Dunyazadiad: The Parody of The Arabian Nights

This article explores the influence of The Arabian Nights on John Barth s novella Dunyazadiad. This influence lies in The Arabian Nights labyrinth construction of the narrative events. By its experimental literary artifice, Dunyazadiad initiates the early phase of postmodern reactions to modernism s fictional modes and their apocalyptic vision regarding the death of fictional genres. Barth s conscious recapitulation of the twentieth century fictional genre manifests itself properly in the novella s frame-narrative, offering the solution that previous canonical works, especially The Arabian Nights, are the treasure house for avoiding the literary exhaustion prevalent in modern fiction. This study aims to scrutinize Barth s experimental parody of The Arabian Nights frame-tale, narrator, characterizations, and dénouement to critique the spirit of exhaustion dominating contemporary modern fictional genre. The theoretical analysis of Dunyazadiad focuses on two main narrative theories, namely Mikail Bakhtin s dialogic mode and Patricia Waugh s formulation of metafiction., This article argues for Barth s reliance on The Arabian Nights frame-narrative to critique modernism fictional exhaustion.