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ZAKARYAN EVA

MYTHOLOGEMA OF DISEASES AND

THEIR CURING IN ARMENIAN FAIRY TALES

SUMMARY

In spite of the fact that wide experience exists in the Armenian folklore in the sphere of fairy tales’ collection and publication, fairy tale is considered to be the least investigated genre. The issues concerning diseases and the ways of their curing, occurring rather frequently in fairy tales, were seldom touched upon not only in Armenian fairy tale studies but in fairy tale studies in general. Since we have no evidence of any complete research on the subject in Armenian folk tradition this work is the first extensive experiment in the field.

The objective of the research is to reveal the ancient folk concepts of diseases, their mythological fundamentals, the ritual character of healing, its relation to other rituals, performed according to the ancient model of world-making, particularly by initiations.

Attempts were made to restore the ancient rituals of recovery/healing/ from the survived fragments of di erent tales, to explore the causes of various diseases occurring in the tales, national and folklore notions of their healing, the healers and their fields of activity.

The functions and purposes of diseases in fairy tales, initiation of the hero, acquisition of wealth, gaining high social status, as well as philosophical and moral-educational goals are presented in the introduction. The events and facts described in fairy tales are presented comparing their background and curing methods based on folk perception thus revealing their generalities and di erences. The importance and interest of this topic, the subject of investigation and its objectives, tasks, methods of investiga-

tion, scientific and practical significance of this paper, are substantiated in the introductory chapter.

The ancient folk conceptions of diseases are given in the first chapter: disease is imbalance of harmony in the human body or soul, occurring due to the loss of body’s integrity or as a result of penetration of foreign beings into it, as well as the ritual character of curing, its connection with other transitional ceremonies /rites/, the objective of which is to restore the equilibrium of the initial order of the Universe, nature, as well as human society and the human being himself. The disease is also a transitional, bordering and critical condition for a human being, in the range of life and death, on the borderline of this world and the other world, and the curing is a transitional ritual, transition from the state of illness into the healthy condition. And the healer oØen appearing in fairy tales is considered to be the helper of the Hero and acting as a mediator between life and death, between these two worlds. The fabulous methods of healing are presented, where in addition to the rational and magical healing processes occurring in reality, we come across a variety of ways of mythical curing - treatment with the help of immortality water and rejuvenating apples, revival of dissected body by reunification of its parts, etc. And if the specialists of folk medicine in their investigations have oØen touched upon the issues concerning the bewitching influence of speech on the human being’s life and destiny, the curing methods based on beliefs of enchanting power of water, signifying the role of belief and inspiration in treatment, and though similar events occurring in fairy tales are thoroughly stated in this work, the focus and attention were particularly focused on the miraculous and mythical curing methods. Much attention is paid to mythological roots of beliefs and traditions.

In Chapter Two the figure of a fabulous healer is revealed; the features by which healers di er from other characters are presented, di erent specialized directions, activities and nature of the healers are shown. This part of the work is also devoted to the application of moral principles imposed on their profession, and sometimes immoral behavior; by violation of certain moral principles. Traditional healers may do unfair transactions for the sake of their interests thus harming people. Sometimeshealers want to prove that their professional capacity is nothing but a talent, something

that is received as a giØ from supernatural powers and becoming a healer and wise men is not accidental. The work discusses the methods of receiving particular giØs for curing in fairy tales and shows who are those individuals who are endowed with this power. Moreover, a thorough analysis of episodes occurring in fairy tales about the healers and their pupils is carried out.

All possible types of healers (physicians, doctors, medicasters, Lohmans, fortune-teller-healers, dervishes, mid-wives, satans, demons, saints, curing and doctoring features of craØsmen) are thoroughly discussed in the work and their peculiarities as well as di erences and attitudes are described.

The traditional and folk interpretations of diseases and their causes are identified, the diseases appearing in the fairy tales and the mythological roots of the national perception of these diseases are stated in Chapter Three.In terms of cultural studies, it is of great interest to consider blindness, infertility, as well as skin diseases, mental disabilities, physical disability and amputation, the foci in the human body presented in the form of various animals, reptiles and insects. In ancient times some kinds of diseases were considered to be incurable (blindness, leprosy, paralysis, amputations, etc.), but in fairy-tale context a treatment for these kind of diseases is provided, since their existence and elimination have mythological roots and explanations.

The quest for rejuvenation and immortality, which, however, does not always has a happy ending, is also issue is also discussed in the work.