Try free for 30 days

Preview
  • Breaking the Magic Spell

  • Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales
  • By: Jack Zipes
  • Narrated by: Stuart Appleton
  • Length: 11 hrs

1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Breaking the Magic Spell

By: Jack Zipes
Narrated by: Stuart Appleton
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.99

Buy Now for $27.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

This revised, expanded, and updated edition of the 1979 landmark Breaking the Magic Spell examines the enduring power of fairy tales and the ways they invade our subjective world. In seven provocative essays, Zipes discusses the importance of investigating oral folk tales in their socio-political context and traces their evolution into literary fairy tales, a metamorphosis that often diminished the ideology of the original narrative. Zipes also looks at how folk tales influence our popular beliefs and the ways they have been exploited by a corporate media network intent on regulating the mystical elements of the stories. He examines a range of authors, including the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Ernst Bloch, Tolkien, Bettelheim, and J.K. Rowling to demonstrate the continuing symbiotic relationship between folklore and literature.

©1979 Jack Zipes (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"A stimulating contribution to the critical literature of folk and fairy tales." ( Children's Literature Association Quarterly)
"All libraries should acquire this new edition of one of the most influential texts in the field." ( Choice)
"Zipes has written a stimulating and important contribution to the sociology of popular literature." ( Sociological Review)

What listeners say about Breaking the Magic Spell

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.