Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. School of Humanities Language Education for Refugees and Migrants Postgraduate Dissertation Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights Efrosini Vizovitou Supervisor: Theodora Zampaki Patras, Greece, February 2019 Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Theses / Dissertations remain the intellectual property of students (“authors/creators”), but in the context of open access policy they grant to the HOU a non-exclusive license to use the right of reproduction, customisation, public lending, presentation to an audience and digital dissemination thereof internationally, in electronic form and by any means for teaching and research purposes, for no fee and throughout the duration of intellectual property rights. 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Narrative Techniques in the Indian Tales Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights Efrosini Vizovitou Supervising Committee Supervisor: Co-Supervisor: Theodora Zampaki Georgios Damaskinidis Hellenic Open University Hellenic Open University Patras, Greece, February 2019 iii Postgraduate Dissertation Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Acknowledgments My sincere thank you goes to my thesis supervisor Prof. Theodora Zampaki, in whom I discerned a genuine spark for the Arabic culture and I matched it with mine in the Indian one. The meeting of the two civilizations and literature was the inspiration for the topic of my thesis and I hope the current paper to inspire the future research and readership alike. iv Postgraduate Dissertation Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Abstract Both the fables of Panchatantra and the tales of the Arabian Nights comprise the core of the oral tradition in the East and are the most popular works of storytelling. Panchatantra, dating back to the 3rd century B.C. and drawing upon the ancient Indian oral tradition, is compiled and translated in Middle Persian Pahlavi by Burzōy and then in Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa´ during the Abbasid period (750-1258). The Arabian Nights with origin in ancient Indian and Persian orality, is also traced as a compilation in the Sassanid and the Abbasid period as Alf layla wa-layla (Thousand and One Nights). Its translation in Europe, though, in the 18th century, brought a domino of translations and influenced the Arts globally. Both collections belong to the frame narrative technique. In this research, there will be a delving into the importance of the frame narrative technique in the oral tradition of the East and an analysis of the narrative techniques of Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Under this scope, it will be shown that both compilations belong to the same continuum of oral storytelling. In particular, there will be textual analysis of the Panchatantra Book 4 Loss of Grains and the Arabian Nights The Fisherman and the Ifrit from the Arabian Nights 3-9. Both extracts formulate concise and condensed examples, from which textual analysis can be facilitated and thus conclusions can be drawn to support the current paper. The narrative techniques of the frame narration will be explored in both collections, comprising embedded stories, suspensions, iterations, apophthegms and repeated motifs. In this way, light will be shed on the affiliations the Panchatantra and the Arabian nights have in relation to their narrative techniques. Keywords Panchatantra, the Arabian Nights, frame narrative, narrative techniques v Postgraduate Dissertation Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Περίληψη Τόσο οι μύθοι της συλλογής, αποκαλούμενης Panchatantra όσο και οι ιστορίες της συλλογής Χίλιες και Μία Νύχτες (Arabian Nights) αποτελούν τον πυρήνα της προφορικής παράδοσης στην Ανατολή και είναι τα πιο δημοφιλή έργα αφήγησης. Το Panchatantra, που χρονολογείται από τον 3ο αιώνα π.Χ. και αντλεί από την αρχαία Ινδική προφορική παράδοση, συλλέγεται και μεταφράζεται στη Μέση Περσική Pahlavi από τον Burzōy και στη συνέχεια στα αραβικά από τον Ibn al-Muqaffaˊ κατά την περίοδο των Αβασσιδών (750- 1258). Οι Αραβικές Νύχτες με προέλευση στην αρχαία Ινδική και Περσική προφορικότητα, επίσης εντοπίζονται ως μια συλλογή στην περίοδο των Σασσανιδών και Αβασσιδών ως Alf layla wa-layla (Χίλιες και μία νύχτες). Η μετάφρασή τους στην Ευρώπη, όμως, τον 18ο αιώνα, προκάλεσε ένα ντόμινο μεταφράσεων και επηρέασε τις Τέχνες παγκοσμίως. Και οι δύο συλλογές ανήκουν στην τεχνική αφηγηματικού πλαισίου. Σε αυτή την εργασία, θα ασχοληθούμε με τη σημασία της τεχνικής πλαισίων αφήγησης στην προφορική παράδοση της Ανατολής και θα επιχειρήσουμε μία ανάλυση των αφηγηματικών τεχνικών της Panchatantra και της συλλογής Χίλιες και Μία Νύχτες (Arabian Nights). Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, θα δειχθεί ότι και οι δύο συλλογές ανήκουν στην ίδια συνέχεια της προφορικής αφήγησης. Συγκεκριμένα, θα υπάρξει ανάλυση κειμένων από το βιβλίο Panchatantra 4 Απώλεια των Σπόρων και Ο Ψαράς και το Τελώνιο από την συλλογή Χίλιες και Μία Νύχτες 3-9. Και τα δύο αποσπάσματα διατυπώνουν συνοπτικά και συμπυκνωμένα παραδείγματα, από τα οποία διευκολύνεται η ανάλυση των κειμένων και έτσι μπορούν να εξαχθούν συμπεράσματα για τη στήριξη του παρούσας εργασίας. Οι αφηγηματικές τεχνικές της αφήγησης πλαισίου θα ερευνηθούν και στις δύο συλλογές, που περιλαμβάνουν ενσωματωμένες ιστορίες, παύσεις, επαναλήψεις, αποφθέγματα και επαναλαμβανόμενα μοτίβα. Με αυτό τον τρόπο, θα διαφωτιστούν οι σχέσεις που έχει η συλλογή Panchatantra και οι ιστορίες της συλλογής Χίλιες και Μία Νύχτες (Arabian Nights) σε σχέση με τις αφηγηματικές τεχνικές τους. Λέξεις-κλειδιά Panchatantra, οι ιστορίες της συλλογής Χίλιες και Μία Νύχτες (Arabian Nights) , αφηγήσεις πλαισίων, αφηγηματικές τεχνικές vi Postgraduate Dissertation Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................v Περίληψη ..........................................................................................................................vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................vii Introduction .......................................................................................................................1 1. Panchatantra: The Indian Animal Fables ..........................................................................3 2. The translation of Panchatantra in middle Persian (Pahlavi) and its sociopolitical context ..............................................................................................7 3. The translation of Panchatantra in Arabic and its sociopolitical context .............................9 4. The history of Arabian Nights compilation in oral and written tradition ...........................13 5. The importance of frame narrative tales in the oral tradition in the East ...........................19 6. Narrative techniques in Panchatantra and Arabian Nights ..............................................22 7. Panchatantra, the Loss of Grains (Book 4) and the Fisherman and the Ifrit (Arabian Nights 3-9): A comparison of their narrative techniques ........................................................31 7.1 Panchatantra, Loss of Grains (Book 4) - Structure ....................................................32 7.2 The Fisherman and the Ifrit (Arabian Nights 3-9) Structure ......................................33 7.3 The narrators, frames and story line of the tales ........................................................34 7.4 Suspensions, Iterations and Apophthegms ................................................................39 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................43 References .......................................................................................................................45 vii Postgraduate Dissertation Efrosini Vizovitou, Narrative Techniques in the Indian Fables Panchatantra and the Arabian Nights. Introduction When Indian people mention their tradition and the fables that have shaped their mentality, as children's favorite storytelling, Panchatantra takes the first place. Similarly, the most popular collection of stories in the Arab world is the Arabian Nights. Both collections belong to the frame narrative stories of the oral tradition of the East and have contributed to the creation of a unifying collective consciousness of the Arab world (Allen, 2000; Danylova, 2014). Panchatantra is historically older than the Arabian Nights (3rd century B.C.) and belongs to the genre of