Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the narrative discourse in “Khalid Bin
Abdullah Al-Qasry and the Young Thief”, an anecdote that is included in One
Thousand and One Nights. Analyzing the anecdotes narrative discourse is of
critical importance in the process of exploring the methods utilized in structuring
the story and designing its formal elements by way of coming to grips
with its narrative mode and aesthetic dimension.
The anecdote was studied in the light of narrative approaches that
utilize three discourse elements generally used by narrators, namely:
1. Time: through this element, I studied the existing relations between the
time of the story and the time of the discourse most manifest in sequential
time, the rhythm of the narrative and succession.
2. Style: through this element I underscored those approaches upon which the
story relied to communicate speech and thoughts, including direct and
non-direct discourse and narrated discourse.
3. Vision: through this I focused on the relation between the narrator and the
story he narrated, and the recipient and the angle through which s/he
perceived the story.
The discourse analysis I used in studying the above story yielded
many conclusions. It became obvious that the story utilized diversified
discourse aspects. That proves that the anecdotes in One Thousand and One
Nights cannot be said to have been based on improvisation; rather they were
woven by a popular creative narrator who was in control of the narrative. He
was also an authoritative narrator and capable of manipulating the narrative
content and developing a discourse through which he was able to attain specific
objectives such as negating the idea of womens infidelity. This negation
led the recipient, Shahrayar, to nullify his decision to kill women.