Folk tales were low-status street entertainment in Islamic cultures

Evidence

Our view of the Arabic corpus of material of this kind has been distorted by the low esteem in which such “nonliterary” storytelling was held within Islamic cultures. The teller of tales (a figure much romanticized by some modern writers on the culture of Islam) belongs on the market square along with other hucksters and entertainers rather than in the mosque. Narrators of serious matters may well wish to distance themselves from the literature of entertainment. The Thousand and One Nights, which belongs to this category of entertainment, has in modern times (but not in earlier ones) perhaps begun to escape from these constraints, and may by now be in danger of being taken very seriously. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 767 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Islamic culture held popular storytelling in low esteem, unlike modern romanticizers — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 767; Local folk superstitions were mistaken for authoritative Islamic doctrine by medieval critics

Broader Connections

• Islamic culture held popular storytelling in low esteem, unlike modern romanticizers #corroborates (0.95) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 767