The Tales of Black Children: The Evolution of Self Image and Cultural Value

This thesis explores how the narratives presented in fairy tales influence black children and how they navigate fantasy and imagination while developing their self-image, world view, and definitions of value. This paper interacts with data ranging from the 1940s to the 2010s in order to see the shift in ideas of diversity and the inclusion of fairy tales and fantasy in educational settings over time. The methods used to gather data were semi-structured informal interviews with librarians, retired and active teachers, daycare workers, parents, etc. and content analysis of various stories and movies, most of which had fairy tale elements in them. After analyzing the data, the conclusion reached was that language and imagery are two of the most significant ways that narratives are presented and then absorbed by the audience. The interview respondents highlighted these two aspects continuously in their narrations of memories and experiences about fairy tales, diversity and childhood fantasy exploration both from their own childhood and their observations of children as adults. It became clear that representation needs to be present in literature and media. While it has improved over the years, there is still plenty of room for improvement.