TXTDS 401 A: Text Technologies

Instructor: Dr. Kate Clairmont (kc30@uw.edu)

Class meets: T & Th 11:30AM - 1:20PM

Office hours: M 11:00AM - 12:00PM on Zoom and by appointment. Please email me at kc30@uw.edu to set up an appointment in person or via Zoom.

What shapes a fairy tale? This course explores literary fairy tales through texts, traditions, and transformations, probing how fairy tales are shaped by their format. Alongside the stories themselves, we will examine the paratextual materials that influence their reception, including first editions, title pages, prefaces, and anthologies, with a particular emphasis on illustrations. We will consider how illustrated editions reframe fairy tales for different audiences, and how the textual apparatus surrounding these stories participates in their meaning across cultures and centuries. 

Readings will include Italian, French, German, Scandinavian, and British examples, featuring Straparola, d’Aulnoy, Perrault, the Grimms, and Andersen, among others. Their diverging framings will guide our close readings and comparative analyses of themes such as social critique, power, magic, the fantastic, and the melding of the real with the supernatural. We will also experiment with digital humanities tools to consider how methods of visualization and data analysis can open new perspectives on fairy tale traditions.

Learning Objectives

• Identify key characteristics of the literary fairy tale and compare how the genre develops across different cultural traditions and historical periods.

• Analyze and understand the role of paratext and illustration within the fairy tale genre including title pages, prefaces, editorial notes, and anthological framing as active shapers of meaning rather than neutral supplements to the text.

• Apply image-text analysis to illustrated fairy tale editions, asking what illustrations add, interpret, or transform in relation to the verbal texts they accompany.
• Conduct comparative edition history analysis, tracing how successive illustrated editions of the same text make new claims about meaning, audience, and cultural authority.
• Critically evaluate digital humanities tools as text technologies with their own assumptions, affordances, and limitations.
• Present original analytical arguments orally and in writing, applying the course’s core frameworks to objects beyond the assigned syllabus.
  

• Analyze and understand the role of paratext and illustration within the fairy tale genre.

Readings

There are no required books for this course. All readings will be available on Canvas. Readings are listed week by week in the schedule below. Please complete all assigned readings before the class session for which they are listed.

Weekly Schedule

The syllabus may be changed or adjusted at any time if necessary. Changes to the schedule will be communicated via Canvas.

I. Foundations

Week 1 What is a fairy tale? What is a text technology?

• • • 3/31 Course Introduction

• • • 4/2 Genre, Paratext, and Image-Text: Theoretical Toolkit

II. Textual Examples 

Week 2 Italian Origins: The Fairy Tale Before and After Illustration 

• • • 4/7 Straparola and the Early Printed Fairy Tale

• • • 4/9 Basile and Illustrated Editions

Week 3 French Tales I: D’Aulnoy, De Murat, and the Conte de Fées as Luxury Object

• • • 4/14 Madame d’Aulnoy, “The White Cat” and “Finette Cendron”

• • • 4/16 D’Aulnoy Continued; De Murat and the Visual World of the Conte de Fées

Week 4 French Tales II: Perrault and Edition History

• • • 4/21 Perrault and the 1697 Edition; “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Bluebeard,” “Little Red Riding Hood” 

• • • 4/23 Doré and the 1862 Edition: A Case in Edition History

Week 5 The Grimms I: Text, Prefaces, and Editorial Construction

• • • 4/28 The Grimm Tales and the Scholarly Edition
      • • In Class Essay Assignment 1

• • • 4/30 Edition History and the Seven-Edition Arc

Week 6 The Grimms II: Illustration History and Special Collections

• • • 5/5 Rackham, Sendak, and the Illustrated Grimms

• • • 5/7 Special Collections Class Visit

Week 7 Andersen: The Author and His Illustrators

• • • 5/12 Andersen’s Tales and the Question of Authorial Control

• • • 5/14 Harry Clarke and the Illustrator’s Vision

III. The Victorian Fairy Tale and the Anthology

Week 8 Victorian I: Wilde, De Morgan, and the Literary Fairy Tale as Designed Book

• • • 5/19 Wilde and the Book as Total Art Object

• • • 5/21 De Morgan and Walter Crane

Week 9 Victorian II: Doyle’s In Fairyland, Lang, Jacobs, Craik, and the Anthology

• • • 5/26 Doyle’s In Fairyland and the Gift Book Trade
      • In Class Essay Assignment 2

• • • 5/28 Lang, Jacobs, and the Anthology as Colonial Editorial Construction

IV. Reception, Digital Tools, and Synthesis

Week 10 Arabian Nights, Digital Humanities, and Course Synthesis

• • • 6/2 Arabian Nights and European Print Culture 

• • • 6/4 Digital Humanities as Text Technology: Learning Lab

Final examination week 6/6-6/12

Assignments and Grading

Final grading will be calculated according to the following:

• Participation: 15%
• In-Class Writing Assignment 1: 15%
• In-Class Writing Assignment 2: 15%
• Pair Presentation: 15%
• Reflection Paper: 15%
• Final Exam: 25%

Participation  —  15%

Regular, prepared engagement in discussion and regular in-class exercises. I recommend you come to class ready to discuss two or three of the most interesting, surprising, or puzzling points you have taken away from the readings. These points might be questions, appreciations, reflections, connections, conundrums or anything that got you thinking. The success of this class depends on your sharing your own thoughts and questions. Don’t be shy; this classroom serves as a space to discuss and learn together. Quality of contribution matters more than frequency. Participation includes contributing to pair and group exercises as well as full-class discussion.

In-Class Writing Assignment 1  —  15%

A short analytical essay completed in class, approximately 45–50 minutes. This assignment focuses on illustration analysis. You will be given a structured prompt with two or three specific questions to address. Further details will be provided. 

In-Class Writing Assignment 2  —  15%

A short analytical essay completed in class, approximately 45–50 minutes. This assignment focuses on paratextual analysis and preface comparison. You will be given a structured prompt with two or three specific questions to address. Further details will be provided.

Pair Presentation  —  15%

Working in pairs, you will present an analytical case study of one illustrated edition or paratextual object. Presentations will take place during the second half of the quarter. A sign-up sheet will be circulated in Week 2 or 3. Each presentation will be followed by a 10-15 minute class discussion that the presenting pair will facilitate using questions prepared in advance.

Reflection Paper  —  15%

A 2–3 page written reflection due one week after your pair presentation. Drawing on the class discussion that followed your presentation, identify one or two moments — a question raised, a comparison made, an observation that surprised you — and use them to extend your analysis of your chosen edition/object. What did the discussion reveal about your object that your presentation did not capture? This is an informal but analytical piece of writing. It should demonstrate close thinking.

Final Exam  —  25%

A closed-book in-class exam held during finals week. 

Format

This class is conducted in-person. Students should only register for this class if they are able to attend regularly in-person. Students are expected to participate in class to fully benefit from course activities and meet the course’s learning objectives. If unwell or unable to come to class, it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor in advance (or as close to the class period as possible in the case of an unexpected absence), and to request appropriate make-up work as per policies established in the syllabus. What make-up work is possible, or how assignments or course grading might be modified to accommodate missed work, is the prerogative of the instructor. For chronic absences, the instructor may negotiate an incomplete grade after the 8th week, or recommend the student contact their academic adviser to consider a Current Quarter Drop.

Academic Integrity

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. More information can be found online at: https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Academic integrity is part of your responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about whether something constitutes academic misconduct, don’t hesitate to ask me. I am willing to discuss any questions you might have.

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions; sharing answers; and previewing quizzes/exams; using unauthorized assistance or online sources in taking quizzes/tests/assignments; requesting/hiring/encouraging someone to complete an assignment on the student’s behalf)
• Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s))
• Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments)
• Multiple submissions of the same or very similar work (incl. code) in separate courses without the express permission of the instructor(s) (when in doubt, talk to your instructor)
• Recording instructional content without the express permission of the instructor(s), unless approved as a disability accommodation, and/or the dissemination or use of such unauthorized records

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution.

Access and Accommodations

Your experience in this class is important to me. The University of Washington is committed to creating inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course. If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Technology

Please use electronic devices in class only to support your participation in class activities. Use of devices for other purposes (emailing, social media, etc.) may reduce your participation grade.

Use of large language model-based chatbots such as ChatGPT can be fun and occasionally even helpful, but regular use subverts the fundamental goals of this course, i.e. the development of your own knowledge and analytical skills. Any use of such programs in work you submit for this course must be acknowledged. Unacknowledged use constitutes academic misconduct and will be dealt with as such.

Safety

Preventing violence is a shared responsibility in which everyone at the UW plays apart. Call SafeCampus at 206-685-7233 anytime – no matter where you work or study – to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested: www.washington.edu/safecampus 

Sex- and Gender-based Violence, Harassment, and Discrimination

The UW, through numerous policies, prohibits sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination and expects students, faculty, and staff to act professionally and respectfully in all work, learning, and research environments.

For support, resources, and reporting options related to sex- and gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination, refer to the UW Title IX’s website, specifically the Know Your Rights & Resources guide. Should you wish to make the Office of the Office of the Title IX Coordinator aware of a Title IX concern, visit the Make a Title IX Report webpage. 

Please know that if you choose to disclose information to me about sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination, I will connect you (or the person who experienced the conduct) with resources and individuals who can best provide support and options. You can also access additional resources directly:

• You can request anonymous support, from SafeCampus 
• You can request confidential support, from a confidential advocate.
• If you know you want to submit a formal complaint, contact the Civil Rights Investigation Office.

Please note that some senior leaders and other specified employees have been identified as Officials Required to Report. If an Official Required to Report learns of possible sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination they are required to contact the Office of the Title IX Coordinator and report all the details they have in order to ensure that the person who experienced harm is offered support and reporting options.  

Writing and Academic Support

Improving your writing is hard, but it is not something you need to take on alone. The Odegaard Writing and Research Center and CLUE Study Center offer great options for writing tutoring and support. You can schedule an appointment to talk with someone at any point in your writing process, whether you’re generating ideas, conducting research, composing a draft, incorporating feedback, or even proofreading.

Assignments: Late Work

All assignments should be submitted on Canvas by the end of the day they are listed on the syllabus. Submitting late work is strongly discouraged, but if you have extenuating circumstances, please contact me so we can discuss it. In general, late work that did not receive the instructor’s prior approval for late submission will be graded as follows: 

• for 75% credit if submitted within 2 days after the listed due date; 
• for 50% if submitted within 4 days after the listed due date;
• for 20% if submitted within 7 days after the listed due date;
• for 0% if submitted beyond these 7 days.