the thousand and one nights. origins culture: arab, from a collection of pre-islamic middle persian...
DESCRIPTION
1001 Nights Oral and written versions existed side by side. The tales are rooted in daily life, but are made magical by their settings, fantastic adventures, and the intervention of sorcerers and demons (djinn). The Prologue sets forth the themes of: Lust, madness, violence, justice, retribution, heroism.TRANSCRIPT
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The Thousand and One Nights
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Origins
Culture: Arab, from a collection of pre-Islamic Middle Persian tales around the14th century
Names to know: Schehazerade, Shahrayar (“king”)
Shahrayar very displeased with first wife (and those who follow)
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1001 Nights
Oral and written versions existed side by side. The tales are rooted in daily life, but are made
magical by their settings, fantastic adventures, and the intervention of sorcerers and demons (djinn).
The Prologue sets forth the themes of: Lust, madness, violence, justice, retribution,
heroism.
![Page 4: The Thousand and One Nights. Origins Culture: Arab, from a collection of pre-Islamic Middle Persian tales around the14 th century Names to know: Schehazerade,](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022082600/5a4d1b167f8b9ab059991c24/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
The Narrator Shahrayar cannot find a suitable wife stating,
“There is not a single chaste woman anywhere on the entire face of the earth” Beheads those not suitable
Schehazerade volunteers to spend the night with king
He orders her to be beheaded the next day but she begins telling him stories of kings/empires/events of the past After 1001 nights he falls in love with her and
makes her his queen This is where we get the story of Sinbad and
Aladdin
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Global Connections?
The Greeks invented the novel in the Hellenistic period (3rd-1st centuries BCE) but these were adventure/romance tales only.
Novel form is developing in medieval Japan, as well.
This is also where idea of the Cyclops stems from
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Two-part Narrative Structure
Baghdad part: the characters and action focus on Baghdad in the time of Haroun al-Rashid.
Egyptian part: characters and settings are Egyptian, jinn are manipulated through talismans rather than directly.
Tales reflect the influence of all the Islamic world (& the Quran) as well as ancient Babylonian & Mesopotamian narratives and historical events/figures such as those surrounding Alexander the Great.
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Male vs. Female P.O.V. Men are comfortable when
in control Men react violently when
they realize they do not have control
Women dislike the bonds put upon and actively seek escape
Women can be powerful as even Djinn (genies) cannot control them
Disney Version
Real Version
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Aim of the Tales
Schehazerade’s tales may be chosen to teach Shahrayar that not all women are like his first wife. In many of the tales a good woman undoes the
harm done by a bad woman. The wicked characters are punished according to
their crimes, but are never put to death (unlike all of Shahrayar’s other innocent wives!).