the arabian nights: the art of storytelling
DESCRIPTION
Slideshow introducing The Arabian Nights, frame stories, and the art of storytelling. Designed for "World Literature," an undergraduate course taught by Professor Craig Carey, University of Southern Mississippi, Fall 2014. Visit the course website at: http://www.craigcarey.net/f14rr Slideshow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported LicenseTRANSCRIPT
T H E A R T O F S T O R Y T E L L I N G
T H E A R A B I A N N I G H T S
www.craigcarey.net/f14wl @ccareylit 08.25.14
Why do we tell stories?
– J O A N D I D E O N
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
The region where The Thousand and One Nights originated as oral tales
F R O M O R A L T O W R I T T E N
• Persian Indian Folktales (oral stories for 600 years)
• Moved to Baghdad where they were written down
• Copyists recorded the tales; translators added their own touches and stories
• French translation and then English translation
A D A P TAT I O N & T R A N S L AT I O NS T O R I E S W E R E R E V I S E D , C O M B I N E D , E D I T E D , & R E M I X E D
B E C A M E M O R E O F A E U R O P E A N T E X T
– E D W A R D S A I D ( F R O M O R I E N TA L I S M )
“The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting
memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences.”
Frame story: a literary technique used to contain an embedded narrative, a story within a story
Embedded StoriesStories within Stories
Frame Narrative: “The Story of King Shahrayar and Shahrazad”
Demon with Glass Chest (woman is locked away after wedding night)
"Tale of the Ox and the Donkey" "The Story of the Merchant and His Wife"
"The Story of the Merchant and the Demon"
"The First Old Man's Tale"
"The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon"
"The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban"
Shahrazad
Shahrazad’s Father
"The Second Old Man's Tale"
"The Third Old Man's Tale" (implied)
S H A H R A Z A D ; A L S O K N O W N A S S C H E H E R A Z A D E
– Description of Shahrazad, pg. 13, The Arabian Nights
The older daughter, Shahrazad, had read the books of literature, philosophy, and medicine. She knew the poetry by heart, had studied historical reports, and was acquainted with the sayings of men and the maxims of sages and kings. She was
intelligent, knowledgeable, wise, and refined. She had read and learned.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence, leaving King Shahrayar burning with curiosity to hear the rest of the story. Then Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “What a strange and lovely story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live? It will be even better and more entertaining.” The king thought to himself, “I will spare her until I hear the rest of the story; then I will have her put to death the next day.”
PA G E 2 3 , T H E A R A B I A N N I G H T S
When morning broke, the day dawned, and the sun rose; the king left to attend to the affairs of the kingdom, and the vizier, Shahrazad’s father, was amazed and delighted.” King Shahrayar governed all day and returned home at night to his quarters and got into bed with Shahrazad. Then Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” The king added, “Let it be the conclusion of the story of the demon and the merchant, for I would like to hear it.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure, dear, happy King.”
PA G E 2 3 ( C O N T I N U E D ) , T H E A R A B I A N N I G H T S
Suspense
Seduction
Deferral
Death
InterruptionDesire
SpaceTime
T H E A R T O F S T O R Y T E L L I N G
This slideshow by Craig Carey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License