I firmly believe in the power of folklore, in the spiritual teachings found within these stories. For me, folklore is just as valuable and powerful as history, because it shows you how the people it comes from think/thought. We always hear that history is written by the winners, but folklore belongs to the people it comes from. Dwelling on my roots as the child of Syrian immigrants, I learned a lot with Syrian Folktales, by Muna Imady.
Format: 126 pages, Paperback.
Published: January 6, 2012, by MSI Press.
Genres and Tags: Nonfiction, Folklore, History.
5/5 stars.
This delightful book relates folktales from various regions of Syria. Each folktale is located on a regional map and is accompanied by a local, related recipe.
Muna had a wonderful style that made the stories much more entertaining than I was expecting. There’s not a lot happening in some of them. However, the charm is both in what is happening and how they are being told. With one for each governorate, this short book offers a wide look into all of them.
Syrian Folktales takes you out of reality so you can discover a land full of jinn, ghouls, and afarit. It also teaches you valuable lessons that you can apply in real life that, while influenced by Islam, can still guide anyone. The additional content not only makes it a more immersive experience, but offers a further detailed look into the culture of each of the governorates.
However, this is also the weakest point of the book. There are chapters with extra content, with extra recipes, or some other type of addition, and there are others that have less than what seemed to be the norm at the beginning. This made the book be more inconsistent than I would have liked because it looks disorganized. This is not a comment against the author, of course, but the publisher, who should have had a better eye.
In general lines, while the final product is not as taken care of as I would have preferred, Syrian Folktales is a beautiful addition to anyone interested in folklore. It is also a powerful book for witches who focus on the Arab World. Also, the author’s family edited another book she left unfinished after she passed away, Kan Ya Ma Kan. Hopefully I will get a copy soon. I’m sure it will be just as good, if not better, than this one.