Dunyazadiad: the Parody of the Arabian Nights

This article explores the influence of the arabian nights on john barth's novella dunyazadiad. this influence lies in the arabian nights labyrinth construction of the narrative events. by its experimental literary artifice, dunyazadiad initiates the early phase of postmodern reactions to modernism's fictional modes and their apocalyptic vision regarding the death of fictional genres. barth's conscious recapitulation of the twentieth century fictional genre manifests itself properly in the novella's frame-narrative, offering the solution that previous canonical works, especially the arabian nights, are the treasure house for avoiding the literary exhaustion prevalent in modern fiction. this study aims to scrutinize barth's experimental parody of the arabian nights' frame-tale, narrator, characterizations, and dénouement to critique the spirit of exhaustion dominating contemporary modern fictional genre. the theoretical analysis of dunyazadiad focuses on two main narrative theories, namely mikail bakhtin's dialogic mode and patricia waugh's formulation of metafiction., this article argues for barth's reliance on the arabian nights frame-narrative to critique modernism fictional exhaustion.