Animal Fantasy Elements in Children's Folktales of Isfahan

Abstract

Fantasy, or the imaginative tale, deals with an illusory and imaginary world and unreal phenomena, and due to its blending of elements of imagination and reality, the normalization of impossibilities, or the depiction of astonishing things distant from reality, it holds a special place in narrative literature. Since Isfahan, as one of the cultural centers of Iran, possesses many fantasy stories, this article seeks, through library resources and by means of a descriptive–analytical method, to examine the animal fantasy elements in eight children’s folktales of the people of Isfahan. The findings of this study indicate the existence of various types of composite animal fantasy characters (animal and human), the presence of an archetypal character in only one tale, the combination of both magical and innovative types in a number of animal characters, the shared nature of supernatural actions among animal fantasy characters or natural actions among real characters, and the presence of symbolism in many of the narrative characters examined. These reflect moral and educational themes or motifs with ethical, instructional, and social aspects, conveyed practically through the actions of the characters. Therefore, this scientific inquiry demonstrates that the prominent feature of fantasy actions lies in their supernatural or abnormal nature. Moreover, the elements of character, motif, and theme in this study, beyond highlighting the mindset or temperament of the characters to the audience, or transmitting profound educational, moral, or social messages to children through narrative figures, also possess, in a scientific and valuable manner, the capacity to be applied comparatively to other animal fantasy tales throughout Isfahan.