New Book: 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition by Dr. Ulrich Marzolph

101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Marzolph will be released on August 18, 2020 and is available for pre-order.

Just to be clear, although this title may sound like it is a collection of folktale texts from the Middle East, it is not. The full tale texts are not included. There are many more than 101 individual tales discussed, too. The volume offers a discussion of the tales arranged by theme and motifs instead. I received a copy of this book for review and although I haven't read the entire thing--it is over 700 pages long including the appendices--it is a great reference book for discussion of various ATU (Aarne Thompson Uther) tale types that can be found in the Middle East. Each chapter is devoted to a different ATU tale type. For example, Chapter 2 is "Belling the Cat (ATU 110)" and Chapter 8 is "The Two Hunchbacks (ATU 503)", just two of the tales I am very familiar with in recent years as I have used them in SurLaLune Folklore anthology work. I found some new information to me in each of these chapters despite being very familiar with them since resources in English for these have been limited. This is a great way to learn more about several tale types (101 of them to be exact) you may be less familiar with. And, no, you don't need to be familiar with the ATU tale type system. This volume uses the system as a guide to organize, group and discuss many tales while providing primary and secondary resources to read more. The Works Cited list is a cornucopia of resources, too. Marzolph is one of the leaders in this area of folklore studies and his vast knowledge and experience shows. Overall, this is highly recommended and filled a gap in my extensive folklore library.

Book description:

Against the methodological backdrop of historical and comparative folk narrative research, 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition surveys the history, dissemination, and characteristics of over one hundred narratives transmitted to Western tradition from or by the Middle Eastern Muslim literatures (i.e., authored written works in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish). For a tale to be included, Ulrich Marzolph considered two criteria: that the tale originates from or at least was transmitted by a Middle Eastern source, and that it was recorded from a Western narrator's oral performance in the course of the nineteenth or twentieth century. The rationale behind these restrictive definitions is predicated on Marzolph's main concern with the long-lasting effect that some of the "Oriental" narratives exercised in Western popular tradition-those tales that have withstood the test of time.

Marzolph focuses on the originally "Oriental" tales that became part and parcel of modern Western oral tradition. Since antiquity, the "Orient" constitutes the quintessential Other vis-à-vis the European cultures. While delineation against this Other served to define and reassure the Self, the "Orient" also constituted a constant source of fascination, attraction, and inspiration. Through oral retellings, numerous tales from Muslim tradition became an integral part of European oral and written tradition in the form of learned treatises, medieval sermons, late medieval fabliaux, early modern chapbooks, contemporary magazines, and more. In present times, when national narcissisms often acquire the status of strongholds delineating the Us against the Other, it is imperative to distinguish, document, visualize, and discuss the extent to which the West is not only indebted to the Muslim world but also shares common features with Muslim narrative tradition. 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition is an important contribution to this debate and a vital work for scholars, students, and readers of folklore and fairy tales.

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