Mythological Insights into Children's Fantasy Stories of the Eighties

Mythological Insights into Children's Fantasy Stories of the Eighties
 
Emran Sadeghi 
Assistant   of  Persian Language & Literature,
University of Mohaghegh Ardabili


Bijan Zahirinav
 Associate of  Persian Language & Literature,
University of Mohaghegh Ardabili


Mahdi Rostami
Assistant   of  Persian Language & Literature,
University of Mohaghegh Ardabili


Introduction
  Myth is one of the original sources of children's stories. Every child's imagination contains all the experiences that human beings have had through history. The scope of this reflection is especially evident in the fantasy genre. Fantasy also has an essential affinity with myth. The direction of both implies something beyond reality. Myth should be considered as a Minoan story, the origin of which is usually unknown, and is a description of a natural action, belief, institution, or phenomenon that is inextricably linked to religious mirrors and beliefs. In children's stories, elements of myth and fantasy are widely used.
 
 
Method
The present study aims to investigate the connection between the fantasy stories of children and adolescents with myths in a descriptive-analytical way by studying the fantasy stories of the eighties. In our opinion, these aspects are the origin of fantasy stories. The aspects studied in this article are: plant-human characteristics, mythical characters such as giants and fairies, magic, the archetype of the hero's journey, metamorphosis and animism. The stories studied in this research have been selected from the authors of the field of children and adolescent literature.
 
Discussion
Using mythical elements is not a goal for a fantasy writer; it is a very effective tool. With these elements, he/she can create a new world full of surprises for the audience. The child is a myth-oriented being and the subconscious layers of his/her mind are still connected to the mythical world and its connections; therefore, he/she will enjoy the story the most.
The story of Six-Thousand-Year-Old Green Man by Fariba Kalhor is based on the ideas of plant-human myths. This story is a description of a green man that is six millennia old. He has been the companion of many people and scientists. Even the title of the eleventh chapter of the book is human-plant. The six-thousand-year-old green man, like the legendary Gilgamesh, seeks the mystery of immortality.
Another story in which human-plant features are evident is the famous story Nokhody [The Little Pea] by Qasemnia. This story is rooted in the Persian myth of the plant growing from tears. In Nokhodi stories, which have been rewritten based on ancient stories, we encounter the birth of a plant from human tears.
The Fairy of the Palm Grove by Hossein Fattahi uses mythical characters such as the fairy. In creating the unreal characters of the story, in addition to the capacities of those characters, the author has also paid attention to their mythological aspects, such as pigeons and crows. The important point is that the author pays attention to the ecology of the southern region. The author has chosen the characters of his story from the birds and plants of the same area. The fairy of the palm grove who is one of the most important characters in the story is originally a palm tree.
Animals are often used in children's stories. We witness this fact in the previous story and also in Autumn on the Train by Mohammad-Kazem Mazinani, in which part of the story is based on the relationship between a child and some animals.
The magic object expresses one of the most important human needs. Many fantasy stories are based on the pattern of the magical object, and we will confine ourselves to the story Three Magical Whistles. In this story, too, the child character of the story takes refuge in a magical whistle in the face of danger and insecurity.
The fantasy world is also a world of wonders. Some of these creations are in the form of animal-shaped sculptures in fantasy stories. The two stories of The Boy Who Became a Crow by Mohammad Kazem Mazinani and The Wolves Do Not Cry by Mohammad Reza Yousefi are written based on metamorphosis. Rebellion against oneself and against one's false traits can be the basis for writing a beautiful didactic story. To do this, the author has resorted to symbolism, as the wolf is a symbol of the ugly and predatory aspect of man.
A large part of the texts produced for children and adolescents deal with the issue of animism in different forms. In addition to representing the mythical mentality of their creators and their audiences in the form of poems, songs and anecdotes, they are also important from an aesthetic point of view. Animism is very evident in the story Autumn on the Train.
 
Conclusion
Mythology is the source of inspiration for children's stories because every child in his/her imagination provides the seeds of all the experiences that human beings have gone through in their history. The child discovers fire like a primitive human. There is no way that the early man walked through and the child does not walk in his/her childhood world and his/her games. The subconscious layers of the child's mind are still connected to the mythical world and its connections; therefore, the poet and writer of children and adolescents’ stories and especially poems in which the dominance of consciousness is less, make use of their mythical mentality in the moment of composing poetry for them and communicate with their audience through that part of their minds.
Many aspects of mythic insight are influential in children's stories, especially children's fantasy stories. Mythical characters, the re-creation of mythical stories, the archetype of the hero's journey, and animism have an undeniable effect. It can be said that any story that has benefited the most from mythology has been more welcomed by children and adolescents.
The space that pervades fantasy stories is highly dependent on mythological elements, especially animism and identification which in fantasy stories is not cross-sectional; it can be seen throughout the text of the story and turns the story into a whole.
 
Keywords: Children's literature, fantasy, myth, magic, archetype.
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