Bonnets, hoods and hats in history and folklore: Little Red Riding Hood as an example

Referent/in: Mirjam Mencej, Ljubljana

Abstract

Little Red Riding Hood is without a doubt one of the world's most fameous fairytales and the red hood that the girl is wearing one of the most famous pieces of clothes. As one researcher put it: »If you take the Red Riding Hood out of 'Little Red Riding Hood', what you have left is quite obvious: Little.« No matter whether or not the Little Red Riding Hood's hood stems from folklore, it  has definitely provoked many diverse interpretations in the history of folkloristics. The paper aims to give a short overview of symbolic meanings that researchers so far attributed to the hood and partly also to the other items Little Red Riding Hood (and the wolf) are bearing:  the basket with food and a bottle of vine, flowers, stones.