A Broader and Deeper Idea of Fairy Tale: Reassessing Concept, Meaning, and Function of the Most Debated Genre in Folk Narrative Research
In this essay I try to argue a broader and deeper notion of fairy tale, beginning from an overview of some of the key terminologies and classifications devised and employed by folk narrative research, passing through an etymological and semantic scrutiny of the word 'fairy' and developing, eventually, a structural analysis purposely framed within the historical cultural context of the Irish tradition. What I attempt to let emerge challenging to some extent the established concepts and theories is a more comprehensive narrative category, characterised by a specific epistemological and ontological value, through which a sort of intermediate, neutral space is modelled, where boundaries are crossed and elements more or less heterogeneous are connected. Thus, the fairy tale can express a multi dimensional worldview and the potential for a more complex idea of reality.