Scherazade ou do poder da Palavra

Abstract

This proposal is an analysis of the frame narrative of The 1001 Nights, in which Scheherazade not only escapes the death sentence imposed by the Sultan but also "cures" him of his pathological and murderous rage against women by telling him stories. It highlights the power of "organizing experience," as Antonio Candido would say, exercised by the literary word, with reflections on the "efficacious word" that range from shamanistic practices to Psychoanalysis, with which a parallel is established. The focus here is on the archaic and magical power of the word which, as in faith healing, religion, and Psychoanalysis, possesses the strength to transform inner realities. For this reason, the work of Lévi-Strauss is referenced, addressing the shamanistic practices of songs and narratives among the Cuna Indians of Panama, as well as the ideas of Walter Benjamin in his text "To narrate and to heal"; and, looking further back, it alludes to Plato who, in The Republic, attributes to the myths told to children the capacity to "shape souls."Here, we find narrative restored to its full and primordial meaning as a vehicle for human experience.