Evil as a Boundary of Good : Crossing the Boundaries in the Early Mediterranean Literary Tales
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The first literary treatment of European fairy tales originates in the Mediterranean. The story of Cupid and Psyche included in Apuleius' novel Golden Ass is considered the oldest written document of a European fairy tale. After that, the first collections of fairy tales appear in Europe in the 17th century; these are the Tales of Tales collected by G. B. Basile and the Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals by Charles Perrault. The aim of the paper is to point out, in selected Mediterranean fairy tales, the recurring paradigm of the Difficult Task which mostly links together the three key figures (the Villain, the Hero, and the Sought-For-Person). A necessary part of these stories is overcoming the obstacles put by negative characters which leads the positive heroes to a successful goal. Moreover, it provides the latter with dynamics as well as a considerable theatrical potential. The paper also includes a reflection on the performativity and reception of these fairy tales in Baroque Europe. |
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