Reines Licht: Blindness, Religion, and Morality in Selected Early Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmarchen

This paper undertakes a disability studies reading of blindness in selected early Grimms Kinder- und Hausmarchen (KHM). I argue for the use of the religious model of disability as a methodology for this reading and develop a new model known as the moral model: as I demonstrate, the religious model locates disability in the individual. In contrast, the moral model - which is often conflated with the religious model - should be a symbiotic methodological approach that locates the disability in the moral fabric of the tales rather than in the individual. My analysis shows that blindness equals damnation in the KHM. Evil characters are punished with it due to sin and a lack of morality, whereas good characters are saved from such a punishment. This salvation often takes the form of miraculous healing, often by God.

Automated summary

This paper examines blindness in selected early Grimm's Fairy Tales from a disability studies perspective. It argues for the usage of the religious model of disability as a methodological approach and introduces a new model known as the moral model. The analysis reveals that blindness is associated with damnation in the tales, with evil characters being punished due to sin and lack of morality, while good characters are saved through miraculous healing.