Charles Deulin (1827–1877) was a French writer, theatre critic, and folklorist who is most known for his contemporary adaptations of European folk tales. Among his many stories are " Cambrinus, King of Beer", "

The Twelve Dancing Princesses "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (or "The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes" or "The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces") (german: Die zertanzten Schuhe) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1815 ( ...

", "

The Enchanted Canary "The Enchanted Canary" is a French fairy tale collected by Charles Deulin in ''Contes du roi Cambrinus'' (1874) under the title of ''Désiré d'Amour''. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Red Fairy Book''.Lang, Andrew. ''The Red Fairy Book''. London ...

", and " The Nettle Spinner'. Deulin was born into a poor family in

Condé-sur-l'Escaut Condé-sur-l'Escaut (, literally ''Condé on the Escaut''; pcd, Condé-su-l'Escaut) is a commune of the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the border with Belgium. The population as of 1999 was 10,527. Residents of the area are kno ...

. a former

department of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

on the Belgian border of northern France. His father was a tailor, but Deulin found work as secretary to a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

—who also happened to be a

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. After Deulin eloped with a local girl and moved to Paris, he made a living writing columns and theatre reviews for various periodicals; but his most successful works were

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

based on the folk tales of the countryside. He reinvigorated the tales by infusing them with the character of the time and place in which he lived. The vernacular language and familiar ambiance appealed to his readers in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. His first effort, "Le compère de la mort", was an adaptation of an oral story he had once heard. He went on to research and write three short story collections, which were well-received and widely read: '' Tales of a Beer Drinker'' (1868), ''Tales of King Cambrinus'' (1874), and ''Small Town Stories: Tales and Novellas'' (1875). After Deulin's death in 1877, his publisher distributed the author's final contribution to

folkloristics Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

: ''Mother Goose Tales before Perrault'' (1878). (

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

(1628–1703) is the author of ''

Tales of Mother Goose Tales may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tales'' (album), a 1995 album by Marcus Miller * ''Tales'' (film), a 2014 Iranian film * ''Tales'' (TV series), an American television series * ''Tales'' (video game), a 2016 point-and-click adventure ...

'' (1697) and the founder of the

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

genre.)

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* *
''Contes du roi Cambrinus''
at Gallica,

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deulin, Charles 19th-century French writers French male short story writers French short story writers French folklorists Collectors of fairy tales Fairy tale scholars Folklore writers 1827 births 1877 deaths 19th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers

See also

References

Bibliography

External links