The stubborn child
The stubborn child is a legend ( ATU 760 **). It is in the children's and house tales of the Brothers Grimm at number 117 (KHM 117). In the first edition, the title was From a stubborn child .
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Because a child does not follow its mother, God makes it terminally ill. In the grave it always sticks out its little arm and only finds rest after its mother hits it with the rod.
Interpretations
As with many fairy tales, there are also various attempts at interpretation. It is z. For example, the child in the fairy tale is interpreted as the result of a failed upbringing , whose will has been broken and who then pretends to be "dead" or behaves passively and dependently.
Originally, however, it was meant as a warning against unwanted children, for which there are many examples in sermon collections (cf. Old Testament Proverbs 13:24; 4th Commandment ). It was a widespread belief that children who beat their parents will grow their hands out of the grave (cf. Hans Sachs vol. 5, no. 811; Brentanos Wunderhorn no. 226a).
Cf. KHM 43 Frau Trude , KHM 109 The Totenhemdchen , KHM 145 The ungrateful son , KHM 154 The stolen Heller ; from Grimm's German Legends No. 137 The Giant Finger .
literature
- Brothers Grimm: Children's and Household Tales. Complete edition. With 184 illustrations by contemporary artists and an afterword by Heinz Rölleke. S. 564. Düsseldorf and Zurich, 19th edition 1999. (Artemis & Winkler Verlag; Patmos Verlag; ISBN 3-538-06943-3 )
- Hans-Jörg Uther: Handbook to the children's and house fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Berlin 2008. pp. 261-262. (de Gruyter; ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 )
- Wolfram Ette: The stubborn child. About suppressed resistance and the forms of inanimate life - a socio-political essay . Marburg, Büchner-Verlag 2020. ISBN 978-3-96317-185-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uther, Hans-Jörg: Handbook to the children's and house tales of the Brothers Grimm. Berlin 2008. pp. 261-262. (de Gruyter; ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 )