System of Images in Magical Fairy Tales

Аннотация

The article compares the study, classification, and types of magical fairy tale characters in world folklore. The differences between the terms character, image and hero are analyzed and the place and role of the hero in the system of images in Uzbek folk magic tales is researched. Keywords: Folklore, magical tale, character, image, hero, type. Introduction: Oral folk literature, which constitutes an 6. The Hero integral part of the spiritual values of a nation, 7. The False Hero particularly fairy tales, vividly reflects the cognitive R. Drory identifies five main roles in magical tales: processes, aesthetic perception of the world, social structures, customs, and ethical principles of a people. 1. Hero A As noted in national discourse, "The priceless pearls of 2. Hero B human culture are primarily embodied in the folklore 3. Guide of each nation... Folklore, one might say, is the cradle 4. Giver of a magical gift song of humanity" [1, №68]. From this standpoint, a pressing scholarly challenge in the study of Uzbek fairy 5. Defeated character [14, p. 32] tales is the systematic investigation of the unique traits B. Kerbelytė, while analyzing magical tales, divides and functions of characters in magical tales. This characters into five groups: includes their classification based on defining 1. Hero characteristics and their division into functional types. The current study applies a structural-typological 2. Hero’s close ones approach to analyze characters according to their 3. Antagonist narrative roles, and a structural-semantic method to 4. Antagonist’s close ones group them based on poetic attributes and symbolism. 5. Neutral characters [13, p. 50] In the realm of magical tales, the system of characters E. Novik classifies fairy tale characters according to has been extensively studied by folklorists around the world. Russian scholar V.Y. Propp, in his 1928 work semantic features: Morphology of the Folktale, conducted structural 1. By gender (male/female) research on magical fairy tales by analyzing the 2. By age (old/young/child) composition of one hundred Russian folktales. 3. By individual traits (ordinary/extraordinary, According to him, Russian fairy tales typically include anthropomorphic/non-anthropomorphic) seven types of dramatis personae [3, p. 73]: 4. By family status (parent/child, older/younger, 1. The Villain biological/step-relative) 2. The Donor 5. By social status (king/peasant, rich/poor, 3. The Helper master/servant) 4. The Princess and her Father 6. By location (home/forest, own or foreign 5. The Dispatcher kingdom, near/far). International Journal Of Literature And Languages 91 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834) Before systematizing the character system in Uzbek that alp means hero or warrior [6, p. 77]. magical tales, it is essential to clarify the conceptual Thus, in fairy tales, the term hero refers to brave and differences among key terms in the field. victorious characters—typically warriors or Character, Image, and Hero: Terminological adventurers—whereas not all main figures qualify as Distinctions What distinguishes the terms hero, heroes. character, and image in the context of magical fairy For instance, in the tale Kenja Botir, the prince is the tales? Although often used interchangeably in both hero, while in Ur, To‘qmoq, the old man is the central folklore and literary studies, each term carries distinct figure but not a hero, as he does not display heroic semantic and theoretical implications. actions. In literary criticism, the term character denotes an The term character (personage) implies a human figure acting figure—an individual portrayed to a greater or who participates actively in the narrative. By this logic, lesser extent within a work of art. animals, magical objects, and natural phenomena “Any person depicted in a literary work, regardless of cannot be classified as characters. However, within the the extent, is referred to as a character. The term broader system of images, not only human characters personage (from French) signifies a person or figure…” but also animals, objects, and natural elements [5, p. 103]. contribute meaningfully to the tale. A more formal definition states: “A character (Lat. “All images in the system are interrelated—they persona) is a person represented by the author in art or complement, clarify, and expand upon one another. literature. Depending on their involvement and Object and setting images are subordinate to character significance in the narrative, characters are categorized images, and within the character system itself, as major, supporting, or episodic. Those central to the supporting and secondary characters are hierarchically plot and conveying the work’s primary ideological and related to main characters” [4, p. 207]. aesthetic purpose are principal characters or While folklore criticism adopts many of the same terms protagonists. Characters wh