SOURCE: Pinault, David. “An Introduction to the Arabian Nights.” In Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights, pp. 16-30. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1992.

In the following excerpt, Pinault introduces some of the narrative devices used in The Arabian Nights, including repetitive designation, Leitmotifstil, or, lead-word style, and patterns of theme and form.

C. a Description of Selected Storytelling Techniques from the Nights

In [what follows] I describe narrative devices used by redactors in numerous stories found in the Alf laylah. …

I. Repetitive Designation

Under this heading I group repeated references to some character or object which appears insignificant when first mentioned but which reappears later to intrude suddenly on the narrative. At the moment of the initial designation the given object seems unimportant and the reference casual and incidental. Later in the story, however, the object is brought forward once more and proves to play a significant role...