:: year 17, Issue 65 (11-2009) ::
Persian Language and Literature 2009, 17(65): 151-165 Back to browse issues page
Reflections on Functions of Magic in Ancient Magical Tales
Pegah Khadish
, pkhadish@ut.ac.ir
Abstract:   (5947 Views)

Magic tales are considered as one of the most significant types of oral
literature. These tales, specified by number 300-749 in the ATU
international list of folktales, remind us the time when every single
object or phenomenon possessed a magical and metaphysical power in the mind of the primitive man and exceeded man’s power.
Those men believed that at the time of troubles, magical powers would come to assist them and would save them from dangers. Through content analysis of magical tales, we may find clues to the roots of the thoughts of primitive man such including animation and personification of
objects, the ability to speak to plants and animals, metamorphosis, etc.
 

Keywords: Folktales, Magical powers, Magical agents, Ancient beliefs
Full-Text [PDF 151 kb]   (1128 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research |


XML   Persian Abstract   Print



Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
year 17, Issue 65 (11-2009) Back to browse issues page