New book studies war, myths and fairy tales

Two University of Auckland academics have used their friendship and complementary academic interests to co-edit a series of books on war.

Associate Professor Maartje Abbenhuis and Dr Sara Buttsworth of the School of Humanities latest book, War, Myths and Fairy Tales, investigates the connections between war stories and fairy tales through a critical examination of global literature.

“We both arrived at the University at the same time and became instant friends. A part of our friendship has also been our complementary academic interests,” Sara says.

“We both passionately believe that the impacts and legacies of war are wide-reaching, and wider-reaching than much scholarship or media interest has portrayed.”

War, Myths and Fairy Tales is the pair’s third co-edited book. It continues to extend the parameters of war studies beyond the battlefield.

Their first co-edited publication was Restaging War in the Western World in 2008, which moved non-combatant perspectives to centre stage in an effort to destabilise the primacy of the combatant.

They followed this up with Monsters in the Mirror in 2010, which gave a comprehensive overview of post-war representations of the Nazi regime in popular culture, and asked why representations of Nazism are so entrenched in our culture.

“Each book was inspired by our experiences teaching both courses on War and Peace, and on Nazi Germany, and the difficulties we had on finding materials to support our analytical perspectives on war and its legacies: that non-combatants mattered (and continue to matter) as much as combatants and that the line between the two is often a fairy tale.”

The pair investigate how fairy tales are as much a part of the fabric of adult life as they are in the lives of children.

“We often dismiss texts or stories that are ‘aimed at children’ as if they are not worthy of our attention,” Sara says.

“The stories that influence children go on to influence the adults they become. Dismissing something as “just for kids” is a distraction. Fairy tales can also be seen as morality tales, teaching what particular societies and particular times consider important values and behaviours.”

The book also references the Allies Fairy Book which was published during the First World War, to try and establish common cultural ground with those allied against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans. In another example, the work of the Brothers Grimm was appropriated by the Nazi regime and then banned in many places in post-war Germany as a result.

“There is a long history of fairy tales having been used for propaganda purposes, marrying structures that are familiar with the messages of particular regimes. Fairy tales make extremely effective propaganda tools, but it’s important to remember they can also be subversive.

“Fairy tales directly reference the consumption of children, the decimation of environments, and the selfishness of ‘kings’ who are motivated by greed and power. The parallels here to situations past and present are unavoidable.”

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