The Reception of The Arabian Nights in World Literature

Abstract

Through the last three centuries, The Arabian Nights has contributed to various literary styles in the field of the oriental tale. Being so, The Arabian Nights has been a subject of utilization, reversal, reformulation, parody, pastiche, and adaptation for many writers. In this paper, my focus will be on the direct and indirect influence of The Arabian Nights on diverse literary genres. Therefore, the study deals with the influence of The Arabian Nights on in world literature. It is literature review on a theoretical introduction of the importance of The Arabian Nights in world literature. It emphasizes its transformation into literary genres, namely, poetry, drama, novel, and the short story. It will also show some comparative critical theories on The Arabian Nights , especially concerning the oriental tale, narration techniques, and the socio-political continuum. Therefore, it introduces the outstanding literary aspects of The Arabian Nights which inspired different literary genres of different cultural backgrounds. Apparently, a number of poets, playwrights, and novelists pay indebtedness to the forms as well as the thematic styles of The Arabian Nights .