Arabic Fairy Tales

One of the things special about Arabic folk tales is that not only were they told at night in the home after the day’s work was done, but they were a public spectacle, too. People told stories in the marketplace, and held poetry competitions, and while I don’t remember hearing anything like that when we were talking about African, Jewish, Native American or Indian tales, it does remind me of ancient Greece. There is also the interesting distinction that in Arabic culture, men told stories in public, and women were the ones telling stories in the home. This wasn’t really mentioned in any of the cultures.

 

Storytelling is a dying tradition in many cultures, and Arabic culture is no different. But unlike the other cultures we’ve talked about, it becomes a big deal during the month of Ramadan.  Stories are culturally significant in the other cultures, too, but they don’t have a time where, even in the present day, storytelling reemerges into the spotlight. 

 

I also find it interesting that Arabic folk tales are divided into five main categories. Usually, we categorized tales by their function—to teach a lesson, or show how something came to be, or just to be entertaining. But Arabic tales had five specific groupings determined not by their function, but by the type of tale (historic: Sirat), featured characters (Kalila wa Dimna and Joha), author (Fables of Luqman), or context (Arabian Nights).