Mytho-Folkloric Images and Motifs: their Transformation in Modern Literary Fairy Tales

Abstract

The article is devoted to the scientific analysis of the nature of mytho-folklore images and motifs, as well as the study of their transformation processes in the genre of modern literary fairy tales. The object of the research is the genre-poetic structure of a folklore tale, its artistic functions and ways of representation in the author's interpretations. The focus is on the key features of the folklore tradition – fantasticism, the phenomenon of miraculous helpers, a system of stable motives, the functional specificity of images, cause-and-effect conditionality and a unique chronotopic model. All these elements in a literary fairy tale receive new content, being transformed and synthesized with individual author's narrative strategies. Such a synthesis contributes to the actualization of the structures of collective consciousness, manifested both in archetypal images and motifs, and in the perception of the modern reader. In addition, the article highlights the problem of typological classification of fairy tales according to age focus groups and defines their pragmatic orientation, aimed at both children and adults. The research material includes D. Akhmetuly’s works “Сайын хан”, “Хан ұлдары” (The Khan’s sons), “Текті ұры” (The Noble Thief), “Мұрагер” (The Heir), and “Әкеден қалған мұра” (The Father’s bequest). The research methodology is grounded in the continuity of scholarly tradition and encompasses both traditional and innovative approaches to literary analysis, such as content analysis, comparative-typological method, mythopoetic analysis, and psychoanalytic interpretation.

The study found that mytho-folkloric images and motifs in the modern literary fairy tale function not only as traditional structural elements, but also as an artistic mechanism that generates new meaning in connection with the author’s worldview, genre transformation, and the specific features of reader reception.

Keywords: myth, fairy tale, archetype, image, literary fairy tale, chronotope, unconscious.