The study of the dramatic aspects of folk literature with emphasis on the story of Amir Arsalan Namdar

The story of Amir Arsalan Namdar is a nightly storytelling in the chamber of Nasereddin Shah Ghajar which was told by the narrator of his court, Naghib al-Mamalek and then was written down by the pen of Shah’s daughter. Despite the aristocratic ambience of its origin it was rapidly turned into the most popular and admired Persian folk tales. Unfortunately such works precisely due to being folkloric have never been truly analyzed in terms of literary and dramatic aspects. However in this article first the European equivalent of this genre of literature namely romance is dealt with, then certain theories of Northrop Fry, the great literary critic regarding the structure of such stories are presented, and finally the main story of Amir Arsalan is told and its outstanding dramatic points and theatrical potentialities are analyzed.