“I love studying language,” Mirabelle Korn ’12 says. “There are practical reasons – travel, reading books in their original language, or watching movies without the subtitles – but I just love discovering the meanings and nuances of words.”
Being a polyglot also comes in handy when it’s time to write one’s thesis. A French and German major, Mirabelle forged her interests into a compelling look at how fairy tale motifs are interpreted by contemporary French and German filmmakers. Ten films – some direct adaptations, others resonating with fairy tale narrative structures – led Mirabelle to explore themes like representing magic for a modern audience and how filmmakers adapt and adjust fairy tales to address contemporary life and sensibilities.
“My language studies helped, and my study of film helped me pick which stories I wanted to examine in more depth, pulling out the elements relating to my argument,” Mirabelle says. “In the process, I discovered a lot of great films and discovered a much more nuanced understanding of the history of fairy tales in oral, written, and cinematic forms. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I’ll definitely be pursuing this further after I turn in my thesis!”
Mirabelle’s experience researching and writing her thesis has been extremely rewarding. “I’d say my two favorite things have been discovering a new field of study and delving completely into a piece of work for almost a full year. I wish I had even more time to let the ideas stew and to explore other angles.
“I definitely learned a lot about how to approach a project of this scale and how to sort through lots of sources and ideas,” she adds.
Mirabelle has been careful to note her time at 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú is coming to a close. Even though she will be pursuing a master’s degree in contemporary literature at The University of East Anglia (in Norwich, England, a town “full of literary energy and history”), she will miss 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú and its distinctive atmosphere.
“I’ll miss my friends, of course, and the beauty of the campus, the amazing professors, and the sun,” she says. “I’ll also miss the sense that you can be totally silly and nerdy and be loved for it, that you can express crazy opinions and actually have people discuss them with you, that you can just as easily discuss philosophy with someone as gush about your favorite television show together or play a game of tennis or have a picnic on the lawn.
“It’s that ease and curiosity and openness that I’ll remember and cherish the most.”