35th Annual Student Research Conference
Fairy Story Analysis
Ariana R. Gerard
Dr. Anton Daughters and Dr. Brian Ott, Faculty Mentors
Stories and myths are believed by scholars to have been made and created for a multitude of reasons. They could have been made in order to explain unknown mental or physical illnesses that people at the time of its creation did not know even existed or they may have been made to resemble a historical event. The scholars who study these myths are uncertain about what these stories could have meant or what their purpose was, and existing research suggests that every scholar has their own idea and opinion on the purpose of myths. I conducted a content analysis on thirteen fairy stories of the Irish in order to answer my own interpretation on this debate on myths. My analysis found that these fairies were representations of unexplained mental and physical illnesses.
Keywords: Fairy , Myths, Mental Illness , Physical Illness, Unknown Phenomena , Purpose , Stories , Unexplained
Topic(s):Anthropology
Folklore
Interdisciplinary Studies
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 103-4
Location: SUB GEO B
Time: 9:15