In children’s literature, the genre of the short story is especially valued. There are children’s stories of all kinds: the classic and traditional, fables, legends and adapted mythical stories or fairy tales.
main features
The stories that are related are of a fantastic type and in them appear imaginary beings who share adventures with human characters.
The natural and supernatural dimension is intermingled. In this sense, there are characters that change their appearance, others that live forever, natural elements with feelings, and endless magical aspects.
In the stories there is a permanent tension between the forces of good and evil, but finally the stories end with a happy ending.
in world culture
These tales are part of the cultural heritage of humanity. With them the little ones feed their fantasy world, since magical thinking plays an important role in children. However, beyond children’s stories, in fairy tales we find other elements that also interest adults: the desire for freedom, the search for happiness and the need to daydream.
The image of fairies, the origin of the term and its relationship with popular tradition
Traditionally these female beings are winged, small in size and singularly beautiful, an image that comes from 19th century British literature. However, in traditional legends, fairies did not have wings and were not always beautiful. Its male version is the elf, but in some stories the fairies can be both male and female.
Etymologically fairy comes from Latin, specifically from fatum-fata, a term that refers to destiny. In this sense, fairies act as if they control the fate of human beings.
Like many other elements of our culture, fairies are characters that come from mythological stories, legends and popular oral tradition.
The expression “live a fairy tale”
There are people who run away from their mundane reality and through their imagination create their own fantasy world. In colloquial language it is said that they live in a fairy tale. This expression has a negative connotation, since with it it is implied that fantasies are not advisable as the motor of human existence.
Photos: Fotolia – Tatiana_K / Tetiana Nikonorova
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