Scouting for Territory

I am considering changing my topic to have to do with the possibility of mythical creatures. There are so many different types of creatures that show up in different cultures in varying geographical locations. Is there proof that these creatures existed, may continue to exist or was it all just a collective figment of people's imagination. I felt as though focusing on superstitions would become repetitive, with the main evidence I found is the concept synchronity. The topic of mythical creatures is wider and allows me more room to research different things like origins and purpose or significance to people. These creatures also spread from mythologies to present day sightings, so there would be a lot of information on this subject. 

At first, using 'mythical creatures' as a google search lead me to mainly fictional creatures. Those that have origins or popularization from fiction writers, such as creatures specific to the Harry Potter universe. Specifying creatures from mythology didn't help much, majority if the articles, including Wikipedia, only discuss lists. So, mythical creatures is too broad of a topic, so I focused on creatures that were present throughout multiple cultures. I fought more specified information that talks about the types of creatures and what they could mean to specific cultures. By looking at the Rutgers Library and many other book sites, there is plenty information how certain creatures are relevant to a certain culture or group, but no much on overlaps. I indeed to dig deeper on crossovers that may occur, and discover how or why. 

Ideas that I found while researching this topic is the importance of mythical creatures in the past, how the interconnection of cultures and creatures affected those people and how they are being portrayed today. There are different creatures in every culture, each having their specific significance. Where are there overlaps in that significance and what does it have to do with the portrayal of the creature itself? Some creatures are not particular to a certain region and instead spread to vast areas. Is this just due to people traveling and talking or the movement of the creature? Did the importance of a specific creature lead to a characteristic is that is more preferred a society and its people? And mythical creatures are not just things of the past. Old creatures are constantly rewritten to fit new purposes by media and entertainment. New creatures also appear, such as Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster. One can even argue that aliens may even be mythical creatures, being sighted by multiple witnesses but no picture evidence that is enough for the public to believe they are real. 

Any just like the alien debate, people choose to believe or not believe in these mythical creatures. It may not be as large of a debate, more in certain countries rather than across the globe, but there is still belief and disbelief present. 

Here are some sources I found that may help with my research:

https://www.theguardian.com/mythical-creatures/ng-interactive/2019/aug/26/most-legendary-mythical-creatures-history 

This website seems to have a good overview on how some creatures are connected through cultures and gives the origins. It is a good starting point to spread off of, if I were to look into specific creatures and their impacts on a region, culture, or people. This source also has a map, which makes it all the simpler to find specifics of what I may need. This website also has a link to a recent show that shows mythical creatures in a different light. 

https://rutgers.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_proquest_journals_2475534328&context=PC&vid=01RUT_INST:01RUT&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI_2&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything_except_research&query=any,contains,significance%20of%20mythical%20creatures&offset=0

Hamby J. The Necessity of Dragons and Fairies. Journal of the fantastic in the arts. 2019;30(3):412-477.

 This books seems to one that goes well with my plans for this topics. It discusses the past, present, and future of mythical creatures and fairytales. The book also talks about just how much fairytales can be influenced and change due to the circumstances around the stories, such as media and time period.