<P> Although the fairy tale is a distinct genre within the larger category of folktale , the definition that marks a work as a fairy tale is a source of considerable dispute . The term itself comes from the translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's Conte de fées , first used in her collection in 1697 . ) Common parlance conflates fairy tales with beast fables and other folktales , and scholars differ on the degree to which the presence of fairies and / or similarly mythical beings ( e.g. , elves , goblins , trolls , giants , huge monsters ) should be taken as a differentiator . Vladimir Propp , in his Morphology of the Folktale , criticized the common distinction between `` fairy tales '' and `` animal tales '' on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals . Nevertheless , to select works for his analysis , Propp used all Russian folktales classified as a folklore Aarne - Thompson 300 - 749 -- in a cataloguing system that made such a distinction -- to gain a clear set of tales . His own analysis identified fairy tales by their plot elements , but that in itself has been criticized , as the analysis does not lend itself easily to tales that do not involve a quest , and furthermore , the same plot elements are found in non-fairy tale works . </P>
where does the term fairy tale come from
the translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's Conte de fées