THE IMPORTANCE OF FAIRY TALES IN CHILD PSYCHE

Abstract

The tales named as “fairy tales”; is a distinct literary genre which is originated from verbal folk tales (as cited in Duman, 2018: 41). Historical development of fairy tales demonstrated that these tales have been prepared for adults of privileged class, and then they drawed children’s attention with their grown and developed elements. Nowadays, fairy tales have become the first and most important source of children’s literature in all cultures (Şahin, 2011). Many articles have been published in fairy tales’ contribution to children’s development and education. Jung suggested that the structure of psyche can be best studied with fairy tales which contain less material of certain cultural knowledge; therefore, the basic structures of the psyche can be seen more clearly (as cited in von Franz, 1996:15). Von Franz also stated that fairy tales reflect humanbeing’s essential characteristics in the purest form (as cited in Stevens-Guille&Boersma, 1992). However, there is a lack of study in fairy tales’ effects on children’s psychological wellbeing. This study illustrated a compilation of the effects and benefits of fairy tales on the child’s psyche.