Structure and theme in the Aqhat narrative

Abstract

This study is devoted to an analysis of structure and theme in the composition of the Aqhat text. In chapter one an approach to the analysis of the text is developed and outlined on the basis of an examination of the discussion of structure, theme and composition in the fields of the theory of oral formulaic composition and the structural analysis of the folktale. The approach developed in this chapter involves a distinction between three different levels in the Aqhat narrative at which structure and theme may be analyzed: the levels of ground- theme, theme and theme texture. In chapter two the text and translation upon which the subsequent discussion will be based is set forth. This is followed in chapter 3 by a basic analysis of the narrative whose objective is to identify and define the structural units pertaining to the three levels. Thereafter chapters 4, 5 and 6 are devoted to the analysis of structure and theme and an investigation of the nature and extent of any recurring structural patterns in the composition of the narrative at the levels of ground- theme, theme and theme texture respectively.