Die Messingstadt

English Summary: Anyone who associates "The Arabian Nights" with erotic stories will doubtlessly be disappointed when reading "City of Brass" (Nights 566-578). This tale deals not with the lust for life, but, on the contrary, with the vanity of existence: Each individual who attempts to safeguard his own memory will inevitably fail because of the destructiveness of time. The reader learns this lesson together with the protagonist Musa Ibn Nusayr (died 716-717) as the reader accompanies...
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English Summary: Anyone who associates "The Arabian Nights" with erotic stories will doubtlessly be disappointed when reading "City of Brass" (Nights 566-578). This tale deals not with the lust for life, but, on the contrary, with the vanity of existence: Each individual who attempts to safeguard his own memory will inevitably fail because of the destructiveness of time. The reader learns this lesson together with the protagonist Musa Ibn Nusayr (died 716-717) as the reader accompanies him on his fantastic expedition to the end of the world, which at the same time also seems to be the beginning of time. The topic of this study is how the detailed steps of Musa Ibn Nusayr's "sentimental journey" are staged with respect to space and time, and how the recurrent motif of vanity gradually leads him to religious awareness. German Description: Eine Stadt aus Messing mitten in der Wuste konnte sich der nordafrikanische Gelehrte Ibn Haldun (gest. 1406) beim besten Willen nicht vorstellen. Mehr Phantasie besassen die Erzahler der Sammlung Tausendundeine Nacht. Historische Berichte uber die Westexpedition des Musa Ibn Nusayr (gest. 716) verflochten sie mit dem Alexanderroman, verschiedenen Salomolegenden, dem Palmyra-Mythos und, wie es den Anschein macht, sogar mit dem buddhistischen Maitrakanyakavadana zu einer faszinierenden Reise durch die Erinnerung an die menschliche Verganglichkeit. Ihr Hohepunkt ist die Entdeckung einer mysteriosen Totenstadt, in deren Palast eine tauschend lebendig wirkende Mumie den Reisenden genau wie dem Leser Ratsel aufgibt. Gelost wird dieses hier, indem ein Spiel mit Historie und "Fiktion" blossgelegt wird und sich so die eklektisch anmutende Erzahlweise zu einer Motivkette verbindet, die den Helden unfehlbar zu seinem Ziel fuhrt.