I wonder why the Cinderella story seems to resonate with so many different cultures? There must be a powerful inter-cultural meme at work here. Every culture offers examples of unjust oppression, and we have all experienced it at some point in our individual lives. I tend to think about experiences with my brother. I recall many times where I felt that my parents treated us unfairly. I wonder if one could construe these experiences as "Cinderella moments."
In any case, the Cinderella tale is an example of a tale that connects multiple cultures. It might be interesting to look closely at the elements that are different to see how each culture "adapts" the tale to reflect their own setting and situation. This will be a great tale for kids from a variety of cultures to "read"--they will quickly recognize the tale and naturally identify with it. But when they run into elements that are different or changed, they will have questions, and perhaps this could give rise to a productive multicultural encounter or event. Also, this could give Qatari kids a chance to realize that their culture is part of a larger fabric; that as different as Qatari culture seems from other cultures, there are, in fact, some interesting similarities.
This is definitely a tale that will be useful to discuss and examine in our Cape Town paper.
1 comment:
Nice find, Patty!
I wonder why the Cinderella story seems to resonate with so many different cultures? There must be a powerful inter-cultural meme at work here. Every culture offers examples of unjust oppression, and we have all experienced it at some point in our individual lives. I tend to think about experiences with my brother. I recall many times where I felt that my parents treated us unfairly. I wonder if one could construe these experiences as "Cinderella moments."
In any case, the Cinderella tale is an example of a tale that connects multiple cultures. It might be interesting to look closely at the elements that are different to see how each culture "adapts" the tale to reflect their own setting and situation. This will be a great tale for kids from a variety of cultures to "read"--they will quickly recognize the tale and naturally identify with it. But when they run into elements that are different or changed, they will have questions, and perhaps this could give rise to a productive multicultural encounter or event. Also, this could give Qatari kids a chance to realize that their culture is part of a larger fabric; that as different as Qatari culture seems from other cultures, there are, in fact, some interesting similarities.
This is definitely a tale that will be useful to discuss and examine in our Cape Town paper.
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