On the multilingual trail of the Brothers Grimm: Snow White's case is solved by an international jury

The educational excursion was initiated by English professor Dr. Claudia Finkbeiner, who heads the Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Research & Intercultural Communication at the University of Kassel, with the active support of her tutor Yvonne Hesse. The students of her seminar "Fairy Tales: A Multilingual, Multiperspective Approach" staged a new interpretation of the fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , and The Bremen Town Musicians at each of the destinations of the excursion. This was done in close cooperation with Arab and Jewish guest students and visiting scholars from Israel, who took on key roles in the performances both as actors and as audience members involved in the play. This highlighted, among other things, the ways in which fairy tales can be used in an international, multilingual, and multicultural learning environment.

In the morning, all participants were first enchanted by the mystical atmosphere of the Reinhardswald area and a reinterpretation of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel staged there. In the students' version, the witch in the gingerbread house is actually a fairy godmother who, however, only reveals herself to those children who are good and pure of heart. Professor Dr. Gerd Rohmann enriched the hike thanks to his extensive knowledge about nature in the Reinhardswald, such as the history of wolves in Germany and their role in fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. The fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood was then retold in the Reinhardswald, with the surroundings contributing to the experience of the feelings expressed in the fairy tale through their own mystique.

The next stop was Trendelburg, where that tower is found that is said to have been the inspiration for Rapunzel. The students performed a version of the fairy tale in which a fairy told the audience about events that took place long ago in another world full of magic.

In the town of Gieselwerder, characters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were eventually called to court to unmask a culprit. After the huntsman, Snow White's stepmother and the Seven Dwarfs testified, it was left to the audience as an international jury to decide that the evil queen, Snow White's stepmother, must have been responsible for the crime with the help of a magic mirror, whereupon she received banishment from her kingdom as punishment. As a final highlight, the fairy tale The Bremen Town Musicians was re-told in a captivating way, with the ambitious multilingual musicians coming from different countries,  campaigning for social justice and using an optical illusion and music to fight off fearsome robbers. Enchanted by fairy tales and in good spirits, the international delegation headed back to Kassel and found themselves newly inspired by Europe's cultural heritage in the academic world of the university.

Text: Nortje Rübsamen.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Claudia Finkbeiner
Head of Department Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Research & Intercultural Communication
Phone: +49 561 804-3353
E-mail: cfink[at]uni-kassel[dot]de