The article argues that the canonical structure of the traditional folk tale contains elements of chaos, play, and simulacra, which are directly actualized within postmodern discourse. Particular attention is paid to the examination of the fairy-tale chronotope (time and space), where its ‘timelessness’ and the disruption of linear progression are viewed as archetypes for the postmodern concepts of fragmentation and the ‘eternal present’.
The aim of this research is to identify the structural and semantic affinities that link the traditional genre to contemporary literary discourse. Specific concepts-such as chaos, simulacrum, multiculturalism, and play-are highlighted and examined as typological commonalities existing between the folktale and postmodernism.
For the first time, this article attempts to examine the interconnections between the folktale as a folklore genre and the phenomenon of postmodernism, which is traditionally not associated with it.
The article places particular emphasis on the issue of the hero’s deconstruction, illustrating the transformations of the fairy-tale archetypal figure within the domain of postmodern fragmented consciousness.
The relevance of the article stems from the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter, analyzed through the interconnections and relationships between literary theory, folklore studies, and philosophy, utilizing the appropriate methodological frameworks.
The factual basis of the study consists of published Armenian folktales recorded from various regions of historical Armenia-compiled in the ‘Armenian folktales’ and ‘Armenian Ethnography and Folklore’ series, as well as separate collections-alongside works by authors representing the typological landscape of postmodern prose.
The study was conducted using a combination of several methods. Specifically, descriptive, contextual, structural-semantic, historical-typological, synthetic-analytical, and comparative methods were applied.