and justification for the subject matter; the story for the children’s literature, highlighting important concepts for the study, such as the tale, fairytales and ‘new fairytales’; children’s history; history of the study of gender and sexuality; final conclusions. Articulated to the children’s stories and to the history of the study of gender and sexuality, are analyses for the ‘new fairytales’ and their representations of styles of being a child and male and female ways of living. One has concluded that the ‘new fairytales’ teach us about different ways of being a child. Based on the studied authors, one has perceived childhoods represented in the stories: unaccomplished and hyperaccomplished, protected, partially protected, unprotected, marginalised, public; which come to represent multiple contemporary children’s ages, that is, those shaped by multiple discourses. This analysed set of texts has showed a healthy, happy, forward, creative, wise, intelligent, dynamic, courageous, but sometimes also artless, frail child who needs adult protection. Multiple childhoods in the ‘new fairytales’ are represented by playing, sad, daydreaming, jealous children dealing with death, attending school, that is, representing being and living styles in contemporary times. One has also concluded that the ‘new fairytales’ teach us that there is no one single ways, not even truest, of being a man and a woman, and that one can try several ways of enjoying sexuality in daily life. Some stories do not work with breaking of the gender, and some break with hegemonic discourses on sexuality, by rethinking ‘new patterns’.

Esta dissertação possui como temática a literatura infantil que circula na escola, especialmente, analisando edições populares adaptadas de contos de fadas. Dentre as coleções encontradas nos acervos investigados em duas escolas municipais – educação infantil e ensino fundamental - de um município da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre/RS, destacou-se a presença de determinadas séries com publicações de textos adaptados muito sucintos e com pouco cuidado editorial, preferencialmente, de “contos de fadas”, ao lado dos acervos oficiais distribuídos às escolas pelo Ministério de Educação (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC). A partir desta constatação, meu objetivo, nesta dissertação, foi o de analisar criticamente adaptações de textos considerados “clássicos da literatura infantil”, encontrados nas escolas, realizando um cotejo com os "originais" [ou versões mais conhecidas], identificando as modificações e verificando, de maneira geral, os critérios que presidiram suas modificações. Considerando que estas coleções integram o circuito pedagógico nas instituições, realizei uma análise das adaptações de dez clássicos: “O Patinho Feio”, “João e o Pé de Feijão”, “Branca de Neve”, “A Bela e a Fera”, “A Bela Adormecida”, “Cinderela”, “Chapeuzinho Vermelho”, “João e Maria”, “Os Três Porquinhos” e “O Pequeno Polegar”, tomando como referência alguns estudos sobre contos de fadas e sobre adaptação (CADEMARTORI, CECCANTINI, HUTCHEON, CARVALHO, SHAVIT, entre outros). A análise das edições adaptadas, considerando tanto o projeto gráfico dos livros quanto as permanências e modificações dos textos, em relação às obras mais tradicionais, nos permitiu evidenciar o limitado potencial literário destas obras, uma vez que não privilegiam a riqueza das narrativas originais, tampouco sustentam a recepção destas histórias pelo leitor. Tornou-se evidente que a publicação de adaptações constitui uma estratégia do mercado editorial para o largo consumo de livros que possam “ensinar algo” para as crianças. Neste sentido, a investigação é produtiva, à medida que coloca em xeque o conceito de “literatura infantil” ou “livros para crianças” no circuito escolar. / This paper focuses on children’s literature in the school, particularly analysing popular issues of fairytales. Among works found in collections investigated in two municipal children’s and primary schools in the city of Porto Alegre (RS), the presence of particular series published from very brief and poorly edited texts, especially, about ‘fairytales’, as well as official collections the Ministry of Education (PNBE, PNLD, PNAIC) distributed to schools. Thus my aim was to analyse critically adaptations of texts considered as ‘children’s literature classics’ found in schools, by comparing them with ‘originals’ (or more popular versions), identifying changes and generally verifying criteria for such changes. Considering that these collections follow pedagogical paths in institutions, I make an analysis of adaptations from ten classics: The Ugly Duckling, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Thumb. Here we have drawn to some studies about fairytales and adaptations such as Cademartori, Ceccantini, Hutcheon, Carvalho, Shavit, among others. Analysing these adapted works, by considering both books’ graphic part and attachment or change of traditional, allow us to show that these works have limited literary potential, once they do not favour the richness of the original narratives nor sustain the readers’ reception of these stories, which shows that publication of adaptations constitutes a strategy of the publishing market for the large consumption of books that may ‘teach something’ for children. In this perspective, the investigation is useful as it challenges the concept of ‘children’s literature’ or ‘children’s books’.

Esta Dissertação de Mestrado propõese a analisar os “novos contos de fadas” com vistas a examinar as representações de infâncias e de relações de gênero e sexualidade, presentes nestes artefatos da nossa cultura. Neste trabalho, se reconhecem os contos de fadas contemporâneos como “novos contos de fadas”, colocando-os em suspeição, a partir do estudo realizado acerca de sua produtividade como texto cultural. A seleção dos livros é diversificada e nela se procurou escolher livros indicados à faixa etária das séries iniciais ou anos iniciais (610 anos) do Ensino Fundamental, publicados a partir da década de 90, os quais apresentam histórias de diferentes autores, publicadas por editoras distintas; de uma mesma coleção; de autores/as estrangeiros/as (obras traduzidas) e nacionais. A metodologia utilizada é a da interpretação textual, tanto em relação às narrativas quanto às ilustrações. Para isso, esta pesquisa conta com o referencial teórico dos Estudos Culturais em Educação, dos Estudos sobre Narrativas e dos relativos ao Gênero e à Sexualidade, em uma perspectiva pósmoderna e pósestruturalista. Questões relevantes deste estudo são: como os sujeitos infantis são representados por diferentes discursos, entre eles, os que “povoam” os livros infantis? Quais modelos de ser menino e menina, ou ser homem e mulher nos são ensinados através dos “novos contos de fadas”? A dissertação está organizada em seis capítulos. Neles são apresentados: a trajetória da pesquisadora, bem como a escolha e justificativa do tema de pesquisa; a história da literatura infantil, destacando conceitos importantes para o estudo, como os de conto, contos de fadas e “novos contos de fadas”; a história das infâncias; a história dos estudos de gênero e sexualidade; as conclusões do estudo. Articuladas às histórias de infâncias e à história dos estudos de gênero e sexualidade, estão as análises dos “novos contos de fadas” e suas representações de modos de ser criança e modos de viver a feminilidade e a masculinidade. Concluise com esta pesquisa que os “novos contos de fadas” ensinam sobre diferentes modos de ser criança. Com base nos autores estudados, percebemse representadas nas histórias as infâncias: desrealizadas e hiperrealizadas, protegida, parcialmente protegida, desprotegida, marginalizada, pública; chegando a representar as múltiplas infâncias da contemporaneidade, ou seja, aquelas constituídas por múltiplos discursos. Este corpus de textos analisados mostra uma criança saudável, feliz, sapeca, criativa, esperta, inteligente, dinâmica, corajosa, mas também, às vezes, uma criança ingênua e frágil, precisando da proteção adulta. As múltiplas infâncias dos “novos contos de fadas” são representadas por crianças que brincam, ficam tristes, mostramse sonhadoras, ciumentas, lidam com a morte, freqüentam a escola, enfim, representam os modos de ser e viver na contemporaneidade. Concluise, também, que os “novos contos de fadas” ensinam que não há um jeito único, nem mais verdadeiro, de ser homem e de ser mulher e que se podem experimentar vários modos de viver a sexualidade no diaadia. Algumas histórias não operam muitas transgressões de gênero e outras rompem com os discursos hegemônicos em torno da sexualidade, ao repensar “novos padrões”. / This master’s dissertation has proposed to analyse ‘new fairytales’ to examine representations of children and gender and sexuality relations, found at these artefacts of our culture. In this work, one has acknowledged the contemporary fairytales as ‘new fairytales’, suspecting of them, from the study conducted about its productivity as cultural text. Book selection is varied, and one has sought to choose books proper for the age range of early school years (six to 10 years old) in the primary school, published from the 1990s on, which feature different authors’ tales in different publishing companies; in a same collection; by foreign male and female authors (domestic and translated works). The methodology used has been that of textual interpretation, whether regarding narratives and illustrations. In support of this, the research has relied on the theoretical referential of the Cultural Studies in Education, Studies on Narratives and Gender and Sexuality, in a postmodern and poststructuralist perspective. The following are relevant questions of this study: how infantsubjects are depicted in different discourses among them, those who ‘inhabit’ the children’ books? What patterns of being a boy and being a girl, or being a man or a woman are taught through ‘our fairytales’? The dissertation is organized in five chapters. In them are: the research path and choice and justification for the subject matter; the story for the children’s literature, highlighting important concepts for the study, such as the tale, fairytales and ‘new fairytales’; children’s history; history of the study of gender and sexuality; final conclusions. Articulated to the children’s stories and to the history of the study of gender and sexuality, are analyses for the ‘new fairytales’ and their representations of styles of being a child and male and female ways of living. One has concluded that the ‘new fairytales’ teach us about different ways of being a child. Based on the studied authors, one has perceived childhoods represented in the stories: unaccomplished and hyperaccomplished, protected, partially protected, unprotected, marginalised, public; which come to represent multiple contemporary children’s ages, that is, those shaped by multiple discourses. This analysed set of texts has showed a healthy, happy, forward, creative, wise, intelligent, dynamic, courageous, but sometimes also artless, frail child who needs adult protection. Multiple childhoods in the ‘new fairytales’ are represented by playing, sad, daydreaming, jealous children dealing with death, attending school, that is, representing being and living styles in contemporary times. One has also concluded that the ‘new fairytales’ teach us that there is no one single ways, not even truest, of being a man and a woman, and that one can try several ways of enjoying sexuality in daily life. Some stories do not work with breaking of the gender, and some break with hegemonic discourses on sexuality, by rethinking ‘new patterns’.