Abstract
Prophecies or curses often open a myth or fairy tale, and the story subsequently unfolds in accordance with what they have announced. Classical tragic myth, for example about Oedipus or Dido, takes place in this form of predestined time and includes such speech acts; the plots of fairy tales, especially the stories of The Thousand and One Nights, also frequently turn on spells and oracles. This fatalism, as it has been called, has been generally criticized and often associated with passivity and superstition, both perceived as “oriental.” Can these narrative devices be looked at in a different light? And do the stories themselves act as magical writing, with purposes of preventing harm and averting danger? Writers of contemporary “world literature” are increasingly turning to myth and fable because the forms offer them ways of commenting, Cassandra-like, on the fate of their countries and communities.
