"The Most Incredible Thing" in the Secondary World of the Tale (after J. R. R. Tolkien) Cover Image
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„Най-невероятното" във вторичния свят на приказката (По Дж. Р. Толкин)
"The Most Incredible Thing" in the Secondary World of the Tale (after J. R. R. Tolkien)

Author(s): Lidia Denkova
Subject(s): Anthropology
Published by: Институт за етнология и фолклористика с Етнографски музей при БАН

Summary/Abstract: The essay is dedicated to philosophic reflections on the wondrous, which are centered on two main questions: Why is the tale created and continuously retold? and What fundamental needs of human existence does the tale satisfy? Concrete sources of these reflections are, on the one hand, some of Andersen's most philosophical tales, such as "The Most Incredible Thing" and "Something", which do not belong to the oral tradition. On the other hand, this is the essay of the famous J. R. R. Tolkien "On Fairy-Stories", which speaks about the "secondary" world of the wondrous. The main ideas are summarized in the following conclusions: 1) Creation of tales is a fundamental creation. 2) The main role in this creation is played by imagination, and more precisely, "the play of imagination", which reflects human desire to overcome the limitations of reality. 3) According to their attitude towards reality the tales are divided into ones, which are close to reality and ones, which go beyond it; philosophic tales belong to the second type. 4) Tale creation resembles philosophic research, as far as by means of the "strange" it keeps up amazement and challenges fantasy in discovering the new.

  • Issue Year: XXVIII/2002
  • Issue No: 3-4
  • Page Range: 5-10
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: Bulgarian