Mukashi mukashi ... Eine Analyse des Spektrums des Bösen im japanischen Märchen

Abstract

Most people know the famous fairy tale ending And they lived happily ever after or a similar version of it. But before any fairy and/or folk tale can get to a happy ending, the characters, especially the hero(es) of the story, have to face many hurdles, challenges, and even evil encounters.

Evil in fairy tales is as ubiquitous as it is in real life, and it is a popular theme that keeps reappearing. In Europe as well as in Japan, the evil and dark side of fairy tales has been one of the points of criticism against fairy tales. However: One aspect that becomes apparent in all of this is that there is no overview of the kinds of evil appearing in the stories, and the actions associated with these types of evil.

This thesis aims to establish an overview of a set of actions in Japanese fairy tales that can be found to encompass the entire spectrum of evil. It is imperative to keep in mind that this is a rather wide-ranging spectrum since the research available in relation to the evil portrayed in fairy tales is broad and versatile. However, the research that is currently available does not look at evil as a concept that includes less gruesome actions as well as the truly evil ones. That is why this thesis is taking all kinds of evil actions into consideration, i.e., cruel and less cruel actions, to reflect all aspects of the concept of evil. Furthermore, the thesis aims to demonstrate that evil is, in fact, a part of the fairy tale and that the text itself takes sides by creating the distinction between good and evil in the story.