UNITY OF MIDDLE-AGE ARAB FRAME STORIES "KALILAH AND DIMNAH", "THE BOOK OF SINDIBAD"

Abstract

The present article studies frame story organization principles into a thematic and idea unity on the example of middle-age Arabic versions of Ancient Indian books. Such an examination is based on the importance of study of “Kalilah and Dimnah” and “The Book of Sindibad” for the description of how frame collections were initially formed and for the analysis of frame construction. Both of the books adapt thematical contents, structure and tale order, which are very close to their Indian original sources, to national peculiarities and the goals provided by the authors. “Kalilah and Dimnah” is characterized by the absence of polytheistic beliefs, presence of secular didacticism and humoristic functioning of animal characters. The creator of “The Book of Sindibad” asserts his authorship, thus aiming at perpetuating not only the wisdom source, but also his own name. A distinctive feature of the Arab books is the formation of a clearly distinguished author`s frame that includes the foreword (as in “Kalilah and Dimnah” and “The Book of Sindibad”) and the afterword (as in “The Book of Sindibad”). These structural elements serve for the purpose of quite an effective means to directly orient the reader to the book`s message. Narration becomes more consecutive and connected while simplifying the mechanism to change from one tale to another, while simplifying the multilayer tale structure with the help of making the third- or forth-layer tales into separate chapters and making them reflect the general frame message. Genre unity is acquired through applying a single parable basis to all of the stories.