2011 – Peter Pan, Pirates, Mermaids, and Fairies

In F2011 Lorraine Janzen’s ENG 222 class, Fairy Tales and Fantasies, created a virtual exhibit in dialogue with the Osborne Collection’s exhibit at Toronto Public Library. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of J.M. Barrie’s iconic work of fiction, Peter Pan, both exhibits took “Peter Pan, Pirates, Mermaids, and Fairies” as their curatorial theme. Working in pairs, students selected a book from the Children’s Literature Archive and created a Digital Exhibit focusing on one of the thematic categories. Each Exhibit analyzed how their selected figure (Peter Pan, Pirates, Mermaids, or Fairies) was represented in the CLA book and included a historical context or popular culture comparator. Building an Exhibit with connections to the Osborne Collection’s contemporaneous Exhibit highlights the links between the activities of the university and our local community. The Digital Exhibit Assignment also gave students a real-world opportunity to share their knowledge of fairy tales as historically specific cultural artifacts whose meaning depends on their place, time, and medium of production.


Exhibits: Fairies | Mermaids | Peter Pan | Pirates


Mermaids

Gender Dichotomy in Grimms “The Golden Mermaid”

Neil Austen and Erin Graham

Preserving Canadian Culture and It’s Creatures of the Sea: Canadian Wonder Tales’ “The Mermaid of the Magdalenes”

Ellen Bateman, Stephanie Eiras

Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother: Undertaking The Same Mission In Different Forms

Andrea Chan, Madeline Li

Legends of Mermaids: Sexual Temptresses in *The Story of Peter Pan*

Alicia Chirrey, Mamta Patel

Andersen’s The Mermaid: A Tale of Female Sacrifice

Alison Haberstroh, Victoria Macdonald

Female Maturation in Andersen and Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”

Brandon Kates and Antonia Wales

The Demise of Mermen in Folklore; as Depicted in “Hans, the Mermaid’s Son”

Hye Eun Kim and Victoria Rose Regan

The Contemporary Mermaid vs. the Historical Mermaid

Danica Nelson, Veronica Porfilio

Mermaids: Exploring Gender Inequality in “Hans, the Mermaid’s Son”

Katherine Smyk, Mark Moliterni

The Transformation of The Little Mermaid

Emilia Turano and Larissa Fitzsimons