From the Powder Mutabor: Wilhelm Hauff 's History of the Small Muck as an Emancipation Story

Following on from Ernst Bloch's reflections on the fairy tales of Wilhelm Hauff, this article takes into consideration 'The Story of the Little Muck', from the first Marchen Almanach, as a tale about the development of an outsider who is taught by the ingratitude of his king that loyalty does not guarantee justice. While the way in which the injustice that is suffered is avenged does combine motifs from fairy tales, the solution to the conflict lies, however, in the development of the main character, for which Hauff's formula of transformation - 'Mutabor' - holds the emancipatory key. Although the source which inspired Hauff comes from Wieland's collection of fairy tales entitled Dschinnistan, a comparative reading shows that Hauff made a conscious decision for thematic renewal of the material.