Research Question and Scholarly Sources

Possible research questions:

What are the commonalities between different cultures in relation to mythical creatures?

Why do dragons, fairies and other creatures serve such opposite messages in different cultures?

What are the creatures that have a large and differing impact on different cultures, regions and religions and why do they have the effects that they do?

Sources:

Hamby, James. “The Necessity of Dragons and Fairies.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 30, no. 3, The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, 2019, pp. 412–77.

    This source describes the need for dragons and fairies even though people may not necessary still truly believe in it. These two creatures are used to explore different natures of humans, although exaggerated. Fairies are to represent a powerful better version of ourselves, whereas dragons represent the darker side of people. 

Amy Carlson. “The Pleasures of Metamorphosis: Japanese and English Fairy Tale Transformations of ‘The Little Mermaid.’” Marvels & Tales, vol. 32, no. 2, Wayne State University Press, 2018, pp. 480–83, doi:10.13110/marvelstales.32.2.0480.

    This source looks at western mermaid stories through a Japanese lens, so it is a nice mix between the cultures while also exposing the differences. 

Ernest W. Baughman. “Sea Enchantress: The Tale of the Mermaid and Her Kin.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 76, no. 299, American Folklore Society, 1963, pp. 80–81, doi:10.2307/538087.

    This source mentions mermaid from when they began appearing in stories and continue to talk about how it has changed through time and what mermaid mean.