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book8th–14th century (compiled)

One Thousand and One Nights

Disciplines:
literature
religion/islam
africa/arabic
mythology/folklore

Summary

The Arabic-language collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled over several centuries — including Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad the Sailor, and the frame story of Scheherazade — the greatest monument of Arabic narrative literature.

Core Contribution

Creates the definitive Arabic narrative tradition — the frame story's central conceit (Scheherazade saves herself by telling stories, making narrative survival an act of intellect against power) and the collection's combination of Indian, Persian, Arabic, and Egyptian story traditions represents the multicultural literary heritage of the Islamic golden age.

Historical Influences

Indian, Persian, Arabic, Egyptian folk traditions

Intellectual Lineage

Multiple authorsBaghdad and EgyptBurton and Lane

Allied Works

The Iliad Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Contemporaries & Peers

Islamic Golden Age literature

Minds Influenced

Western orientalismWorld narrative traditionHistory 102

Intellectual Posterity

One Thousand and One Nights ScheherazadeAladdin SinbadAli Baba

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One Thousand and One Nights

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