Post by David on Jan 17, 2006 19:04:06 GMT -5
The telling of tales is a classic form of Zakharan entertainment. Professional storytellers -- rawuns -- make careers of it; talented amateurs are respected and demonstrate their skills whenever a few friends have time to spare. Preachers and theologians, especially Sufis, use parables to entertain and enlighten.
It is worth noting that the stories of The Arabian Nights come from all over the East, but have been adapted to suit the audience. All this is separate form the "highbrow" literary traditions of the area.
The only opposition to storytelling comes from overly moralistic clerics. As devotees of a religion with a deep contempt for falsehood, some priests and scholars condemn the telling of tales as "lying" and a distraction from serious concerns. Few outside of the Pantheon go this far; those that do usually ban music as well.
Part of the answer to this is to ensure that most stories had some moral or didactic point (they teach a lesson to the current generation). The simplest response, however, was to attach a general disclaimer to the story. Many tales thus begin with some phrase such as "It is said -- but Fate alone knows the truth -- that such-and-such person once lived..." In other words, no human being can know absolute truth, but this story MIGHT be true...
It is worth pointing out that A Thousand and One Nights is a vast collection of stories originally told in Persia. The framework has been traced back to Indian folklore, while the tales come from regions across the East. These stories were adapted to the Muslim worldview in the 9th Century and have practically nothing to do with other Muslim literature, being basically "coffee-house" stories told to entertain a casual (male) audience -- they do convey much of the culture, but are NOT literature per se. Think of them as Reader's Digest meets the Man Show.
Other sources include: The Epic of 'Antar (about a black warrior-poet who rose from slavery to greatness) and The Book of Kings (the myths and legends of the Persian civilization -- I have an overview copy of this if you wanna take a look)
It is worth noting that the stories of The Arabian Nights come from all over the East, but have been adapted to suit the audience. All this is separate form the "highbrow" literary traditions of the area.
The only opposition to storytelling comes from overly moralistic clerics. As devotees of a religion with a deep contempt for falsehood, some priests and scholars condemn the telling of tales as "lying" and a distraction from serious concerns. Few outside of the Pantheon go this far; those that do usually ban music as well.
Part of the answer to this is to ensure that most stories had some moral or didactic point (they teach a lesson to the current generation). The simplest response, however, was to attach a general disclaimer to the story. Many tales thus begin with some phrase such as "It is said -- but Fate alone knows the truth -- that such-and-such person once lived..." In other words, no human being can know absolute truth, but this story MIGHT be true...
It is worth pointing out that A Thousand and One Nights is a vast collection of stories originally told in Persia. The framework has been traced back to Indian folklore, while the tales come from regions across the East. These stories were adapted to the Muslim worldview in the 9th Century and have practically nothing to do with other Muslim literature, being basically "coffee-house" stories told to entertain a casual (male) audience -- they do convey much of the culture, but are NOT literature per se. Think of them as Reader's Digest meets the Man Show.
Other sources include: The Epic of 'Antar (about a black warrior-poet who rose from slavery to greatness) and The Book of Kings (the myths and legends of the Persian civilization -- I have an overview copy of this if you wanna take a look)