Élite Folktales: Munes-nāma, Ketāb-e dāstān, and Their Audiences

Abstract

Drawing on evidence from the texts, illustrations, and contexts of production of two Persian manuscripts, the present paper points to the role of female élites as both audiences and protagonists of the two works, and argues that both works functioned as advisory literature for the female élites of medieval Persian royal courts. It also draws attention to the strong connection of both works to the two realms of élite and folk literature and calls for a designation and defining criteria for a body of works that occupies the zone between the high and low ends of the wide spectrum of Persian literature.