Review

My research and enquiry into Little Red Riding Hood has proved in a very short time to be a path with multiple destinations, dead ends and deviations, which has added to the fun and interest.

This blog has given me the space to really focus my research and practice in this subject. I have explored the literary history which is fascinating in terms of the social, economic, political and personal circumstances of Charles Perrault and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, but also the storytellers, singers and culture that gave them the oral versions of folk tales.
The research has led to my discovery of the work of many folklorists and academics particularly Jack Zipes and Alan Dundes whose life's work has often been dedicated to discovering and discussing the origins, evolution and interpretations of these tales and their influence and reflection of our culture.

The subject of Little Red Riding Hood is compelling due to its continuing re-evaluation, evolution and interpretation up to present day. From its oratory origins, through its literary stabilization and anchorage in the 17th and 18th century through to its pictorial interpretation which extends and adapts the story, it's meaning and continuing relevance, through genres of illustration, photography, animation and film to name a few.

I did not want my study to be a dry and wordy examination of the subject as I am an artist and illustrator and it is the imagery of this subject that drives my research and interest.
Therefore I have attempted to layer the more heavy research articles, history and insights among introductions, interviews and articles on illustration, contemporary and historic.

Often there is very little information on illustrators and their work. I have attempted to address this by requesting statements from contemporary illustrators about their engagement with this story and insights to their approach and relationship with the story. The illustrators are from all over the world and sometimes they have given very thoughtful detailed responses and other times just tiny insights but they all add to the richness of the subject as well as to the contemporary relevance of the research.

As I intend to proceed with this blog beyond the requirements of my studies, I have allowed myself to explore odd paths such as the story of Dorothea Viehmann (story teller to the Grimms). More for the joy of discovering and sharing her story than it's relevance to Little Red as it is doubtful that she supplied the Grimms with this tale.

I have where possible labeled posts with the date of the illustrations, so that a time line will evolve as my work progresses. I have many posts in draft form awaiting further information, either directly from the artist or from further research or resourcing through books.
I look forward to consolidating these as I progress.

As far as my practice I think that the research has fed my ideas and passion for the subject immensely and I look forward to continuing my research, building a resource and further crafting my own interpretations.

The Path of Needles or Pins?

It is difficult to find when and where the paths of needle and pins appeared in the fairytale, though it is in a version of 'The Grandmother' collected by folklorist Achille Millien (1838-1927) in the French province of Nivernais, about 1870.
In Paul Delarue's recounting of these versions, the girl meets the wolf or, in this case, a "bzou" (werewolf) in the woods, who asks her:

   Fig 1 (above) Needle detail of 'The Path of Needles or Pins' by Hazel Terry

"What road are you taking, the Needles Road or the Pins Road?""The Needles Road," said the little girl."Well I shall take the Pins Road."

The little girl enjoyed herself picking up needles. Meanwhile the bzou (werewolf) arrived at her Grandmother's....

                                    Fig 1 (above) Pin detail of 'The Path of Needles or Pins' by Hazel Terry

"There are some variations in the names of the roads.... These absurd roads, which have surprised adults and provoked scholars, delight children, who find their existence in fairyland quite natural." Paul Delarue

The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, Jack Zipes says: 

"The wolf asks her if she is taking the path of pins or needles. She indicates that she is on her way to becoming a seamstress by taking the path of needles."

In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Catherine Orenstein says:

 "She must chose a path of pins or needles -- the tools and symbols that appear in female initiation rites around the world, and particularly in France, where sending a young girl to apprentice with the seamstress for a year or so was, according to one scholar, a bit like sending her to finishing school, and carried a sense of sexual maturation."

It is said to be a mark of maturity and responsibility to take the path of needles. Pins were used by children as a quick unskilled 'makegood' rather than taking the time to properly repair clothing by sewing. So the choice of paths is the choice between childhood innocence and maturity. 

   Fig 1 (above) 'The Path of Needles or Pins' by Hazel Terry

In my illustration I have exchanged their choice of paths, I wanted the Red Riding Hood to be a child and the wolf to be the mature character, trickster and seducer, I also included threads in the needles, I thought it made them ruder.

References 

Fig 1,2 Details of The Path of Needles or Pins, Hazel Terry
Fig 3 The Path of Needles or Pins, Hazel Terry

http://expositions.bnf.fr/contes/gros/chaperon/nivers.htm
http://boj.pntic.mec.es/~jmarto1/01tradicion-oral/delarue.html
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/boardarchives/2003/aug2003/redridinghood.html
Orenstein C, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, Basic Books, New York, 2002. 
Zipes J, The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.