ABSTRACT
The modern fairy tale is most often discussed as a Western genre, historically, the genre’s genesis and ensuing global dissemination probably owes more to pre-modern and early-modern Middle Eastern, and particularly Muslim, tradition than is currently acknowledged. When studying the impact of Middle Eastern or ‘Oriental’ tales on Western tradition, researchers are prone to discussing exclusively or predominantly about tales in written or literary sources. The Muslim world’s most prominent contribution to fairy-tale history is The Thousand and One Nights. A fair number of folk and fairy tales in Western tradition derive from or are closely related to tales from pre-modern Middle Eastern tradition, the Middle East’s contribution to Western fairy-tale tradition surpasses that of a supplier of motifs and themes. An essential characteristic of fairy tales is the fact that their protagonists experience a series of trials and tribulations before attaining ultimate happiness that stereotypically consists of the threefold bliss of acquiring wealth, a beautiful wife, and political power.
