Editing Fable (section)

== Contemporary works ==
In contemporary periods, while the fable has been trivialized in children's books, it has also been fully adapted to modern adult literature.

During the 1880s, Irish-American journalist and folklorist [[Joel Chandler Harris]] wrote African-American fables in the Southern context of slavery under the name of Uncle Remus. His stories (including the animal characters Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear) are modern examples of story-telling that have been praised by scholars like Louis D. Rubin Jr.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jr |first=R. Bruce Bickley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3NnKVGfJTAC&lpg=PA9&dq=joel%20chandler%20harris&lr&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Joel Chandler Harris: A Biography and Critical Study |date=2008-04-01 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-3185-0 |pages=66-69 |language=en}}</ref> Harris’ work has also received criticism, however; according to Rubin, Harris seemed to perpetuate segregationist ideology, as well as glamorize the background and role of slaves in his stories.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Louis D. |last2=Jr. |title=Joel Chandler Harris Criticism: Uncle Remus and the Ubiquitous Rabbit - Louis D. Rubin, Jr. - eNotes.com |url=https://www.enotes.com/topics/joel-chandler-harris/criticism/criticism/louis-d-rubin-jr-essay-date-1974 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=eNotes |language=en}}</ref>

[[Felix Salten]]'s ''[[Bambi, A Life in the Woods|Bambi]]'' (1923) is a ''[[Bildungsroman]]''—a story of a [[protagonist]]'s coming-of-age—cast in the form of a fable. [[James Thurber]] used the ancient fable style in his books ''[[Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated|Fables for Our Time]]'' (1940) and ''Further Fables for Our Time'' (1956), and in his stories "[[The Princess and the Tin Box]]" in ''The Beast in Me and Other Animals'' (1948) and "The Last Clock: A Fable for the Time, Such As It Is, of Man" in ''Lanterns and Lances'' (1961). [[Władysław Reymont]]'s ''The Revolt'' (1922), a [[metaphor]] for the [[Bolshevik]] [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Revolution of 1917]], described a revolt by animals that take over their farm in order to introduce "equality". [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'' (1945) similarly satirized [[Stalinist Communism]] in particular, and [[totalitarianism]] in general, in the guise of animal fable.

In the 21st century, the Neapolitan writer and painter Sabatino Scia is the author of over a hundred fables.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SABATINO SCIA - Sito Ufficiale |url=https://sabatinoscia.com/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=SABATINO SCIA |language=it-IT}}</ref> The characters are not only animals, but also things, beings, and elements from nature'''—'''all playing the role of revealer of human society. In addition to these writings, Scia also uses painting as a medium for his fables: his collection “Не забувати ніколи. Never forget," for example, is a commentary on [[Holodomor]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le favole di protesta occidentale di Sabatino Scia |url=https://sabatinoscia.com/favole/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=SABATINO SCIA |language=it-IT}}</ref> In Latin America, the brothers Juan and Victor Ataucuri Garcia have also contributed to the resurgence of the fable. But they do so with a novel idea: use the fable as a means of dissemination of traditional literature of that place. In the book "Fábulas Peruanas," published in 2003, they have collected myths, legends, and beliefs of Andean and Amazonian Peru, to write as fables.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ICDL - International Children's Digital Library |url=http://en.childrenslibrary.org/library/books/a/atafabu_00510018/index.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=en.childrenslibrary.org}}</ref>

African-American and award-winning author [[Octavia E. Butler]], though having published work since 1971, has made a resurgence in popular media nearly twenty years after her death in 2006. With what The MacArthur Foundation describes as “transcendent fables,” her stories address social issues such as climate change and racial inequality in a way that’s still relevant to many of her readers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=George |first=Lynell |date=2022-11-17 |title=The Visions of Octavia Butler |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/17/arts/octavia-butler-vision-kindred.html# |access-date=2025-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>