SUPERNATURAL CREATURES AND HARDSHIPS IN SURPASSING A THRESHOLD IN ROMANIAN FAIRY TALES Cover Image

CREATURI FANTASTICE ȘI DIFICULTĂȚILE TRECERII UNUI PRAG ÎN BASMELE ROMÂNEȘTI
SUPERNATURAL CREATURES AND HARDSHIPS IN SURPASSING A THRESHOLD IN ROMANIAN FAIRY TALES

Author(s): Maria Holhoș, Andra Gabriela Holhoş
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Customs / Folklore, Studies of Literature, Romanian Literature, Philology
Published by: Editura Aeternitas
Keywords: fantastic; hyperbolic; confrontation; good; evil; creatures;

Summary/Abstract: In the Romanian fantastic fairy tales volumes “Fata răpită de Soare” (The Girl Kidnapped by the Sun), “Frumoasa Lumii” (The Beauty of the World) and “Inimă Putredă” (Rotten Heart), belonging to the I. Oprișan collection, several imaginary creatures from the earth, the air and the water can be identified. These creatures’ shapes and characteristics acquire fantastic dimensions and features, and their presence in the structure of the fairy tale marks a symbolic threshold. The human character in a crisis meets a numen being who mediates the passing from here to there, to the other realm. Thus, one passes from a familiar space to a contrasting, timeless one, representing a way towards self-knowledge. There will be confrontations in a fictional world with evil presences or benefic entities. Both in the ascendant and descendant spatial structures, the characteristics of the imaginary creatures usually get hyperbolic dimensions, thus increasing the suspence and emphasizing the dominant features.

  • Issue Year: 1/2022
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 181-202
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Romanian
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