The thesis is focused on the topics of feminism and Slovenian folk tale. Fairy tale is one of the oldest folk genres and it has a great meaning for the society as a whole. I was interested in discovering which elements separate fairy tales from other narrative genres of folk literature and also in which way the theme of feminism appears in fairy tales. I mainly focused on two approaches to the study of fairy tales – on the sociological and psychoanalytical approach. This thesis is mainly theoretical and I used the following research methods in it: the descriptive method, the historical method, the classification method, the comparative method, the synthesis method and also the generalization and abstraction method. In the first part of my thesis I discovered in which way the image of women is reflected in Slovenian folk tales through the study of literature. Special chapter was dedicated to the figure of stepmother and the negative image with which the figure is usually portrayed. In the second part I support my findings with comparative textual analysis of the selected fairy tale. I chose the fairy tale Hudobna mačeha in dobra pastorka, because it is one of many fairy tales in which the character of stepmother is highly stigmatized. In Slovenian folk fairy tales female characters are portrayed as predominantly passive and negative compared to male characters. With the help of my research question I will determine how (Slovene) fairy tales are different from other types of folk literature and to what extent and in what ways are women shown in them, especially the image of stepmother. Because I think that the character of stepmother is shown as extremely stigmatized and negative in Slovenian folk fairy tales. I tried to find the reason for this through psychoanalytic theory of Bruno Bettelheima and sociological theory of Jack Zips.
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