Illustrations to the Folktale “The Fisherman and His Wife” (KHM 19, ATU 555)
Illustrations to the Folktale “The Fisherman and His Wife” (KHM 19, ATU 555)

Summary/Abstract: The article is about the illustrations to the folktale “The Fisherman and His Wife” (Grimm, Household Tales No. 19, ATU 555) and similar tales created by Ludwig Bechstein and Alexandr Sergeevich Pushkin, the relation between text and illustration, the tradition of illustrated representation, the use in popular media, the role of the illustrator/painter representing dominant scenes/actions and mediating stereotypes. Three phases can be distinguished: the first covers the period of 1809–1840, the second 1840–1890, the third refers to the turn of the 19th century. At the beginning the relation between text and picture is not so close: the idyllic scene of the prior illustrations is replaced by introducing more realistic traits which capture crude elements of the milieu as well. In the third phase, many distinguished artists have contributed a wide variety of pictorial representations (with their vision of the folktale: often the fisherman’s wife as a negative figure with a touch of misogyny). In this context, it will be examined which idea of the fisherman’s wife the illustrations convey and juxtaposed this with the fisherman’s image. Finally, some aspects of the status and popularity of the folktale will be assessed and the ways how the illustrations have influenced its reception.

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