Fairy Tales and Cognition
A while ago I wrote a literature review on the evolutionary, cognitive, and moral aspects of bedtime stories for a course called 'Art & Knowledge'. Shortly after, I read 'On Fairy Stories' by J.R.R. Tolkien and cursed myself for not finding it earlier as it would have been a perfect fit for the bibliography of 'Bedtime Stories'. This short essay will thus make up for this missed opportunity and put the two papers together in an analysis of how Tolkien's thoughts on fairy tales relate to modern theories on the evolutionary, cognitive, and moral aspects of storytelling. read more...