Literary Interdisciplinary Research

Deconstructing Friendship and Enmity in One Thousand and One Nights Fables Based on Jacques Derrida’s Theory (Case Study: The Fox and the Wolf and the Fox and the Crow Stories)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Izadi 1
Fatemeh Parchegani 2

1 Kharazmi University-Tehran-Iran

2 Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

10.30465/lir.2025.48598.1844
Abstract
Deconstructing Context is a philosophical reading style Jacques Derrida suggested for neutralizing or inverting existing binary oppositions in texts. Fables are appropriate alternatives for deconstruction training since they are highly capable of transferring concepts. Accordingly, fable deconstruction produces new meanings and helps clarify textual beauties. Derrida's method of deconstructing literature and writing is based on finding binary oppositions in the text that determine its dominant ideology. The next step is to deconstruct these oppositions by finding contradictory elements in the text, and finally, a new reading based on this deconstruction completes the work. The present query deconstructed two fables of the One Thousand and One Nights Folktales, i.e., the Wolf and the Fox and the Fox and the Crow, by adopting a philosophical approach and following Derrida’s method. The results displayed the precedence of enmity in the Fox and the Wolf fable. The deconstruction neutralized this valuation and revealed a blend of friendship and enmity. However, binary oppositions emerged differently for every character in the Fox and the Crow fable, i.e., enmity and friendship forewent for the crow and the fox, and deconstruction through neutralizing these valuations bolded a no enmity-no friendliness condition.

Keywords

Deconstruction
Derrida
Fable
One Thousand and One Nights
Friendship &؛ Enmity

Subjects

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