خاستگاه هاي فرهنگي داستان‌هاي هزار و يك شب

چكيده اثري كه امروزه به نام هزار و يك شب مي‌شناسيم محصول نوعي در هم آميزي يا سازگاري آفرينش گري دور و دراز ادبي است كه پژواك فرهنگ‌هاي گوناگون در آن شنيده مي‌شود. خاستگاه هزار و يك شب و شيوه روايتش هرچه باشد، اين قدر مسلم است كه هسته اي اساسي از داستان‌ها وجود داشته است كه با گذر از فرهنگ عامه مردماني متفاوت، از زمان‌ها و مكان‌هايي متفاوت، بهره مي‌گيرد. در واقع زمينه اين اثر آن قدر وسيع بود كه هركس توانست داستاني در آن بگنجاند؛ در اين چارچوب و قالب وسيع، داستان‌هايي گوناگون از ادوار مختلف و شايد از تمامي تمدن‌هاي شرق قديم راه يافته و جا گرفته است. هزار و يك شب، يك تاريخ حقيقي است. اهميت قصه‌هاي شهرزاد نه در اصالت و يكپارچگي آن‌ها بلكه در همان درهم‌آميزي و سازگاري فرهنگي و تاريخي است كه باعث شده است به قصه‌هاي شهرزاد هم چون يك «ما يملك همگاني» نگريسته شود. هزار و يك شب به تنهايي يك «ادبيات گسترده» است؛ نوعي دايره‌‌المعارف قصّه است. اين اثر، طي سده هاي متوالي در همه عالم گردش كرده و در اين گردش طولاني، شگفتي ها و نوادر بسياري ديده، توشه هايي اندوخته، و هر قوم و قبيله اي به تناسب ذوق و سليقه اش به آن، چيزي افزوده است. در اين مقاله خاستگاه‌هاي هندي، يوناني، عربي و ايراني هزار و يك شب را بررسي مي كنيم و در هر مورد از نشانه‌هاي درون متني بهره خواهيم برد. ##

Abstract Thousand and One Nights (alf layla wa layla) or The Arabian Nights, as they came to be known, owes its origins to three distinct cultures and storytelling traditions: that of India, Persia and the Arab world. The Arabian Nights first appeared in Arabic form around 850 AD. Although many scholars deny its literary importance, Generations of Arabic readers have appreciated the versatile and imaginative use of Arabic and the mixture of the classical and colloquial language in many of the stories, a style which helped diversify the characters from the narrative. While chroniclers from the 10th century maintain that the tales were derived from a Persian book of folk tales called, ‘Hazar afsaneh’ (A Thousand Stories) the exact origins of The Arabian Nights is not certain and academic opinions are divided. The stories of the Arabian Nights were written by many people over the course of hundreds of years. The core of original stories came out of Persia and India in the early eighth century. They were translated into Arabic and given the name Alf Layla or The Thousand Nights. This set of stories was few in number and fell far short of living up to the number in its title. In Iraq in the ninth or tenth century, a group of Arab stories were added. This new group probably contained the tales that refer to Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Also, in the period immediately after this, several tales that had previously existed outside of the Nights were incorporated into the main body of the tales. Starting the 13th century, another group of tales was added, these of Syrian or Egyptian origin. In "modern" times, additional tales were added (by Galland, for example), and the total was brought up to the number given in the title. Several early manuscripts of the Nights survive. The oldest is a single page fragment that dates to the ninth century. The next oldest is a three-volume Syrian manuscript in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale that dates from the early 14th century (this article discusses the Gallandʹs manuscript in detail). Galland used this manuscript for his groundbreaking translation in the early 1700ʹs, which introduced the Nights to Europe (although he used other sources as well). The exact orgins of this manuscript are unknown. Key Words: Story Literature, Thousand and one Nights, Cultural Foundations, Comparative literature. ##