Fairytale Mirrors and Windows
In this post, I'd like to talk about something similar to what I talked about in my last two posts. However, I'd like to expand beyond the specific topic of diversity to talk about the concept of mirrors and windows. Diversity usually means talking about race and ethnicity or gender/sexuality and identity. These two factors are included in the idea of windows and mirrors, but people are much more complicated, and this idea attempts to explain how representing that complication is important.
The terminology of windows and mirrors was created by Emily Style in 1988, and was originally intended to emphasize representation in school curriculum. For Style, the term "window" indicates the ability to gain perspectives outside of oneself. She says it is:
The new perspectives give us understanding toward and empathy with people who are different. Grace Lin believes that this ability is why windows matter in literature. She says,
Let me illustrate it with a pair of images. One of these images is realistic and one is fantastic. Both, however, display qualities of resilience and capability. Both are windows into someone else's life.
Although retold fairytales aren't realistic windows into someone else's life, they aren't meant to be. The power of fantasy comes through its symbolic language. No one expects to walk out the door tomorrow and face a literal dragon, but plenty of us have faced metaphorical dragons. Fairytales describe a world of physical conflicts that, for us, are metaphorical conflicts. Windows into other people's perspectives exist in this symbolic world. We might learn that the witches are falsely accused, or that the knight in shining armor only wants power. This new desire to understand people's motivations is something we can use in real life.
The concept of windows in literature is closely related to the concept of mirrors. Grace Lin explains it this way:
Together, mirrors and windows work through literature to give us greater insight into ourselves and others. Although Style's idea was originally designed to be used in teaching, it applies to literature of all kinds, even fantasy. Retold fairytales provide these windows and mirrors in abundance. I'll talk about a specific example in my next post, but for now, I'd like to close this post with a quote from a beloved fantasy author. Ursula Le Guin writes that fantasy stories are:
The terminology of windows and mirrors was created by Emily Style in 1988, and was originally intended to emphasize representation in school curriculum. For Style, the term "window" indicates the ability to gain perspectives outside of oneself. She says it is:
"the understanding that there is more than one way to see the world" (Style).Literature is a great way to provide these perspectives because the very act of reading a piece of fiction requires some suspension of disbelief, which is a shift in perspective from the reader. Characters and plots in a story ask the reader to understand them, which usually means attempting to see them through different perspectives. First-person books even require us to see the world through the eyes of the narrator.
The new perspectives give us understanding toward and empathy with people who are different. Grace Lin believes that this ability is why windows matter in literature. She says,
"How can we expect kids to get along with others in this world, to empathize and to share, if they never see outside of themselves?" (Lin).For Lin, these windows are one of the main reasons that literature is important. While this idea is simple to apply in YA literature that's intended to be realistic, it becomes more complicated when it's applied to fantasy and to retold fairytales. How can a story about adventuring and monsters possibly be a window to someone else's perspective?
Let me illustrate it with a pair of images. One of these images is realistic and one is fantastic. Both, however, display qualities of resilience and capability. Both are windows into someone else's life.
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Although retold fairytales aren't realistic windows into someone else's life, they aren't meant to be. The power of fantasy comes through its symbolic language. No one expects to walk out the door tomorrow and face a literal dragon, but plenty of us have faced metaphorical dragons. Fairytales describe a world of physical conflicts that, for us, are metaphorical conflicts. Windows into other people's perspectives exist in this symbolic world. We might learn that the witches are falsely accused, or that the knight in shining armor only wants power. This new desire to understand people's motivations is something we can use in real life.
The concept of windows in literature is closely related to the concept of mirrors. Grace Lin explains it this way:
"A book can show you the world, but it can also show you a reflection of yourself."Finding ourselves in books is valuable because we can gain greater knowledge of ourselves through this reflection. After looking at the mirrors in literature, we can make more informed decisions because we understand ourselves better. We can draw courage from the actions of our mirror characters and inspiration from their successes. We can claim fairytale heroism for our own struggles.
Together, mirrors and windows work through literature to give us greater insight into ourselves and others. Although Style's idea was originally designed to be used in teaching, it applies to literature of all kinds, even fantasy. Retold fairytales provide these windows and mirrors in abundance. I'll talk about a specific example in my next post, but for now, I'd like to close this post with a quote from a beloved fantasy author. Ursula Le Guin writes that fantasy stories are:
"fulfilling the most ancient, urgent function of words... to form for us 'mental representations of things not actually present,' so that we can form a judgement of what world we live in and where we might be going in it" (12).Stories are powerful because they teach us about reality. By looking through their windows and into their mirrors, we can prepare ourselves for our world.
Works Cited
Le Guin, Ursula. "Introduction." The Book of Fantasy, edited by Jorge Luis Borges, Viking, 1988, pp. 9-12.
Lin, Grace. "The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf." TEDx, Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wQ8wiV3FVo.
Style, Emily. "Curriculum as Window and Mirror." The National SEED Project, https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/curriculum-as-window-and-mirror.
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