Arab Folktales from Palestine and Israel
Subtitle: Introduction, Translation, and Annotation (Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology)
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Published: May 1998
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 270
ISBN-13: 9780814327104
Subjects: Collections & anthologies of various literary forms; Literary studies: general; Oral And Folk Literature; Fiction; Sociology; Arabic; Literature: Folklore/Mythology; Folklore & Mythology - Folklore; Middle East - General; Fairy Tales, Folklore & Mythology; Folklore; Israel; Palestine; Palestinian Arabs; Tales
Description: These fables, part of the cultural heritage of a small corner of the Arab world, are translated into an English that remains faithful to the original Arabic text, presenting to foreign readers a sense of the original style and a picture of traditional Arab life and customs, attitudes, social and cultural norms, psychology, and values.

Providing insight into Arab culture, Patai offers extensive notes and commentary on particular Arabic phrases and images, as well as the ways of speaking and thinking found among the Arab population, especially the Bedouins, in Palestine and Israel. Patai also places the stories in the context of global folktales, and traces the transformations in the art of storytelling.

This collection as a whole presents a colorful slice of traditional Arab life, values, customs, attitudes, and sociocultural patterns.