The Problem of the Authenticity of african Fairy Tales using the examples of the Fairy Tales of the Fon from Benin and the “Kinder- und Hausmärchen” of the Brothers Grimm

This contribution deals with the question of foreign influences on the Fon fairy tales from Benin (West Africa). It has endeavoured to answer the question whether the similarities found in some Fon fairy tales that have been handed down until now and in some Grimm’s fairy tales that have been written down since the 19th century have an effect on the authenticity of the former. It shows that at the centre of the similarities between fairy tales from different cultures is the human being himself through his mental disposition as a producer of the same or similar fairy tales.