Ritual Death in a Selection of Khorasan Folktales based on Hero’s Journey Campbell

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Master's degree, Persian language and literature, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate professor in the department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Ritual death is one of the categories related to initiation rituals in the hero's journey, which plays role in the hero's spiritual growth and change in personal identity, and social status.

The present study aims to examine ritual death in a selection of Khorasan folk tales according to Joseph Campbell's model. In Campbell's approach, ritual death symbolizes breaking away from the past, letting go of one's previous identity, and being ready to accept change. This study was conducted with a qualitative method and a descriptive-analytical approach. The statistical population of the study is 92 folk tales, 25 of which had elements of ritual death such as the hero's symbolic descent to the underworld, the hero's experience of death and rebirth by supernatural forces. The findings of the study indicate that ritual death is symbolized in several ways in Khorasan folktales: 1- The hero's entry into specific places such as a well, cave, bathhouse, grove, desert, and whale's belly 2- figure-turning 3- The manifestation of a plant god 4- Symbolic reincarnation.

Entering specific places as a symbol of the mother's womb and the underworld is most prominent. Analysis of symbolic structures showed that ritual death in a selection of Khorasan stories is considered a necessary stage in the hero's development and is a collective and ritual experience.

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Main Subjects

Research in Narrative Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 20 October 2025

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