Were mythologies, fairy tales and legends a great part in your early education as a kid?
By dennislv
@dennislv (134)
Shanghai, China
September 28, 2013 10:48pm CST
I find many western books,movies, and games popular in China are about myth, fairy tale and religous legend.
Say, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Ring, the Vampire Diaries, Clash of the Titans,even Plants VS Zoomies.
I also know that Greek and Eruopean traditions are deep rooted in English-speaking countries.
I myself was told stories by my grandparents like Snow White, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio(of course in Chinese)...But I still haven't got enough knowledge for me to fully understand many talks and sections in TV series and movies about religion, myth and legends.
Say, vampires, werewolves, dragons,Titans, orcs, dwarves...are there systematic pedigrees of them?
1 response
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
29 Sep 13
Our household had many books of traditional stories, classical mythology and all manner of other books besides. All us four children read avidly and were very familiar with the stories collected by the brothers Grimm (German folk tales), Perrault (French folk tales) and several others as well as the collections of English folk tales made by Joseph Jacobs. One of my favourite books as a child was a large volume called "The American Book of World Folk Tales", which had traditional stories from all over the world. Beside those, we also enjoyed a wide range of literature written for children (Alice in Wonderland, Hans Andersen's stories, Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, Beatrix Potter's books and many others).
Our family was probably somewhat more literate than most - we didn't have TV and my father would not have a radio in the house until long after the war ended, so reading was one of our main occupations.
1 person likes this
@dennislv (134)
• Shanghai, China
29 Sep 13
I myself am also a book-lover with a large collection of book at home.Reading has definitely been an enjoyment in my life since I was a little boy.
But I don't feel very much confident about western literature,history and mythology, especially when my son asks me something further about the background of a English fairy tale or a story.And he wants me to tell him in English!
