Book contents
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures
- Frontispiece
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Arabian Nights
- 2 The Scheherazade Factor
- 3 Engagements in Narrative
- 4 The “Hostile Dynasty”
- 5 The Archaeology of A Thousand and One Nights
- 6 Signatures and Affiliates
- 7 Decolonizing the Arabian Nights?
- 8 Invitation to Discourse
- Book part
- Select Bibliography
- Index
2 - The Scheherazade Factor
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2021
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures
- Frontispiece
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Arabian Nights
- 2 The Scheherazade Factor
- 3 Engagements in Narrative
- 4 The “Hostile Dynasty”
- 5 The Archaeology of A Thousand and One Nights
- 6 Signatures and Affiliates
- 7 Decolonizing the Arabian Nights?
- 8 Invitation to Discourse
- Book part
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 2 takes its title from a conversation with John Barth (1987) to address the focus on the frame tale in contemporary writing. It shows the central function of the preliminary volatile sites, the preludinal site of nuptial failure, the garden scene, and its narrative function before the advent of Scheherazade. What is missed in scholarship, old and contemporary, is redeemed here to draw attention to the role of the spectacle in exploding hierarchies, power structures, and racial and class distinctions. It draws attention to a number of narrative levels that have to be taken into account when we address the frame tale, not as a container, but a dynamic that offers storytellers the chance to embed tales that are no less explosive. It shows also the implications of narrative functions in relation to issues of relativity, plight, desire, and joy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World CulturesGlobal Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry, pp. 52 - 92Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021