Tag Archives: Hans Christian Andersen

The Trump Who Had No Clothes

By Robin Bates | Published: June 19, 2022

Andersen’s “Emperor’s New Clothes” perfectly captures today’s GOP.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "This Is Just to Say", Donald Trump, Emperor's New Clothes, GOP, January 6 Investigation Committee, William Carolos Williams | Comments closed

Fantasy Lit Grappling with Drug Addiction

By Robin Bates | Published: June 27, 2019

Friday Canadian author Lauren Davis has sent me her latest book, a fantasy portal quest that grapples with the problem of drug addiction. She knew it would appeal to me because of how it draws on fantasy literature, especially Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen, to explore ways of responding to this gut-wrenching issue. The protagonist […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "white lady", drug addiction, Grimoire of Kensington Market, Lauren Davis, Lucille Clifton, Snow Queen, suicide | Comments closed

The Snow Queen & Child Snatching

By Robin Bates | Published: October 4, 2018

Andersen’s “Snow Queen” tells of a child abduction that is only too relevant as children are separated from their immigrant parents.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, immigrant child separations, Kirstjen Nielsen, Snow Queen | Comments closed

Moving through Death’s Doorway

By Robin Bates | Published: August 23, 2013

My father’s poem about Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” is comforting me as he slides towards death.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Dream of the Little Match Girl in New York", death and dying, Little Match Girl, Scott Bates | Comments closed

What Fictional Fantasy Means

By Robin Bates | Published: January 6, 2011

Having taught British Fantasy Literature for the first time last semester, I need to think back on it before it becomes a distant memory. By reflecting publicly, I can share some of the insights I gained from the course. Two major things I learned are that (1) fantasy is an oppositional genre—by which I […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Kubla Khan", "La Belle Dame sans Merci", "Lady of Shallot", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Alice in Wonderland Alice through the Looking Glass, Carl Jung, Charles Dickens, Christina Rossetti, fantasy, Geoffrey Chaucer, Goblin Market, Grimm Brothers, Hard Times, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Idylls of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien, James Barrie, John Keats, Joseph Campbell, Jungle Books, Kenneth Grahame, Lewis Carol, Man and His Symbols, Midsummer Night's Dream, Rider Haggard, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Rudyard Kipling, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, She, teaching, The Lord of the Rings, The Wind in the Willows, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Big Sis, Baby Bro

By Robin Bates | Published: August 18, 2010

The relationship between a big sister and her baby brother is special. In fact, it’s archetypal. It doesn’t matter if she is in her 80’s and he is in his 70’s. Somehow he is still “little bro,” and when she can’t protect him the universe seems to have gone horribly wrong. These thoughts came to […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Brothers, death and dying, Madeleine L'Engle, Sisters, Snow Queen, Wrinkle in Time | Comments closed