EL ENCUENTRO CON EL DEMONIO EN UN CUENTO DEL SENDEBAR Y EN “EL RELATO DEL PRÍNCIPE Y LOS SIETE VISIRES”

Abstract

The encounter with the demon in a tale from Sendebar and in "The Tale of the Prince and the Seven Viziers".

Since its translation into Spanish in 1253, Sendebar has been one of the most paradigmatic examples of the emergence of Castilian fiction in the 13th century.

Despite not having the Arabic manuscript used by the Castilian translators, its undeniable oriental affiliation links it to collections such as "One Thousand and One Nights" and "One Hundred and One Nights," known for the multiplicity of marvelous episodes contained in their stories. In this vein, "Sendebar" contains tales that constitute very early manifestations of the marvelous within the context of Castilian literature: appearances of female devils, magical fountains, forests.

In a preliminary reading of these marvelous elements, the first thing that stands out is their direct connection to the demonic imaginary.

This study will analyze the encounter with the demon in the tale “Striges”, which occupies the sixth position in the collection of stories, taking into account its relationship with "The Tale of the Prince and the Seven Viziers," which is part of One Hundred and One Nights, a Maghrebi text whose original composition dates back to the 10th century and contains a very similar version of the same tale.

The focus will be on the space where the demon resides and the characteristics of this encounter in both the Castilian and Arabic versions.

The closeness between the Castilian and Arabic versions of the story, the adaptation of the representation of the devil-jester to the folkloric representations of the time, and the connection between these stories and the female voice that enunciates them will be highlighted.