Safa Garayev, leading researcher at the Institute of Folklore of ANAS, Doctor of Philology, was a guest on the program “Time Machine” of Planet FM. The program discussed topical issues related to the semantics of folklore facts in a psychoanalytic context and their socio-psychological functions. It was mentioned in the discussions that the psychoanalytic approach allows us to read fairy tales not simply as examples of collective creativity, but as texts that symbolically reflect the human subconscious, fears and desires. This approach provides an opportunity to study conflict situations and metaphors of socio-psychological communication in more depth in fairy tales.

The program mainly discussed the following issues:

- What is the psychoanalytic approach to Azerbaijani fairy tales and what does it reveal?

- What stages in the human psyche do the motifs of “path”, “trial” and “struggle” symbolize?

- What psychological archetypes do the images of the poor boy and the stepmother represent?

- What inner fears do images such as the giant, the dragon, and the witch reflect?

- What do magical objects symbolize psychologically in fairy tales?

- How is the hero’s leaving home and returning home related to the process of individuation?

- What psychological archetypes do the images of the poor boy and the stepmother represent?

- What inner fears do images such as the giant, the dragon and the witch reflect?

- What do magical objects symbolize psychologically in fairy tales?

- How is the hero’s departure from home and return related to the process of individuation?

- How are female characters in fairy tales interpreted from a psychoanalytic perspective?

- What is the role of fairy tales in the psychological development of children?

- How is the role of female characters in society presented in “The Book of Dede Gorgud”?

In the program it was mentioned that fairy tales were of great importance for child psychology, that they were texts with special meaning that answer a child’s psychological questions on an unconscious level and help them symbolically process their inner fears and needs.