Performative and Thematic Continuity in Persian Oral Storytelling Arts (naqqāli): From the Timurid Period to the Present Day

Abstract

Through the analysis of historical sources from the Timurid and Safavid periods onwards and ethnographic fieldwork on the storytelling art naqqāli, the article shows how many of its performative and narrative elements persist over the centuries and are still present in contemporary performances. The narrative techniques were already present in popular romances, they were discussed in Kāšefī’s work Fotovvat-nāme‑ye solṭānī, and persisted throughout the Qajar era. The educational and edifying function of such stories is stressed in Timurid and Safavid sources, as well as by Qajar-era foreign travellers and contemporary naqqāls.