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Open research questions in Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies

40 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 3,346 Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • In summarizing the results of this study on the onomastic space of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel The Sandman, it can be asserted that proper names in this work perform complex semantic, symbolic, and stylistic functions, serving as a vital component of the multimodal narrative. Their translation into Ukrainian requires not only formal correspondence but also a profound reproduction of the conceptual, cultural, and emotional layers embedded in the original text. The analysis demonstrates that translator actively employs strategies such as transcoding, calquing, and cultural adaptation, that provide a balance between accurately reproducing the original proper names and ensuring clarity for the target audience. Simultaneously, the research highlighted a series of translational challenges related to conveying the expressiveness and connotative richness of specific onyms. Ultimately, the translation of The Sandman’s onomasticon is a complex, multilevel process in which the translator acts not merely as a linguistic mediator but as an interpreter of the artistic world. Further research could be directed toward a deeper analysis of the interaction between verbal and visual components in translation, as well as studying the reception of Ukrainian onymic equivalents among readers. REFERENCES 1. Boka, O. (2008). Vlasni imena yak kompresovani teksty-nosii kohnityvnoi informatsii (na materiali kazky Dzh. Roulinh "Harri Potter i Orden Feniksa") [Proper Names as Compressed Texts Conveying Cognitive Information (Based on J. K. Rowling’s Novel "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"]. Visnyk SumDU. Seriia "Filolohiia", 1, 15–19. 2. Gaiman, N. (1991). The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes. Vertigo. 3. Geiman, N. (2019). The Sandman. Pisochnyi cholovik. Tom 1: Preliudii ta noktiurny [The Sandman. Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes]. RIDNA MOVA. 4. Kovtun, O., & Pomazan, O. (2016). Vlasne imia u khudozhnomu tvori yak perekladatska problema [Proper Names in Literary Works as a Translation Problem]. Typolohiia movnykh znachen u diakhronichnomu ta zistavnomu aspektakh, 31-32, 46–58. 43 Studia Philologica. 2026. Issue 26 DOI: https://doi.org/10.28925/2412-2491.2026.26 ISSN 2412-2491 (Online) 5. Korunets, I. (2003). Teoriia i praktyka perekladu [Theory and Practice of Translation]. Nova knyha. 6. Kocherhan, M. (2005). Vstup do movoznavstva. [Introduction to Linguistics]. Akademiia. 7. McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. William Morrow Paperbacks. 8. Nørgaard, N., Busse, B., & Montoro, R. (2010). Key terms in Stylistics. Bloomsbury. 9. Syniavska, O. (2023). Pro deiaki sposoby perekladu vlasnykh nazv (na materiali personazhiv komiksiv) [On some methods of translating proper names (using comic book characters as examples)].

    The Onomastic Universe of the Graphic Novel The Sandman by Neil Gaiman: Strategies and Challenges of the Ukrainian Translation · 2026 · DOI

  • This paper aims at excavating the use(s) of mid-nineteenth century English laughter in relation to the conception of Victorian childhood in William Makepeace Thackeray’s rarely studied fairy-tale, The Rose and The Ring (1854).

    Thackeray’s Children: Laughter, Childhood, and Disenchanting The Fairy Tale · 2021 · DOI

  • Agnon’s novel The Bridal Canopy (Hakhansat kala), 1931, this article investigates an under-explored path in modern Jewish literature where folklore and popular culture serve as a radical disruption of European literary norms.

    The hasidic story and the Yiddish cabaret: folk performance as a barbaric disruption in S. Y. Agnon’s <i>The Bridal Canopy</i> · 2017 · DOI

  • In a novel where geographical location and setting are significant—the "gothic plantation" in Virginia, for example, is far from an "Edenic paradise" and is instead "associated with images of darkness, evil, and turmoil" (Jones, "This Dainty Woman's Hand" 70)—these moments in Mexico have not been adequately studied.

    “I am the hero of a fairy tale”: The US-Mexico War and American Manhood in E. D. E. N. Southworth's <em>The Hidden Hand</em> · 2011 · DOI

  • Cultural groups, of course, vary widely from those that are strikingly similar to those who have almost no common ground, but all groups share this increasingly smaller world, and some basic level of understanding is necessary for all groups to share the space with some degree of peace and cooperation.

    The Risk of Misunderstanding in Greg Sarris's Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts · 2004 · DOI

  • In other words, is that ghost that I think I see an actual supernatural phenomenon- a product of physical laws not yet understood, or am I simply imagining it? While the character/reader remains in this state of confusion, the fantastic operates, and once the character/reader decides or discovers that the ghost is actually a sheet hanging over a coat rack and stirred by the night breeze, the fantastic moment ends.

    The Qualities of a Tolkienian Fairy-Story · 2004 · DOI

  • That is, as Bakhtin suggests, potency of carnivalesque lies in its irrepressible linguistic vitality(6) that too frequently remains unexplored even though carnivalesque represents a kind of linguistic topos that, once it appears, suggests an intrinsic power to shape alternative responses to a text's narrative.

    Dumbiedikes, Ratcliffe, and a Surprising Jeanie Deans: Comic Alternatives in 'The Heart of Mid-Lothian.' · 1998

  • And as that engaged audience continued to discuss text, it became clear that there was no consensus as to meanings of legend: to some text primarily seemed to be tragic in its vision of abandonment, in its futile memories, and in brutal reminder sent from daughter to her parents that not only will they never see her again, but also that she is happy without them - in fact, she is on her way to a feast.

    The Need for Narrative: The Folktale as Response to History · 1995

  • 2 Decoration is sparse, with the exception of the border around the titles and perhaps a flower at the 'All four are LO be found as single copies in the Oppenheim collection of the Bodleian Library.

    A Maiden's Tale · 1992 · DOI

  • Moore is the only Baum scholar who remains uncertain that The Royal Book of Oz (1921), which was published under Baum's name and "enlarged and edited" by Baum's successor Ruth Plumly Thompson, is entirely Miss Thompson's work.

    Wonderful Wizard Marvelous Land (review) · 1975 · DOI

  • GEORGE Ewart Evans and David Thomson in their recent bookx have presented us with a full-length study of an animal about which even today surprisingly little is known.

    The Hare in Myth and Reality: A Review Article · 1973 · DOI

  • Close attention is paid to such features in „Eglė Queen of Grasssnakes" that have not been studied before: national colour in literary fairy-tales, dramatic development of moral conflicts, composition matching the psychology of children, diversity of intonation, a harmonious combination of fantasy and reality (as seen by children).

    The literary fairy-tale by S. Nėris in Lithuanian children's poetry · 1969 · DOI

  • There remains to be con­ sidered the possibility that t h ey are not myths. It would be beyond the scope of this paper to consider this possibility, nor can I now attempt to develop the lessons to be learnt from the Australian narratives if their sociological signifi­ cance be accepted.

    The Sociological Significance of Myth. · 1912 · DOI

  • MdrcJten, in my experi­ ence, are scarcely to be found; but ballads, which are folk-tales in verse, are not nearly so rare as is sometimes s uP p o s e d , b ut it is seldom that any but old people know them.

    The Collection of English Folk-Lore · 1890 · DOI

  • The target population is limited to all aspects of folklore, which is the body of knowledge comprising the following aspects: traditions, customs, habits, beliefs, and practices, and key aspects of oral literature reflected in the four primary texts.

    Symbolic Representation of Thematic Folklore in Dust, The Dragonfly Sea, Kintu and The First Woman · 2026 · DOI

  • The scientific significance of the work lies in the consideration of the half-snake character motif in the tales of category 425A, which has not been studied in the contrastive aspect.

    THE IMAGE OF THE HALF-SNAKE CHARACTER IN BRITISH AND KAZAKH FOLKTALES · 2025 · DOI

  • This vision also fits into Calvino’s vision of unstable happiness, insofar as the characters of his stories are united by one thing: happiness either eludes them or is lacking, ultimately one thing is certain and inevitable: banality and resignation.

    THE (IM)POSSIBLE COMMUNICATION IN SOME STORIES FROM ITALO CALVINO'S COLLECTION "DIFFICULT LOVES" · 2025 · DOI

  • While there are many in-depth studies of fairy tales and their evolution, as well as studies on children’s literature from an English-speaking background, the research is lacking in certain niches of literature.

    An exploration of the child’s perspective in the illustrated book Nicholas by Goscinny and Sempé · 2024 · DOI

  • Abstract The importance of demanbre , the sacred plot of family land in Haiti, is undisputed, but the development of demanbre from land to lwa (an elevated Vodou spirit) has not yet been explored.

    Mythologizing the Lwa Demanbre · 2024 · DOI

  • Although any precise dating of the verbal folklore is a very difficult exercise, we cannot exclude that searching for new details and parallels to the elements of this story will open a way to further studies into preserved relics of game culture.

    “Wheel of Life”: from Childhood Memories to Ancestors’ Games · 2023 · DOI

  • We assert this gap in the literature can be addressed by using a growth-focused narrative methodology known as Bildungsroman (story of formation and growth).

    Percy’s Story: Using <i>Bildungsroman</i> as a Narrative Method on Internalized Homophobia of Queer Counselors as Youth · 2023 · DOI

  • What remains to be essential, yet to be fully subverted, is the concept and practice of “racial/ethnic groups” that is still used by folklorists in studying folklores in cultural groups.

    A Cross-Boundary Dialogue in Need: Racial, Ethnic, or Folk Groups? · 2023 · DOI

  • Attention is focused on the fact that a high degree of unreliability is based on the limited knowledge of the heroes, direct participation in the events, a problematic system of values.

    The Phenomenon of Unreliable Narration in the British Intellectual Prose of the Second Half of the Twentieth Century (Golding, Murdoch) · 2022 · DOI

  • It has become necessary to conduct the study due to the fact that the author and her works had not been studied with a comprehensive analysis, and the element of water used frequently and functionally in her works has reached remarkable dimensions.

    The Element of Water in the Tales and Strories of Ferda İzbudak Akinci · 2020 · DOI

  • In our opinion, such an important topic as the influence of Celtic mythology on the folklore of the peoples of Europe should be studied appropriately at a high level by scholars all over the world.

    THE INFLUENCE OF CELTIC MYTHOLOGY ON THE TALES OF EUROPE · 2020 · DOI

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40 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 3,346 Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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