TY - JOUR

T1 - Feminine characteristics of magical stories of Zoroastrian women in comparison with Persian examples (Case study: Aše ūmāčū)

T2 - magical stories of Zoroastrian women

AU - Pashootanizadeh, Azadeh

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Oral stories have created an important role in Iranian folk culture.Iranians are interested in oral culture and are therefore the source oforal stories which have never been written, including, the fairy talesthat have votive tablecloths along with the Dari Behdini languagewhose custodians are the Zoroastrian women.The origin of these stories with their Persian counterparts is thecommon homeland (Iran), but the characteristics of Dari Behdini'smagical stories, in comparison with Persian stories, are based onfeminine qualities, aspirations and interests, and men do not play aneffective or positive role. However, in Persian examples, men and amale society are preferred. The major difference in the oral stories ofZoroastrian women is the importance of magical elements. Magicexists in all the stories (100%) and the only extraterrestrial being inthese stories is the "fairytale". But magic in Persian oral stories has ashare of less than one third (32.5%), while the text of Persian stories isfull of a variety of magical creatures such as demons, giants, ghostsand so on.The use of Dari Behdini language by Zoroastrian women is anotheraspect of this research, because the Zoroastrian community of Iran ison the verge of extinction and their special language has beenintroduced as a language in danger of extinction. That is why theZoroastrian women, who are eloquent speakers and have no lexicaland linguistic connection with the non-Zoroastrian community outsidetheir home, the Dari Behdini language is used in its pure form. In thisregard, they are a good statistical community for recording languagesand the magical stories of women.In addition, the votive tables set up by women in Iran have a magicalstructure and specific rules. For example, if a wish or intention isfulfilled and the votive table is not spread, an unexpected frighteningevent will surely await the wishful one. The traditions of DariBehdini's tales also refer to the concepts, that if a wish is fulfilled bya fairy and then the vow is not fulfilled, an unpleasant event will surelyoccur, which is the cause of the unhappiness of the fairy tale.

AB - Oral stories have created an important role in Iranian folk culture.Iranians are interested in oral culture and are therefore the source oforal stories which have never been written, including, the fairy talesthat have votive tablecloths along with the Dari Behdini languagewhose custodians are the Zoroastrian women.The origin of these stories with their Persian counterparts is thecommon homeland (Iran), but the characteristics of Dari Behdini'smagical stories, in comparison with Persian stories, are based onfeminine qualities, aspirations and interests, and men do not play aneffective or positive role. However, in Persian examples, men and amale society are preferred. The major difference in the oral stories ofZoroastrian women is the importance of magical elements. Magicexists in all the stories (100%) and the only extraterrestrial being inthese stories is the "fairytale". But magic in Persian oral stories has ashare of less than one third (32.5%), while the text of Persian stories isfull of a variety of magical creatures such as demons, giants, ghostsand so on.The use of Dari Behdini language by Zoroastrian women is anotheraspect of this research, because the Zoroastrian community of Iran ison the verge of extinction and their special language has beenintroduced as a language in danger of extinction. That is why theZoroastrian women, who are eloquent speakers and have no lexicaland linguistic connection with the non-Zoroastrian community outsidetheir home, the Dari Behdini language is used in its pure form. In thisregard, they are a good statistical community for recording languagesand the magical stories of women.In addition, the votive tables set up by women in Iran have a magicalstructure and specific rules. For example, if a wish or intention isfulfilled and the votive table is not spread, an unexpected frighteningevent will surely await the wishful one. The traditions of DariBehdini's tales also refer to the concepts, that if a wish is fulfilled bya fairy and then the vow is not fulfilled, an unpleasant event will surelyoccur, which is the cause of the unhappiness of the fairy tale.

M3 - Journal article

SP - 79

JO - Journal of Iranian-Islamic Studies

JF - Journal of Iranian-Islamic Studies

SN - 2322-2891

ER -