What is a fairy tale What are the characteristics of fairy tales

Fairy Tales and Characteristics

Fairy tale is a special art form in literature. It expresses the essence of things or phenomena through rich imagination, fantasy and exaggeration on the basis of real life; it weaves the activities of many ordinary and common characters or animals into a splendid and fantastical picture to educate children's minds. The basic characteristics of fairy tales are:

1. It is a fictional story with fantasy components. The action of the main character in a fairy tale can be not in accordance with the laws of nature and science, but it is twisted to reflect the essence of real life. For example, the story of "The Ugly Duckling" reflects the misfortune of the exploited and oppressed people through the misfortune of the ugly duckling, and at the same time reflects their desire to get rid of discrimination and cold treatment. 2. It mostly uses anthropomorphic symbolism. Fairy tales often make animals, plants, minerals and so on put on human clothes, give them human thoughts and consciousness, and can live and move like human beings. For example, the stone statues in "Stone Statues of Ancient Heroes" were originally lifeless, but in the fairy tale, they actually speak and think like real people. The use of such anthropomorphic symbolism is a common method of creating a typical fairy tale.

3. Fairy tales have a compact plot, strong storytelling, and a strong sense of fun so that children and teenagers can be educated after reading them. As the famous Russian poet Pushkin said in the fairy tale poem "Little Golden Chicken": "Fairy tales are not true, but the meaning is deep! For the young it is a lesson."

Fairy tales, like fables, often use anthropomorphism, but the most prominent and basic feature of fairy tales is that they are rich in fantasy, which is one of the boundaries that distinguish them from fables. Another characteristic of the fairy tale is that its story has a beginning and an end, the plot is complete, and often use the method of repeated narration.

Types of fairy tales can be divided into literary fairy tales and scientific fairy tales according to the nature of the content, according to the description of the object can be divided into writing about daily life, writing about animals, writing about gods and monsters; according to the form of expression can be divided into fairy tales, fairy tale drama and fairy tale poetry.