Shahrazad’s story may frame the stories within The Arabian Nights, but many, many, many more stories surround it.
First of all, there is the complicated story of the Nights framing itself. The tales can be traced back to various ethnic origins, especially Indian, Persian and Arabic. In the endless tellings and retellings these stories were gradually reshaped to fit the Arabic culture of the middle ages, which gives the stories a “homogeneity or distinctive synthesis that marks the cultural and artistic history of Islam” (xiv).
Continue reading “10,001 Nights: The Frame Stories Outside the Frame Story”