Biografie psów w baśniach Hansa Christiana Andersena pt. „Krzesiwo” oraz „Bałwan ze śniegu”
Dog biographies in Hans Christian Andersen’s „Tinderbox” and „Snowman” fairy tales

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyse literary biographies of dogs in fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy tales as a genre accompany readers from the youngest years, becoming an important element of childhood memories. Returning to them as a more mature reader allows for new interpretations, which take into account the complexity of literary characters, including the non-human ones. Special attention in Andersen’s works should be given to animals, who receive their own literary biographies. The article discusses the methodology of analysing animal biographies, and then, presents zoocritical intepretations of two selected fairy tales by the Danish writer. The ecocritical interpretation focuses on literary representation of dogs, including their symbolism and function in the narrative context. The conclusion of the article is devoted to suggestions on how to integrate animal biographies into teaching Polish in primary schools, including the teaching potential and educational value of this approach.

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