Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
These tales were a big influence on me when growing up in Germany. Some of the enduring themes treated there in deceptively simple matter-of-fact language are the beautiful child asleep in a glass case. I see this as the kind of image that fits the beginnings of the descriptions of autism. The idea of what might be going on inside someone if they can only be woken up. It is a completely false image but a very strong image – to think there is some real chance that you can, maybe with some magic cure, awaken this child inside.
Tell me about your first book, Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm.
I think that almost all of us have been influenced by Fairy Tales. And that is particularly true in my case. There weren’t that many children’s books when I grew up and they were read to me again and again. Later on when I could first read I had a wonderfully illustrated book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which I treasured.
I think they are the stories that give you a lasting sense of wonder. They let you experience unexpected events and often terrifying ones. And, fortunately, everything comes out right in the end. They are stark tales and written in very basic language. There are wonderful images to nourish your imagination for life, for example Snow White in the glass case. I see this as an image that chimes in with ideas that were current when we were just becoming aware of autism in the middle of the 20th century: the idea of a beautiful but unreachable child. What might be going on inside her mind? How can she be woken up? In the tale there was a simple cause, a poisoned apple, and a simple and totally accidental cure. The apple was only stuck in the throat and came out again. It is a completely false image, but a very striking one. Sadly, the causes of autism remain unknown and there is no cure.
The tales also involve changeling children, an image often invoked by parents, and there is the story of the gifts given at the birth of Sleeping Beauty and the curse given by one bad fairy. Fortunately, this curse is counteracted by the gift of another good fairy. I think of this as a story about our genetic endowment at birth. We are all dealt out gifts of good genes and also some not so good ones.
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Uta Frith is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Visiting Professor at Aarhus University where she participates in the ‘Interacting Minds’ group. She is well-known for her pioneering work on neuro-developmental disorders, especially autism. She has contributed some of the major theories explaining the enigmatic symptoms of this condition and has published numerous scientific articles and books. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
