Multilingualism and Interculturalism in Fairy Tales - Dorothea Viehmann, Laura Gonzenbach and Tina Vajt – ATU 402

Dorothea Viehmann was a storyteller (narrator), who told about 36 fairy tales to J. and W. Grimm. Socioculturally she was of peasant origin, and her German fairy tales also included French elements. Laura Gonzenbah was a Swiss-German storyteller who wrote down fairy tales. She originated from high middle class, was educated, multilingual, and her Sicilian fairy tales written in German reflect interculturality (Sicilian orientalism). Resian storyteller Tina Wajtava narrated in Resian, i.e. in microlanguage (Slovene dialect), and her fairy tales also reflect multilingualism (Italian, German, Slovene, Resian) and interculturalism, with the influence of German, Romance and Slavic culture. Based on a comparative analysis of the ATU fairytale types, it was found that they have common ATU 402 (animal groom/bride motif) and ATU 425 (searching for a lost husband/wife) motifs. The article includes a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences of the ATU 402 (The Animal Bride).

Interesting is the comparative analysis of fairy-tale types of the Grimm Brothers’ storytellers, such as Laura Gonzenbach, and Resian and Slovene storytellers who have different socio-cultural backgrounds, as they all share common multilingualism and interculturalism as well as the basic motif of love and looking for a groom/bridesmaid.. 

Keywords: women fairy tale writers, women storytellers, women writers, Dorothea Viehmann, Laura Gonzenbach, Tina Wajtava, ATU 402, language, literature, culture.